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Thread: Securing a Wireless router?

  1. #1
    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    Securing a Wireless router?

    Anybody got a quick how-to guide on how I secure my new shiney wireless router?

    It's got:
    WEP
    802.1X
    WPA-PSK
    WPA

    as options, and then there's more settings when I select them - which should I use?

    Thanks

    Josh
    Last edited by joshwa; 13-03-2005 at 05:36 PM.

  2. #2
    Bonnet mounted gunsight megah0's Avatar
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    wpa-psk is what i use, you simply specify a key which all connected computers use to get access, no key= no access
    Recycling consultant

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    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    1. Change the default SSID (wirless network name) from the default to something...odd.
    2. Disable SSID broadcast - this stops your wireless router yelling "Here I am! Here I am!" to the whole world.
    3. Use WPA-PSK as noted above, if all your wireless devices support it. If not, use the highest level of WEP that they all support.
    4. This is where it gets a little controversial, since a lot of people claim it's a waste of time, but you could enable MAC address filtering. Theoretically, this limits access to your wireless network to only the specific network adapters that you authorise.
    1-3 are your best bets, though.

  4. #4
    Goron goron Kumagoro's Avatar
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    Not broadcasting SSID can make the connection less stable.

    I still havent been able to crack my 64bit wep even with a couple of new progs.

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    Bonnet mounted gunsight megah0's Avatar
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    I tried the SSID limiting and as mentioned above it made the connection rather flakey
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  6. #6
    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    cool cheers - done 1. and 3. but can't seem to find the option to disable SSID broadcast :/ hmmm... will check out the manual now...

  7. #7
    Goron goron Kumagoro's Avatar
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    There really is no point in hiding the network name from being broadcast.

  8. #8
    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    Look, if someone is going around HUNTING for wireless networks, then yes, they will find the network. However, it doesn't hurt to not advertise its presence. And I've set up quite a few WLANs and disabling SSID broadcast has never made the connection less stable.

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    Goron goron Kumagoro's Avatar
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    If you are not going to put encryption on then fine take a risk and hide it.
    Just because you have not had trouble doesnt meant that it doesnt happen.
    Saying it doesnt hurt is wrong, it could affect quality of service.

    What does hiding it get you? effectively nothing as encryption will stop them from connecting anyway.

    I personally use the info on other networks to select the least used channel.

  10. #10
    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    Personally, I'd just rather not advertise that it's there for someone to try to crack. I put the best level of encryption supported by all the devices on it on every WLAN I set up. Selecting the least used channel isn't going to stop a card on autodiscover from finding you; it's a good QoS measure, since it minimises interference from other WLANs in the vicinity, but it's got nothing to do with security. As far as quality of service is concerned, given that the only purpose of SSID broadcast is to advertise the network name, and given that if you've already set the network name on router and connecting device, and given that they're already connected, exactly how do you think that disabling SSID broadcast could hurt an already established connection? I use a variety of wireless kit, and have NEVER seen the disabling of SSID broadcast interfere with a connection between devices that are already aware of the SSID and have the proper keys set.

  11. #11
    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    i seem to be having some issues - i'm not sure if it's the laptop, the card, or the router - but whenever i walk over a meter away it looses the connection... really quite annoying considering the whole point is that it's meant to be wireless which is meant to allow me to move away from my desk... !!

    i'm gonna try it on a different laptop now to see what happens

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    Bonnet mounted gunsight megah0's Avatar
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    tried disabling ssid broadcast, my wireless connection is now broken
    Recycling consultant

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    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mgh0
    tried disabling ssid broadcast, my wireless connection is now broken
    What kit, please?

  14. #14
    Bonnet mounted gunsight megah0's Avatar
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  15. #15
    Senior Member joshwa's Avatar
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    Hello

    i've set the same card up on a different laptop - apparently my signal quality is 'Normal -48' when i'm about half a meter away from the router - surely it should be better than this? although with this laptop i can go further away and it still works ? is this normal? maybe the other laptop doesn't like working without the power cable in?

    any ideas? thanks

    Josh

    - i'm using ebuyer 108mbps wireless router and ebuyer 108mbps wireless pc card.

  16. #16
    Bonnet mounted gunsight megah0's Avatar
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    wireless is properly broken.

    router fails to respond, refuses to reboot.

    great suggestion, thanks ever so much
    Recycling consultant

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