When we first reviewed the Lucent/Agere RG-1000, it was one of the first 802.11b Wireless Access Points (AP's) we had looked at. The first revision was a little messy, and the software and hardware has only gotten better. If we were to choose an AP from all that we have reviewed, the Orinoco RG-1000 would be tops on our list due to the security aspects of the AP.

Recently, there has been numerous articles printed about the WEP (wireless encryption) issues, and that using WEP alone to protect your wireless network is not a good idea. Since this seems to be a hot topic with our readers, we decided to show you how to enable the "closed network" feature within the RG-1000. The "closed network" feature allows the AP to ignore the "ANY" SSID, which means that the Access Point is invisible to the popular scanning software NetStumbler.

For more information on NetStumber, as well as some great tips on how to protect your wireless 802.11b network from intruders, check out this excellent article over at Extremetech.com http://www.extremetech.com/wireless


Quick Tip:
Enabling the "closed network" on your RG-1000

Step 1)
Install and Run the AP manager software. The most recent version of the Lucent/Agere AP manager for Windows is located on this FTP Link


Step 2)
Once the AP manager is installed and loaded, you will see the screenshot below:




















The RG-1000 AP Manager Main Screen (Click to Enlarge)

Step 3)
Now, you should see your Access Point (In this case, the RG-1000) listed as shown in the screenshot above. Click the IP Address or the AP name to highlight the AP in the list, and then click EDIT in the bottom left corner.
* If you do not see your RG in the list, you may not have configured the RG-1000 correctly. Read the manual and use the RG Setup Utility to reconfigure your RG-1000 correctly, then run this AP manager again.



Step 4)
Once you click the EDIT button in the bottom left, you should connect to your RG-1000 and the AP manager will display a new dialog box as shown below. The Network Name should be the 6 Digit network name of your RG-1000. Click the SECURITY tab on the bottom right corner to proceed to the security settings.











The RG-1000 AP Manager Wireless Interface screen (Click to Enlarge)



Step 5)
The Wireless Security Setup dialog will then appear as shown below. You should check the "CLOSED WIRELESS SYSTEM" and also make sure you have WEP or ENCRYPTION ENABLED also checked ON as shown in the screenshot below. Once you check the proper options, click the OK button to proceed. Once you do this, your AP manager software will inform you that the RG-1000 will perform a reboot with the new options. This should take approx 15-30 seconds until you can connect to the RG again. Your Lucent/Agere RG-1000 access point should now be "invisible" to most wireless network "scanners" such as NetStumbler. We suggest that you always enable WEP, use the "Closed Network" option whenever available. You can also use other methods such as MAC authentication (shown below) as well as other methods such as VPN or SSH. Never rely on WEP alone to protect your wireless network.























The RG-1000 AP Manager Wireless Security Setup (Click to Enlarge)

Other tips for enhancing your wireless network security:
We also suggest that you turn on the MAC ADDRESS AUTHENTICATION as shown in the two screenshots below. Run the AP Manager, click the ACCESS CONTROL tab, then click the AP AUTHENTICATION button.










The RG-1000 AP Manager Mac Access Control Setup (Click to Enlarge)

Once you click the AP AUTHENTICATION button, you will see the screenshot below. Click the ADD button and add all the MAC addresses from each wireless client (users that connect to the wireless network) that will be connecting to that RG-1000. This will prevent unauthorized wireless client cards from gaining access to your network.

















The RG-1000 AP Manager Mac Access Control Setup (Click to Enlarge)