Secure wirless router without being connected to PC, how?

[Go Tyler]

Don't ask why, it is a long story. I have my dsl modem and dlink router in
one room with no computer. The internet works fine. My laptop connects fine
wireless. Now my desktop is in another room and it connects with a linksys
wirless usb adapter no problem.

All these connections are unsecured. Is there a way to secure the wirless
connection without having a computer connected to the modem and router
directly?

 

[Noozer]

No wireless connection is 100% protected, but you can do two things...

- Allow only specific MAC addresses permission to talk to your router. Just
put the MAC from your Laptop and Desktop adapters in.

- Enable WEP encryption to keep others from easily intercepting your
wireless packets and finding out what your MAC addresses are. This can be a
real hassle to get working.

Not really foolproof, but should be OK for the average user.

 

[Go Tyler]

Right, but to enable all this I am going to have to have at least one
computer connected to the modem and router directly, right? I guess this is
impossible. I suppose I could connect my laptop to it and set it up to be
secure.

 

[DaveW]

Yes. Read your router's Manual for directions on how to activate your
Wireless Security.

 

[Curious George]

Right, but to enable all this I am going to have to have at least one
computer connected to the modem and router directly, right?

No. After you configure the security over a wireless connection
you'll loose that connection. Then simply enable the security on the
PC's and you'll be back up.

I guess this is
impossible. I suppose I could connect my laptop to it and set it up to be
secure.

If you have a laptop, what's the fuss about exactly? Even if you
didn't why can't you simple move the AP over and connect it to the
nearest PC for configuration? Seems a lot faster to me than waiting
for responses on usenet.

WPA with a Pre-shared key is another option to explore - quite simple
to set up & reasonably secure with MAC address filtering.

 

[Go Tyler]

Right, I got the wep up and going. I am trying to figure out the mac
addresses now.

 

[kony]

Don't ask why, it is a long story. I have my dsl modem and dlink router in
one room with no computer. The internet works fine. My laptop connects fine
wireless. Now my desktop is in another room and it connects with a linksys
wirless usb adapter no problem.

All these connections are unsecured. Is there a way to secure the wirless
connection without having a computer connected to the modem and router
directly?

Yes, you just pretend they're wired and proceed the same,
changing the router security features, and rebooting it
remotely, THEN before you reaccess it, you'd have to
reconfigure your client wifi adapters to these same settings
where applicable. Since I don't know what your non-descript
dlink router supports, you'll just have to look through the
configuration page(s) and compare with your client adapter
settings.

It's not puzzling to have a modem and router in another room
w/o a PC, but if you set something wrong you may end up
having to take the laptop into the room and I have to wonder
why you didn't just do that in the first place, or does the
laptop not have a wired lan port at all? Wifi is so
incredibly slow for some things, if your laptop doesn't have
a 100Mb wired port I'd consider adding it.