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Securing wireless network?

A

AMDPwred

Diamond Member
We just got a Linksys wireless router and wireless in general is great. I'm concerned about security though. I don't want people to be able to tap into my network. I've already turned on and managed the MAC address list so only MAC addresses I've added to this list can join the party. What other methods are there to secure this network without bogging everything down? Thanks in advance.
 
I hope you are using WEP, although not the strongest encryption available for wireless, better than nothing none the less.
 
I tried enabling WEP, but the client wouldn't take the passphrase I created. Maybe I should be using the actual encrypted key instead?
 
Originally posted by: John
Turn off the "SSID broadcast" as well.
Click to expand...

What does that do?

About WEP, I just did that and all works with WEP and MAC filtering enabled. I wonder why they want you to remember/write down such an odd string of chars. You'd think they would just use that passphrase. Why do you even enter a passphrase?

 
Depending on the nic config utility, you can sometimes enter in the wep code and it will translate it into the long key. Without the key it makes it very difficult to access your wireless lan.

The SSID is the "name" of the wifi network. It is a good idea to either change the default name, or disable it all together IMHO.

The last thing you want it neighbors or people gathering in front of your house/business leeching your bandwidth and/or files.
 
If you really want to secure your wireless access, use a VPN over your connection. For most people (including myself at home), I just set a 256-bit WEP key and pray no one in my neighborhood is running AirSnort, NetStumbler, etc...It is quite possible, once a large enough sample of traffic is gathered, for these tools can determine your WEP key.

For work, we don't trust WEP at all. Our access point is outside a firewall. The firewall rules only allow IPSEC traffic through. We turn WEP off to keep throughput optimal (so the access point doesn't have to encrypt/decrypt our packets: that's the VPN's job). We also do MAC filtering, though that can be hacked just like WEP (once you have the key, you can see the MAC address using the access point and clone it).

Anyway, just some tips. How secure you want to get all depends on how sensitive the data on your LAN is. Have fun.
 
Enable WEP and do MAC address filtering. MAC address filtering is actually very secure since you are only allowing computers with specific adapters and their corresponding MAC addresses to access your network. The newest wireless AP's and routers have 256-bit WEP. My experience with D-Link AP's with 256-bit WEP enabled doesn't seem to show any performance slowdowns compared to 128 or 64-bit WEP.
 
Couldn't you also create a DNS server. Then at that point, the only people that can get into the domain is if they have an account on your server... Then it is just as secure as the wired... isn't it?
 
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