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Questions about router and upgrading

Charlie98

Charlie98

Diamond Member
I have ATT internet service to the house (not TV or phone service, just internet) and I have had the same ATT router for probably 8 years or so. I was fooling around with inSSIDer and found I have WEP security... which I guess is the worst you can have? Is the security a product of the router itself, or is there a way to upgrade it? Should I just go out and buy my own router, or try to get ATT to replace the thing?

Networking has always confused the snot out of me, but I need to know what I'm asking for if I have to download or buy something.
 
WEP is insecure, and supposedly, it can be cracked in a few minutes now.

People could be sniffing your traffic, and you would never know. Or they could be stealing your bandwidth and free internet on your dime.

I'm guessing this is a combo DSL modem and Wifi router? If you can disable the Wifi, and then connect another newer WiFi router as an AP to it, that would be your best bet.

Any modern 802.11n router can do WPA2-PSK(AES) encryption, which is significantly harder to break, as long as you use a long and complex passphrase that is not made of dictionary words.
 
What model router do you have now? If it's 8 years old I would definitely ask AT&T for a new one. If they won't replace it, drop them for another ISP, it shouldn't be a problem to replace it yourself with at least an 802.11n modem/router.

WPA2 is the strongest security now, though even that can be hacked.
 
It's a 2Wire 3800HGV-B.

I'm guessing this is a combo DSL modem and Wifi router? If you can disable the Wifi, and then connect another newer WiFi router as an AP to it, that would be your best bet.
Click to expand...

I believe so. I only have 1 port hard wired, everything else (2 desktops, 2 laptops, 3 iPhones) is wireless, but I'll probably be adding a second wire for my security monitor. It's never really gagged, even running Netflix and 3 computers at the same time.

I'm going to have to read a bit more about my router... at this point I have no idea how to gain access to it's settings.
 
How you do that is, go into the second router and disable DHCP, and set WPA2-PSK(AES) on the wireless, and then disable wireless on your DSL modem/router.

Plug the LAN jack from the DSL modem into a LAN jack on the secondary router. Plug your other wired devices into the other LAN jacks on the secondary router. You may also have to give your secondary router a LAN IP address next to your DSL modem's LAN IP address.
 
Update...

Actually went into my router and changed the security level to WPA2! ...and a few other things. ...and it actually worked! Will wonders never cease?
 
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