I wanna secure my wireless router at work to where only my PC and one other can access the signal. How do I go about that? The router is a Linksys BEFW11S4 if that helps any.

Thanks.

 

Try page 21, dude.

 

Well anything can be broken but if you combine the wireless security WPA with the MAC filter you should be fine.

You can get your MAC address by going to a command prompt and typing

ipconfig /all

 

Its an old router man, according to the manual that I linked to its WEP only.

Just follow the manual and be done with it. MAC filtering is a PITA and a total waste of time.

 

That is true

 

I know on Windows Vista (I think that XP is the same) there is a tab under the wireless network connection status called wireless properties, hit the security tab and then there is a list of options. WEP is ok can be cracked but will take some work. WPA is much better, from what I understand cracking it is a real pain in the a$$. It requires a 8-12 digit password numbers, letters and case sensative. Unless you live next door to a super hacker they will not be able to crack it.

 

Step away from the wireless security thread dude. Did you know that WPA was actually EASIER to crack than WEP? I'm referring to WPA-PSK of course. They since have addressed the holes in the latter WPA-TKIP but still, most users have the consumer version of WPA (the -PSK) and thanks to a lack of knowledge make themselves more vulnerable by using WPA instead of good 'ol 128-bit WEP.

The master hath spoken.

 

So on a scale of 1-10 how difficult is WPA-TKIP that I am using to crack?

 

Well there are a lot of variables to consider, its a loaded question. In reality your more than likely using the strongest method available to you, and hopefully using complex passkeys. Good for you, that should be more than adequate for your private home use unless your living around some hackers that enjoy screwing with you.

Now, let's say your using WPA-TKIP, have a weak passkey and never rotate it. It's somewhat easy for a pro. Don't want to get hacked? Use longer complex passkeys and rotate them monthly. Also, use WPA2/AES encryption with those long complex passwords that get rotated monthly for even better protection. Also do proper site survey and eliminate as much signal leak as possible and your really in good shape.

 

Here's a pretty good beginners guide to wireless security:

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.cg...uideToNetworks

Although NO network is uncrackable, WPA2-AES is the best you're going to find for most home applications.

If you really want a secure home network (if that is your priority over convenience) then go with fiber. Keep in mind though, that any security features you employ are only good up to your cable/dsl modem. From there on out, you have no control over the security. There are other means to pass secure traffic over a non-secure medium, but that is a discussion for another venue.

 

Ok, I thought that I was pretty safe. I am fairly confident that most of my neighbors struggle just turning a computer on. I highly doubt that any of them would even given the chance. Their only reason would be to use the internet to look for ****.

 

Bahhhh...if you want a secure connection, setup your clueless neighbor as unsecured. They'll have their connection borrowed and your's will be left alone.

 

What?! Don't even go with the argument fiber can't be tapped, blah blah blah... there is NO reason for a home user to think they are more secure with fiber over your standard CAT5 cable.

You want extra security, just cable it, period.

 

I just checked that, sitting in my garage with the door open I was able to find 4 other unsecured networks with useable signal stength. I have the only secured network around. Looks like I am ok.

 

I already said that NO network cannot be tapped/cracked, etc. Fiber is far more difficult to tap than wireless, cat 5, whatever.

There are also other methods to make fiber (or UTP/STP) more difficult to tap (without knowing about it), but it's all how **** you want to get with it.