iLLWiLL

Can anyone with a wireless Linksys router tell me how to secure my wireless network?

I typed in 192.168.1.1, and set my password under the Administration tab. But when I view my wireless network connections, it shows up as "Unsecured wireless network"


i know i'm not doing this right...
i don't want neighbors stealing my bandwidth

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Dave_7

Someone with a linksys router may chime in.... but in the mean time, there should be a Wireless Security or Encryption tab on that page. Go to it, and enable wireless security, use WPA, enter a password/passphrase, save and restart the router. You'll then need that same passphrase to access your connection.

You can always restore to defaults if you mess up and can't access your router.


Dave.

bachviet

YOu need to set up the encryption to secure your network. You should also enable NAT firewall and MAC filtering.

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Airencracken

MAC filtering probably isn't necessary if you use WPA, but make sure to use TKIP encryption. I think the NAT function is enabled by default.

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mechmike0034

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/network...y.html#linksys
Google is your friend!

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Cheesypuff

hey...I just bought that router 4 days ago!!! lol...anywho...I just set up WEP security acess. people that live around me are dodes, so I'm not really scared about people stealing my wireless. just put a password on that WEP and you should be fine.

oh yeah...another thing I did, I didn't put the router to broadcast, I just set my wireless on my lappy to scan for it's specific signal...another security.

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gwilks98

It's not people stealing my bandwidth I'm worried about. It's some blackhat sitting outside in a van looking at my network traffic that concerns me. Once they've got your key, they can watch everything you do. The risk goes up if you live in an apt complex, or in close proximity to a lot of people.


My opinion: Don't use WEP. It's too easy to break. Use PSA or PSA 2.

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Grubbie

If somebody wants to break into your network they will do it. It might just take longer to do. IF you live in an apartment complex, most likely there are some unsecured networks and if yours is secure, they won't bother with it unless they want to nail YOU.

There is always a way around what you do to setup your network mostly. If you turn on mac filtering they can spoof it, turn off ssid, they can still find it and so on and so on.

Jeffbx

I always recommend just MAC filtering. It's enough to stop 99.99% of all intruders, it's easy to set up, and you don't have to hassle with passkeys on all of your clients.

If you're worried about people sniffing your traffic, don't run sensitive data over wireless - there are always ways of getting at it. If you seriously think people are running wireless sniffers within range of your WAP, keep your sensitive traffic on a wire.

gwilks98

Garbage, Grubbie. There's plenty of kids out there who just want to see what they can do that wouldn't necessarily target one specific person. Tools are much more readily available to break WEP than spoofing your MAC address or cracking WPA. (I said PSA, but meant WPA.)

If you have several security options available to you, and each one is just as easy to set up as the next, why not use the most secure option?

Sure, it's easy to say "don't send secure data over the wireless connection" but what do you do when the kid upstairs uses your network, your IP to host his MP3 collection. I don't think Illwill is going to enjoy a subpoena from RIAA or MPAA because he didn't lock down the network.

I agree with you, MAC filtering will stop a LOT of intrusion attempts. But you're trading the administration time of the passkey off with increasing the administration of managing all the MAC addresses. Neither should be a major hassle for a home network.

On an unsecured network, all I need is $20 and a little patience and I can have all the fun I want on your network.


I may be making a mountain out of the molehill, but I'd rather be safe than sorry when it comes to my network.

Jeffbx

True, and you don't even need the $20 - there are free tools the do the same thing. I guess it's all a matter of what makes you feel safe.

On a related note, someone forwarded this to me today and I thought it was pretty dang funny:

http://www.ex-parrot.com/~pete/upside-down-ternet.html

gwilks98

That is AWESOME. I must say that I'd be a bit disappointed I wouldn't be able to see the neighbor's face when they lost their free access.

Paymaster

That is shear genious. I especially like the blurry-net version. They will be trying to adjust their monitor like mad and will get nowhere! It's really painful to look at, too.

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iLLWiLL

OK...

everytime I try to set the security mode to WEP (as outlined in step #5) and click Save Settings, my wireless connection is LOST. Even if I refresh the list of available networks, it does not show.

what am i doing wrong?

iLLWiLL

ok and it also does this when i try using WPA Personal

Jeffbx

Make sure your wireless card supports WEP! I've had that problem in the past with an old card.

bachviet

Some older cards don't support WPA that's why most pple use WEP.

iLLWiLL

yea, but it's looking like my card does not even support...WEP???


it's also a Linksys wireless adapter, purchased at the same time as the WRT54G router...

gwilks98

Once you set your router to WEP, you have to update the wireless profile on your computer to look for the network using WEP with whatever key you gave the router.

To restate: Right now, it's looking for XXX router, with no encryption and no key. Once the router's config changes, you need to update the computer to look for xxx router with WEP encryptino and whatever key you gave it.

Are you on a Mac by any chance?

iLLWiLL

no, i'm on a pc


thanks, i'll give that a try when i get home!

iLLWiLL

oh...perhaps i should ask ahead of time:

how do i update my "wireless profile"? under Device Manager, and locate my wireless card?

gwilks98

It depends on how it's set up.

Windows XP comes with a built in wireless manager. If you're using Windows, right click on My Network Places, select properties. Right click on your wireless adapter, select "Properties." At the top of the Wireless Networks tab, there's a box that says "Use Windows to configure my wireless network settings."
If that box is checked, find your wireless profile in the "Preferred Networks" section on the same tab and click on the properties button. Adjust settings there.
If the box is not checked, you need to find out what program is managing your wireless profile. (It may have an icon in the system tray.) Each program is different on how to adjust your wireless profile, so I can't guide you through that; though most companies make it mostly intuitive and painless.

iLLWiLL

i did it!!!

First of all, i'd like to thank God, for blessing me with the hardware to make this all possible. Big shout-out to mechmike and gwilks for the specific information they provided. And thank you to everyone else for posting "If you want to know more"-information

Nadejda221

gwilks98

Now everyone...let's go over to his house and try to hack into his wireless!

(yer welcome mang.)

Scott01C5

It shouldn't be difficult since we know he only has WEP enabled.

As some mentioned, there are several security options with a wireless router. Using WEP only encrypts your network traffic, and I use the term encyption here becuase WEP can be broken in less then 2 minutes with some freeware tools. Regardless of the key length, it cracks in the same about of time. If you Google "How to Crack WEP" you should get a nice little tutorial. There is even a "Hacking Wireless Networks for Dummies" book available, that a friend of mine wrote. http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyT...764597302.html

Disable broadcast of your SSID, Enable WPA encryption, enable MAC filtering, and put a firewall on your computer.

While the wireless router security options will prevent someone attempting to steal your bandwidth for sending child porn, transmitting illegally downloaded videos/music, and hacking other websites, all of which will get you a visit from your local FBI agent, it will not prevent the person who is attempting to steal your password list to your bank sites or your Quicken, MS Money, or the TurboTax file that is stored on your hard drive. And don't tell me these things aren't on your hard drive, I know they are. The firewall will prevent them from accessing your computer once they crack your WEP and steal your SSN and Credit Card numbers and committing identity theft and fraud which will cost you money and a lot of time and headache to clean up

gwilks98

smells like boarderline spam.