[MrDarn]

Hi,

I live right next door to a cottage which I rent out as a holiday cottage.

My visitors have asked on occasion if they can connect to my wi-fi, but I am reluctant to allow them access for security reasons.

My router is a Thompson SpeedTouch 585v6 and it is secured with WPA-PSK. i have also changed the default access password for access to the routers GUI.

What I'm wondering is, is there a way I can share my internet connection, without compromising my security for my computers connected to the router.

I currently have 2 PS3's, 2 Win7 netbooks and an Vista laptop connected.

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Hi MrDarn,

While someone else may have a better/different suggestion, here is what I would do in your situation.

First, acquire a secondary wireless router.

Have this secondary router plugged into your normal router so that it has internet connection, and give you a completely separate 'wireless' network that visitors can see/connect to that's aside from yours.

Then just lock down the router so that anyone connected to it can only access, for example, port 80 and 443 for internet access. This would keep your network/devices safe from snooping, etc.

While most wireless routers may not have the option/ability to lock down ports and only leave certain ones open (again some do, but then some don't), you can always look into installing different firmware onto the router that would give you such ability. Check out Tomato Firmware or DD-WRT.

Please note that these firmwares have listings for what routers they have specifically been tested to work with. You don't want to just go ahead and install such firmware on a router without making sure it's compatible first...otherwise you may have a dead/non-functional router.

Also, an example of using DD-WRT to accomplish what you are looking for can be found in this guide. (Look for the section labeled "Block all traffic except HTTP HTTPS and FTP".)

Hope this works/helps with what you were asking for!

Again there may be better suggestions from someone else, but just wanted to give you my input...

[Jahape4]

Hi MrDarn,

While someone else may have a better/different suggestion, here is what I would do in your situation.

First, acquire a secondary wireless router.

Have this secondary router plugged into your normal router so that it has internet connection, and give you a completely separate 'wireless' network that visitors can see/connect to that's aside from yours.

Then just lock down the router so that anyone connected to it can only access, for example, port 80 and 443 for internet access. This would keep your network/devices safe from snooping, etc.

While most wireless routers may not have the option/ability to lock down ports and only leave certain ones open (again some do, but then some don't), you can always look into installing different firmware onto the router that would give you such ability. Check out Tomato Firmware or DD-WRT.

Please note that these firmwares have listings for what routers they have specifically been tested to work with. You don't want to just go ahead and install such firmware on a router without making sure it's compatible first...otherwise you may have a dead/non-functional router.

Also, an example of using DD-WRT to accomplish what you are looking for can be found in this guide. (Look for the section labeled "Block all traffic except HTTP HTTPS and FTP".)

Hope this works/helps with what you were asking for!

Again there may be better suggestions from someone else, but just wanted to give you my input...

[MrDarn]

Well, actually, I do have a second router,(netgear DG834G v3) but I am unsure of how exactly to connect it to the first, as my understanding is you have 4 RJ45 outputs and one RJ11 input from the telephone line. Is there a cable that has RJ45 on one end and RJ11 at the other?

[MrDarn]

Google is my friend.

i think i understand now...

heres an article for anyone wondering how its done:

http://kb.netgear.co...detail/a_id/965

[Jahape4]

Aha, good deal...I was just writing a reply that I have never done a ADSL to ADSL modem connection like that.

Glad to see you found something that'll help you.

Like I said, you then just want to lock down the second modem so that anyone connected only get's access to ports 80/443 (if internet access is the only thing what you want available for them)

[MrDarn]

I'll give it a go and report back. thanks for setting me in the right direction, and good luck with your studies

[Jahape4]

Sounds good, hope that ends up being exactly what you need...And thank you!

[clemons745]

Here is what I would do in that situation.

I would have two wireless routers (like said above) but instead of plugging one wireless router into the other, I would take a 5 port switch, plug your main internet feed into it (probably from a DSL or Cable modem) then plug both routers into that switch (the cables would be going to the internet ports of the routers, of course). Then name the routers differnetly in the GUI so you can tell them apart. That way, you have two completely seperate networks that cannot access each other.