need advice re wireless capabilities of a PSP

[21Rouge]

My lucky son received a PSP (version 2) this Christmas morning. He wants to be able to play others on line using its wifi capabilities; making use of our Linksys router. *I* have some reservations giving him unrestricted access. I need your expertise.Are there things that can be done with the wireless PSP besides playing against someone else with their PSP...eg instant messaging like MSN or dloading or.....? If so can one, through PSP or computer or router settings, impose restrictions so that all he can do is play online PSP to other PSPs?My current security configuration with the linksys router is WPA with AES. My son tells me that the wifi of the PSP is not compatible with AES but the little less secure, TKIP. Just wondering if firmware can be upgarded for the PSP which allows for AES compatibility..for example?Edit [My son just did upgrade the firmware and we now see AES as an option; that question answered]Thanks for your patience and advice.

[4azdmunky]

You may be able to restrict sites the PSP accesses (block by IP) using the built in Parental controls, if your Linksys has them. I would configure the MAC address filtering and trigger based on the type of traffic. You will have to list out what protocols you want him to use, and trigger based on those.If you dont mind me asking, how old is your son? Is monitoring an option instead of lock down? Is there a history to be concerned with (dont answer that, it is a thought question, not meant to be replied to) I know this is a sensitive question, but is giving him enough rope to hang himself with an option? Another option would be to get something like a DGL-4100. It has great controls, and is optimized for gaming. Another option, how are your linux skills? You could segregate your PSP wireless network and harden that segment quite easily with something like SmoothWall or Mandrakes MNF and an old P3 PC. Plus you get the added benefit of SNORT IDS for your whole network.

[4azdmunky]

BTW, MNF and SmoothWall run in proxy mode using Squid. So you can lock out sites (requiring authentication to pass) based on content, and it pre-caches websites so your browsing experience will feel quicker. However real-time sites (banks,stock tickers, game sites etc.) sometimes have problems with proxy's. So if your playing WoW you might have some problems.MNF, SmoothWall, and the DGL-4100 all have excellent logging capabilities.

[JustinVGT]

I have a PSP, although I haven't updated it to 2.0 firmware yet. One of my brothers has version 2.0 and he surfs the web on it. So, yes, you can do more than just play games online with other PSPs. You can browse the just about the entire Internet and there are chat rooms my brother has showed me, but I don't think you can access AIM or MSN instant messenger yet. As others suggested, there may be settings in your router you could limit.

[russ257]

yes you can surf the web, btw anyone whith a psp know how to set it up for wep. i see no place to input which transmit key you are using. or does it default to 1 which could be achieved by resetting some things on the router