How to make a wireless network secure03 Apr
Although there are numerous advantages of having a wireless network at home, you need to think about the wireless network security because of the extra risks posed by going wireless as opposed to traditional network connection.
Advantages of a wireless network
You have the liberty to move your computers and laptops to any place that is covered by the wireless router and get connected to your network. But, wireless networking poses greater security threats than traditional wired networking because of the dependence on emission of wireless transfer.
Any person who has a properly configured device can also connect to your wireless network! Have you thought of this? A person who comes with a laptop or a high-end model of mobile device to your home can log into your network and see what is there. Do you want that to happen? No. In that case you have to think of ways to secure your home network so that it is not open to all.
While setting up your wireless router if you have set up the DHCP server, then that server would be happy to give an IP address to any person who walks in to your home with a compatible mobile device.
Even if you have not setup the DHCP server, if the person knows what range of IP address you use in your network, they can easily log in. there are programs like NetStumbler which can detect your network.
There are two basic methods in wireless network security. They are,
- WEP
- MAC address filtering
Securing wireless network through WEP
The WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol) uses a shared key to secure the network. A key is used to encrypt and decrypt the data that is passed between the client and the router (or access point). To use the Wireless Encryption Protocol you have to configure it for each wireless network adapter that you use.
You should also enable WEP for the wireless router. You can use the software that comes along with the wireless network adapter to assign a key for the network. You get a prompt to enter the key while you are connecting to the network. Only if you enter the right key you will be connected to the network.
Securing through MAC address filtering
MAC address is a unique address that is given to the hardware that you use. So each machine has a unique MAC address which is a series of hexadecimal numbers. You have to find this unique MAC address for your wireless network adapter and configure your router to give access to these MAC addresses alone. To find out the MAC address for the wireless network adapter you can type ‘ipconfig /all’ at the command prompt.
You can use these securing methods to secure wireless network of your home PC. It is better to secure through WEP since MAC address filtering can be hacked by a determined hacker.
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