None of these will really make your wireless secure, but the combination
is likely to make you a less tempting target than your neighbors who haven't
done any of these things:

> 1. disable your SSID broadcast

  The SSID was never intended to be a security feature, and will still be
visible (briefly) as you connect.  But not broadcasting it will make it a
bit harder for an intruder to find out.

> 2. make WEP mandatory

  An intruder with the right tools can crack WEP in a disappointingly short
time.  But this will clearly signal that this network is not intended to be
public -- anybody who does crack the key cannot claim thay didn't know they
were trespassing.  And not everyone has the tools.

> 3. enable station mac filter

  Like the SSID, valid MAC values can be seen by anyone listening to the
traffic, so this isn't a strong lock.  But again, it makes it easier for the
intruder to go elsewhere than invest the effort to get into your WLAN.

> 4. change the default password of your router

  Obvious, right?  But a lot of people never get around to it, and while
most(!) wireless routers don't allow administrative logins from the Internet
side, many do allow it from the WLAN.  And if you don't change the SSID (see
#1), then its default value may identify what make/model of router it is,
and thus what the default password (if any!) is.

5.  Require a VPN connection

  This requires a wired machine to act as a VPN server, and probably
requires that the wireless router not also be your Internet router, but you
can ensure that (a) your wireless traffic cannot be snooped, and (b) use of
your WLAN to get to the Internet requires authentication much stronger than
WEP.

David Gillett


On 26 Dec 2004 at 21:16, Joshua Wilson wrote:

> You should do the following to secure you wireless:
>
> 1. disable your SSID broadcast
> 2. make WEP mandatory
> 3. enable station mac filter
> 4. change the default password of your router
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Geraldine Jones
> Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 4:43 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: [PCBUILD] router security
>
> I am running Windows XP and have a Linksys wireless access point router
> hooked up so that my husband and myself can access the internet with our
> notebooks.  What do I have to do so that nobody in the neighborhood or
> sitting outside our house could hook up to my connection?  I would
> appreciate any help you might be able to give me.

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