Weekly Tip #6: Basic Wireless Security

Hello again,

This week we're going to talk about setting up a wireless network with basic security features.

The first that you will need is a wireless router, or wireless access point to plug into an existing wired router. D-Link and Linksys make some of the most reliable and user-friendly consumer level routers.

A wireless router broadcasts a signal to computers that have wireless network adapters. This signal broadcasts the SSID (the name) of the network. Most people usually enable broadcasting for convenience and ease of use. However, if your computer does not have many people randomly joining the network (say visitors or guests), then you may want to disable the SSID broadcast. When disabled, the only way to even find the network is to know the name of the network. That name then must be manually entered and configured.

The second basic security function is to enable WEP or WPA encryption. WPA is a strong level of security but is not compatible with some older wireless hardware. Most users will use WEP encryption - it is best to use the maximum bit encryption available (usually 128 bit). WEP is basically a 26 character password that must be sent by the connecting machine to the router, which then verifies the password and allows or disallows the connection. With WEP enabled, people who can "see" your network (SSID), won't be able to connect without that 26 character "key".

A higher level of security is to turn on "MAC Address Filtering" on the router. This is bit more cumbersome, but basically ensures that only hardware that you manually enter into the routers configuration can connect. Nearly every piece of networking hardware has a MAC Address. What you do is find the MAC address of the computers you want to allow on the network, and input them into the router configuration. Then, only computers whose MAC addresses match the MAC addresses in the list on the router can access the router for internet access.

So those are some basic security features that you may want enabled on your wireless network.

Until next time,
Ben