I see no problem. Modern OS security is specifically designed to protect the PC even if other PCs in the network are compromised. Not that I think your Win98 PC will be; most modern malware probably can't even run on it.

As far as Wifi in Win98 SE goes, there isn't much to say, except that there is no generic Wifi management utility like there is on WinXP and later. Whatever card you use, you need to make sure it has Win9x drivers and then use the manufacturer's utility.

Ralink RT61 is recommended as it has WPA2 support for Win9x:
https://cloakedthargoid.wordpress.com/win9x-wpa2/

Staying in a spare room at a relative's place, I only have wireless. Playing with a couple of Socket 7 systems, I could only use the USB wireless adapter I have when I had Windows XP installed, and even then it didn't work very well, because it's meant for much faster systems. I decided what I needed was a wireless receiver that I could plug an ethernet cable into. I happened to have a spare Linksys E900, and I found this tutorial: https://machn1k.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/make … t-linksys-e900/

If you follow every step, it will work - you can then plug in any retro computer and have web access.

Thanks for your quick reply! I quoted you in my top post edit.

I am not sure how unsecure it is but I only use my connection for transfers on local network. My 98SE machine is connected via 'wireless' to the main router (internet access point) via a TL-WR702N acting in client mode, once it is set up properly (on another computer), it just connects to the retro PC's NIC (3com 3C905C in my case) via ethernet cable, manually assign IP to the 98SE machine and you don't have to bother with drivers, wifi utilities or wireless security standards. Though you'd have to power it via USB or power adapter, my SS7 USB ports does not seem to have enough juice to power it, so it's not as built-in wireless as you'd like.

I think it would work also with old routers with the right firmware, like the legendary WRT54GL, I ran Tomato firmware on it in the past and could set it as a wireless bridge, on the upside you'd get more ethernet ports to hook other stuff to it, though old routers like this are only up to wireless G. This involves flashing the router with the right firmware depending on your exact model.

As for Internet Connection Sharing via another PC/laptop, I have not tried it, but technically it should work, though you'd need both machines in closer proximity depending on the length of physical cable.

Thanks for your replys, guys! After searching for Win98 supporting WiFi solutions for a while, it turns out it´s easier to find a unicorn. However, I went to a local appliance store and asked if they had solution to my dilemma. The guy then suggested a WiFi range extender (TP-Link TL-WA850RE). All I had to do, was to install the ethernet card I already had (D-Link DGE-528T), plug it into the extender which I just WSP´d with my main router.

So, that´s one valid option for networking. Certain webpages, such as vogons.org works perfectly but any modern site will just launch a series warnings that browser is updated and doesn´t have whatever plug-ins.

Anyways, since safety is always on my mind, what kind of security software would you recommend?

khyypio wrote:

Anyways, since safety is always on my mind, what kind of security software would you recommend?

For Win98? None.

wait. Odyssey Client for 98se supports WPA2, and there are plenty of witless network adapters that have drivers for 98se that will work with Odyssey Client. If you need Odyssey Client send me a message.

But it seems that is not what you did. you just connected a normal Wired ethernet card with cat5 to a Wireless access point or something. so Odyssey Client is useless to you the way you did this.

khyypio wrote:

After searching for Win98 supporting WiFi solutions for a while, it turns out it´s easier to find a unicorn.

I have a RTL8187B Wi-Fi USB stick. There are working Windows ME drivers for this thing and they can run on 98SE with WDMEX:
https://rloewelectronics.com/distribute/WDMEX/

So that's one way to get WiFi running on 98SE.

I can confirm that the Trendnet TEW-424UB, Rosewill RNX-G1, and Rosewill RNX-G300LX all work fine under Win98SE.

Thanks for all your replies! I updated the top post a little.

Sounds like the discussion about 'safety' here is getting a bit blurred due to no clear definition of what you mean by 'safety'.

Basically you have three separate things to worry about. Each has their own risks and mitigations.

1) Secure WiFi network. Most Win98SE-supporting adapters only support WEP, which is literally worse than no security. Supporting that would mean leaving your WiFi- network open to any even half clued-up attackers in the neighbourhood. Solutions there are to get the one Win98SE-supported chip that can do modern WPA2 security, i.e. the RaLink RT61, or to use a different, newer device to handle the WiFi and connect to that via Ethernet. Both have already been mentioned and OP has chosen to do the latter.

2) Secure incoming connections. There is simply no way to secure Win98SE adequately for this, so you need to make sure it's not exposed to incoming connections from the internet. A simple NAT-router, preferably with a robust firewall, will sort this out. Just *don't* do any port forwards towards the Win98SE machine.

3) Safe outgoing connections. Win98SE and the various antiquated browsers available for it are woefully vulnerable to stuff fixed elsewhere a decade ago. Don't go browsing at random and particularly avoid shady driver sites. Download your drivers on a modern secure system. But non-browsing stuff should be pretty safe so long as you can trust the machine at the other end of the connection.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive-by_download

I'd never trust old browsers. It's not the 90s anymore. The spectrum of malware is so large nowadays..
An (unprotected) system that's online can be conquered within minutes without any user-interactions.

I learned that the hardware with Sober and Sasser on Win XP back in the day,
before it had gotten an built-in firewall.

And with 98SE on an acquaintance's PC, too. No matter how hard I tried (setting up Kerio Personal Firewall etc),
the PC got infected quickly by something once connected to the net (as comfirmed by the antivirus program).

Edit: Without qualifying this statement, I'd like to add that an external WLAN (WiFi) device acting as an ethernet-WiFi bridge
could work. If it has an built-in firewall, it could block some ports often used by malware before it even reaches Win98.
That way, only the garage catches fire, not the whole house. 😉

Jo22 wrote:

An (unprotected) system that's online can be conquered within minutes without any user-interactions.

Not if it's behind a NAT. And who's not behind a NAT these days? Really?

dr_st wrote:

Jo22 wrote:

An (unprotected) system that's online can be conquered within minutes without any user-interactions.

Not if it's behind a NAT. And who's not behind a NAT these days? Really?

Hm. Good question. Now you got me, haha. 😅 Users of simple DSL modems, I suppose (the case I mentioned was from ~2008 to 2014.).
With 9x or Win XP (pre-SP2). OS/2 Warp might be safe on the other hand, I suppose. Mmaybe WfW3.11 w/o Win32s, too. 😉

Generally speaking, though, isn't NAT technology (ie, "natting" [from German natten]; does that word exist in English ?) considered a relict of the past by now ? 😕
I mean, I could really stand the idea, as well as a few of my computer-loving friends could (they still don't like IPv6 and prefer hidding systems behind a NAT).

I was under the impression, though, that in pure IPv6 or mixed IPv4/6 networks, it has little effects, since the OS preferes IPv6 usually if available.
And that the new (new old) TCP/IP paradigm is, that every computer around the world should be addressable directly by its unique IP-Address.

Btw, also dangerous are half-configured OS network stacks I heard, causing "shadow" networks (shadow-ipv6), where data flows in/out either way.
(Here's the artcle that i mean: https://de.qwertyu.wiki/wiki/IPv6#Shadow_networks ; translated to Englich since I couldn't find an English article.)

Anyway, I might be wrong here (feel free to correct). I'm not sure how smart current routers/bridges/switches are by now and if they do
IPv4/6-tunneling taks (IPV4 emulation, so to say) on their own.

Do you know many users of 'simple DSL modems' who only have a single system using that DSL line, in 2019? And that single system is running Win9x? 🤣

A broadband line in most places gives you only a single IP. Once you have more than one system, it means you have a router, it means you have a NAT. IPv4 or IPv6 - doesn't matter. And once you are behind a NAT, none of your systems expose incoming ports to the web, unless you specifically configure your router to do so.

In my previous comments I mentioned a few USB WiFi adapters that work with Win98SE, but I forgot one. The WiBee XS-2204S is another cheap piece-o-crap USB WiFi adapter that also works under Win98SE.

However, awhile back I came up with a better solution. While USB WiFi adapters exist that work with Win98SE, none of them do it particularly well. A better solution is to buy a cheap old Cisco/Linksys router, install DD-WRT on it, and use it as an ethernet-to-wireless adapter. They don't need any drivers and don't consume any extra CPU cycles. Just connect to your ethernet port and go! They typically have four ports too, so you can connect up to 3 more computers as well.

I see old Linksys WRT54G routers at Goodwill all the time for about $4. Even the versions of this router with only 2MB flash storage can still run the micro version of DD-WRT. This is a cheap solution that works great and you get all the options and power of DD-WRT as well.

dr_st wrote:

Do you know many users of 'simple DSL modems' who only have a single system using that DSL line, in 2019? And that single system is running Win9x? 🤣

Well, it doesn't have to be a dumb DSL modem per se. Some DSL routers can also be put in a dumb modem "mode".
I heard that some people make use of this because they want to use a more intelligent home router with better performance or newer technology (WLAN 802.11ax, WPA4).
So in theory, some people may still be able to connect to the net in modem "mode". Or surf with a router with disabled port filtering.

Anyway, that all was not the point. I merely described the dangers that can happen with such a setup, because I experienced it myself.
The internet is a dangerous place, it always has been. Naivety can be fatal here. Just because someone is cautious, uses ancient tech or avoids
browsing shady/p*rn sites, doesn't protect him/her/they from getting malware or spyware. It's not that simple. The user is not always to blame.
Internet technology is complex, with lots of security holes and automation. Just think of Win10. It always does what it wants, not what you want it to do for you. 😉

dr_st wrote:

A broadband line in most places gives you only a single IP. Once you have more than one system, it means you have a router, it means you have a NAT.

Or you've got a Windows computer with connection sharing enabled. Then it's up to it to manage the other PCs.
That feature was originally introduced in Win9x, too. 😉

Edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Connection_Sharing

KT7AGuy wrote:

However, awhile back I came up with a better solution. While USB WiFi adapters exist that work with Win98SE, none of them do it particularly well. A better solution is to buy a cheap old Cisco/Linksys router, install DD-WRT on it, and use it as an ethernet-to-wireless adapter. They don't need any drivers and don't consume any extra CPU cycles. Just connect to your ethernet port and go! They typically have four ports too, so you can connect up to 3 more computers as well.

I see old Linksys WRT54G routers at Goodwill all the time for about $4. Even the versions of this router with only 2MB flash storage can still run the micro version of DD-WRT. This is a cheap solution that works great and you get all the options and power of DD-WRT as well.

Gets my vote.

Jo22 wrote:

Some DSL routers can also be put in a dumb modem "mode". I heard that some people make use of this because they want to use a more intelligent home router with better performance or newer technology (WLAN 802.11ax, WPA4).

Well, then they have this other router filtering traffic for them. It seems strange that they would connect some clients directly to the modem and some to their personal router (if that is even possible, in the sense that the modem would support multiple clients and the ISP would provide multiple IP addresses; I haven't heard of it being done with DSL but I know it's possible with cable under certain circumstances).

Jo22 wrote:

Or surf with a router with disabled port filtering.

It's not just as simple as disabling port filtering; the router needs to know what to do with all these incoming ports. You can either enable specific forwarding or setup a DMZ host that gets all incoming traffic by default; this is surely possible (and dumb), but it's not the default (fortunately).

Jo22 wrote:

Or you've got a Windows computer with connection sharing enabled. Then it's up to it to manage the other PCs.
That feature was originally introduced in Win9x, too. 😉

Oh yeah, I've briefly used it myself, almost 20 years ago. I don't think it's very popular nowadays; if one wants a dedicated PC for routing, Linux is typically used.

You are right of course that there is malware that spreads over the net with no or very little user involvement. I was merely making a point about how a simple NAT router by the very nature of its operation can protect you from most (not all) of it, regardless of the security of the host PC.