Best protection for connecting to a a wireless network that's not secure?

[Sandor]

So here's my deal- my roommate is in charge of the DSL/wireless router. SSID is enabled, and no password is required- I've offered to add a bit of protection (at least enable the WEP), but she's not tech savvy, and is worried that something will go wrong when I'm not around and not be able to fix/change it.

To make a long story short, I'm on a unsecure wireless network, and was wondering what the best way is to protect myself. The one caveat is that I have a laptop and desktop I would like to communicate, so I still need to enable printer/file sharing. I have Kerio personnal firewall running, but I'm not sure that's enough (I also have it configured to allow sharing, but in all honesty, I don't know if that's for my specific computer or all computers on the network). I'm not tied to Kerio is someone has a suggestion for a different firewall that may suit my needs.

What's the best way to make sure no other computer, except my 2nd computer, has access? Thanks!

 

[Fardringle]

In your firewall software, create a trusted zone for the IP address of your other computer (this will give your PC permission to interact with your laptop as if the firewall was not installed) and deny access to all other addresses (this will make it so that everyone else can't even 'see' your laptop). That should pretty much take care of it for you. I'm not familiar with Kerio so I honestly couldn't tell you exactly how to configure it for a trusted zone, but it's fairly straightforward in most firewalls I've worked with.

 

[Sandor]

Originally posted by: Fardringle
In your firewall software, create a trusted zone for the IP address of your other computer (this will give your PC permission to interact with your laptop as if the firewall was not installed) and deny access to all other addresses (this will make it so that everyone else can't even 'see' your laptop). That should pretty much take care of it for you. I'm not familiar with Kerio so I honestly couldn't tell you exactly how to configure it for a trusted zone, but it's fairly straightforward in most firewalls I've worked with.

Can I do this if DHCP is enabled?

 

[sosobear]

Yes, DHCP ok with Kerio.
1: to hide your SSID, don't boardcast it to everyone. ( see the router's configuration)
2: have to use WEP. But some routers have problem when deploy 128bit strong encrp. So using 64bit should be good enough for home user.
3: still need personal firewall on your computer, Kerio is good one actually but a little bit paranoid! LOL

 

[Sandor]

Originally posted by: sosobear
Yes, DHCP ok with Kerio.
1: to hide your SSID, don't boardcast it to everyone. ( see the router's configuration)
2: have to use WEP. But some routers have problem when deploy 128bit strong encrp. So using 64bit should be good enough for home user.
3: still need personal firewall on your computer, Kerio is good one actually but a little bit paranoid! LOL

Unfortuneatly I can't use the first two options (its my roommates' router, and she doesn't want it changed), which is why I'm wondering what my other options are. Would a firewall be enough? And how would I allow access to just one other computer on a network without a static IP (router is DHCP)?

 

[roofles]

most routers have wireless access lists, where you can add the MAC address of a card, and permit only those MACs to access the network. This shouldnt be a problem unless you arent around and she wants to connect extra (unknown ) machines.

 

[JackMDS]

Wireless cables DSL/Routers are very inexpensive these days.

Get yourself a Router and connect the WAN Port to a regular port on the "Smart Lady"'s Router.

That it, you would have your own Network on your side of the Router. Do what ever you want to do with it will not affect her. In addition she will be insolated from your system as well.

:sun: