wirelees network security configuration

[papichulo1968]

I had an internet sharing connection with my wireless router for a while now, and yesterday i decided to turned that into a wireless network , so that my wife could print from her laptop. Question, i was setting the security festures on the router, i used wep2, this made me created a tx key, now here goes the question do i have to enter that tx key everytime the computer disconects from my network, or is there a way around that, where my pc and my laptops can be allowed into the secured network without having to always enter this hex number.?

 

[vorgusa]

There is WEP or WPA or WPA2... I have never heard of a WEP2. Once you have everything set up on your computer for the first time it should automatically connect in the future as long as you do not change it on the router. You should probably use WPA or WPA2 for security since WEP is old and easily broken into

 

[JackMDS]

Since WEP can be used with 64bit or 128bit encryption, some peopl call the 128bit WEP2.

From the weakest to the strongest, Wireless security capacity is.
No Security
MAC______(Band Aid if nothing else is available).
WEP64____(Easy, to "Brake" by knowledgeable people).
WEP128___(A little Harder, but "Hackable" too).
WPA-PSK__(Very Hard to Brake ).
WPA-AES__(Not functionally Breakable)
WPA2____ (Not functionally Breakable).

Note 1: WPA-AES the the current entry level rendition of WPA2.

Note 2: If you use WinXP and did not updated it you would have to download the WPA2 patch from Microsoft. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/893357

The documentation of your Wireless devices (Wireless Router, and Wireless Computer's Card) should state the type of security that is available with your Wireless hardware.

All devices MUST be set to the same security level using the same pass phrase.

Therefore the security must be set according what ever is the best possible of one of the Wireless devices.

I.e. even if most of your system might be capable to be configured to the max. with WPA2, but one device is only capable to be configured to max . of WEP, to whole system must be configured to WEP.

If you need more good security and one device (like a Wireless card that can do WEP only) is holding better security for the whole Network, replace the device with a better one.

Setting Wireless Security - http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html

The Core differences between WEP, WPA, and WPA2 - http://www.ezlan.net/wpa_wep.html