Wireless security problem.

[Rock]

Hello,

I have a mshome network thru a hub with on attached via a wireless
gateway which also is a gateway to the Internet.

I have tested security from the internet and the firewall is fine and my
network can't be seen however..

I had a friend over with his wireless laptop and he was able to get to
my network via Network Places etc. I had to tell him the network name,
still it registered as insecure.

In Network properties I set the Wireless connection using the WEP with
windows giving the security number automatically and it says it is
secure, but obviously isn't.

How do I secure my wireless network with XP?

Thanks

Rock

 

[Dana Brash]

Two first steps in securing any wireless network:

1. Turn off Broadcast SSID (which it sounds like you did since you had to
tell him the network name)
2. Enable MAC filtering on the AP

If your AP doesn't have MAC filtering, get one that does. Buffalo, Linksys,
Netgear, etc., etc....

Also, WEP, even 128 bit, can be cracked in less than 5 minutes by someone
that knows what they're doing. If you're running 802.11g, use WPA instead.
I believe XP SP2 will support WPA for 802.11b, but as I run 'g' myself I
can't confirm.

HTH
=d=

 

[Jack]

First bear in mind that though the same word Security is used to describe
secure Internet Connection and Secure Wireless there is No relation between
the two from a Computer functioning perspective.

Wireless Security has Nothing to do with Firewall.

Wireless is just a replacement for a Wire and thus can be intercepted by
people in the neighborhood attaching then self to your LAN. That why there
is Wireless Security measures to avoid Local Tapping. These measure are
unique only the Wireless itself, and has to be used even if there is No
Internet Connection.

Link to: http://www.ezlan.net/Wireless_Security.html

The Firewall "Job" is to protect the Internet connection from being
invaded, and to prevent your LAN computers from transmitting out to the
Internet privileged information.

Each computer on your Network that has access to the Internet should have
its own Firewall regardless of whether you use Wire or Wireless.

Internet -Basic protection: http://www.ezlan.net/firewall.html

In addition you should have tools available if your computers get Infested.

Internet Infestation: http://www.ezlan.net/infestation.html

Jack (MVP-Networking).

 

[Barb Bowman [MVP-Windows]]

Actually #1 is not really going to keep the determined hacker or snoop
out since even with broadcast off, it's possible to sniff the name.

The best recommendation in a home environment is to use WPA-PSK with a
passphrase of 20 characters that is random (to foil dictionary
attacks). This can be used with Mac filtering.