Encryption Help

[Maestro]

Hey gang, my wife and I just upgraded our tech to include DSL, a new laptop, and a wireless router. We have the router installed, and both the desktop and the laptop are able to talk to the router and connect to the 'net. The only problem is that we have an unsecure connection. Anyone within the range of our hotspot can leach off of our router.

I want to set the connection so that this can't happen. We have a Cisco Linksys router. How do I do this? The software wasn't particularly helpful when I connected things, and I'm not even sure how to get back to it on the desktop. It hasn't been installed on the laptop yet.

Thanks!

 

[StolenThunder]

I don't know about that particular router, but there are generally two different means of accessing router settings.

Either you installed some sort of access utility when you set up the router - some Linksys software; or it has an access page that you get to via an internet browser - you do that by looking at the router label and seeing if there's a set of numbers on the bottom (like 168.162.4.5) then enter those into the address bar.

If it's the latter, this is the sort of thing you'll have to do. That example is with a Linksys access page so it might be extra helpful?

You hear a lot about wireless security and two different standards: WEP and WPA. So long as you have one of them enabled and your password isn't "password", "admin" or "default" then you should be fine. If you have a hacker kid as your neighbour then go with WPA as WEP can be "broken into" if someone is determined enough.

 

[Maestro]

The neighbors who are realistically in range probably don't have wireless capabilities. They may not even know what the internet is. They're delightful people, but they're all above 70. Unless one of their kids or grandkids are visiting, I'm not worried. I would expect that if we had an unsecure network and one of their kids noticed, we'd get a phone call or visit from them advising us to encrypt. That's how wonderful they are.

However, I spoke with a friend of mine tonight, and he spends a great deal of time on the road. He leeches off of unsecure hotspots in residential areas to get his email. He doesn't do anything malicious, but if he's checkig his email off of other people's hotspots, I don't want to take any chances with what others might to with mine.

I went to the Linksys site and downloaded software to properly set-up the network and lock down the encryption. We had a little difficulty getting the key entered into the laptop (silly upper/lower case letters), but we're encrypted and all is well. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Nomad V]

Maestro said:
The neighbors who are realistically in range probably don't have wireless capabilities. They may not even know what the internet is. They're delightful people, but they're all above 70. Unless one of their kids or grandkids are visiting, I'm not worried. I would expect that if we had an unsecure network and one of their kids noticed, we'd get a phone call or visit from them advising us to encrypt. That's how wonderful they are.

However, I spoke with a friend of mine tonight, and he spends a great deal of time on the road. He leeches off of unsecure hotspots in residential areas to get his email. He doesn't do anything malicious, but if he's checkig his email off of other people's hotspots, I don't want to take any chances with what others might to with mine.

I went to the Linksys site and downloaded software to properly set-up the network and lock down the encryption. We had a little difficulty getting the key entered into the laptop (silly upper/lower case letters), but we're encrypted and all is well. Thanks for the advice.

I'm about in the same boat. I too have an unsecure Linksys wireless modem. I can pick up both my neighbors. One has a secure network and the other does not. When I do work from home I use a VPN connection for security. However, financials are on our computer as well as some other things in the shared area. I believe that teh shared area is all an outsider could get into, but I am not positive.

 

[mvkemp]

Turn on the encryption and enable Mac checking. Piece of cake.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

And if your wireless router has the option, disable administration of the router from the wireless network. That way, even if someone manages to break your encryption and get onto your network, they can't lock you out of your router. Yes, I know people that's happened to...

 

[farmkid]

As another layer of security, you can turn on MAC filtering. Every network adapter has a unique address called a MAC address. Turn on MAC filtering and add the MAC addresses of all you network adapters you may use and then your router will only talk to your network adapters. Your router will completely ignore any other computers. It's not really hard to break for sophisticated hackers, but it will keep out anyone who isn't determined to get into your network.

 

[Corran Horn]

Hard-code your SSID into your client devices and then turn off SSID broadcasting from your router. That'll keep out the 'nosey' people at least.

 

[Sec31Mike]

Another wireless trick is to make sure your antenna is almost level with the floor. This makes the signal leakage outside your house almost zero.

 

[Alaedhros]

^ How does that affect the strength/range inside the house?

 

[Maestro]

If the encryption is on, though, I'm pretty safe, based on where I live, who my neighbors are, and the limited range of the router, right?