Why is there not a Wifi router "USB stick Secure Connect Key" option? An idea.

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,226
9,990
126
I think that there was perhaps a LinkSys router that did something like this, but my idea was thus:

Plug in your router, and plug a fresh blank USB stick into said router (most modern routers have USB ports), and press the "WPS" button. A LONG (maximum length + entropy password) would be generated by the router, and then stored in the router's firmware settings, as well as written in a file on the USB flash drive. That drive thus becomes the "Connect key", for the devices (mostly thinking of PCs here, but a combo USB "A" and "micro-B" or "Type-C" could work for phones too), and then you just simply plug the USB flash drive into the PC, and Windows will prompt you, when you plug it in (if the file is written in a certain format?), or prompt you to use a USB key, when attempted to click on the SSID in your wireless to connect, and check the Flash drive for a file "(SSID).WPS" and use that as the key.

This would allow for secure WPS connections, rather than using the physical push-buttons on the router, and then having someone probe the router while the "door is open", and steal your wifi password, which I believe is possible, by using a wired (USB) means of transferring a key, that would be automatically-generated and of maximum key length, rather than rely on a user-generated key. Thereafter, if someone wanted to connect to the router in the future, they could just use that USB key.

This could also be done with certificates, I suppose, and have the router generate a public/private key, and write the public key cert to the USB drive, which would be needed for authentication.

I believe that this method could be very useful for small business setups too, that need to be secure, and much less of a PITA than generation a max-length key online, and then using a piece of paper to write it down, configure the router, and then punch in a long alphanumeric string into Windows to access the Wifi AP/router.