How to Secure Your Wireless Network Using WEP and WPA
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Nowadays everything and everyone is finding their way onto wireless
networks. Wireless access points have made it easy and cost
effective to setup wireless networks in numerous environments.
For example, hotels and home offices that wanted to connect
people in different rooms would have had to drill holes and do a
lot of hard labor to run ethernet cable before wireless. They can
now do it almost instantly by simply plugging in a wireless access
point.
In this article I'm going to explain the best way to secure your
wireless network regardless of brand, just as long as its
compatible with 802.11a/b/g.
These are the different types of wireless devices:
Wireless Client - a device (like a computer, Xbox, or TiVo)
using a wireless adapter
Wireless Access Point - a standalone device that adds a
wireless network to an ethernet network
Wireless Router - a device that controls the network and
sharing of the Internet connection; it has a built-in wireless
access point
Wireless Repeater - a device that receives and retransmits any
wireless signals in the general area
Network Setup
Whether you choose a wireless router or a standalone access
point, the setup is pretty much the same. Just follow the
manufacturer's instructions on the setup of the device. Then go to
the manufacture's website and update the firmware on your device to
the most current version.
Just remember to always change the admin password to
something you're going to remember.
Now that you have it ready, go to the wireless settings page
(usually something like 192.168.1.1) and do the following:
Change the SSID to anything except the default name.
Choose a channel that's not being used a lot in your general
area. Do a site survey with your host to see if any wireless
networks are already being used in your area prior to setting up
your access point so that the other networks won't interfere with
yours.
SSID can be left on. Why? Because even if you turn it off,
people that know what they're doing can still see your
network.
Security Setup
Now we are going into the wireless security settings:
Select the highest possible encryption that's compatible with
your clients, and choose the personal setting, because some access
points have enterprise options.
Normally all host adapters (such as AirPort cards) support WEP
(Wireless Equivalent Privacy), but on some you can update the
drivers and get support for WPA and WPA2. WPA (WiFi Protected
Access) support is included with Mac OS X 10.3 and above with
the AirPort 3.3 update. This is nice because it works on both
classic AirPort cards and newer AirPort Extreme cards. WPA2 is only
supported with AirPort Extreme cards, and you must be using Mac
OS X 10.4 with the Airport 4.2 software and above.
From lowest to highest security: no encryption, WEP, WPA,
WPA2
Algorithms and Keys
Choose an algorithm for the encryption. TKIP (Temporal Key
Integrity Protocol) is the normal settings and is good enough. You
can go up to AES (Advance Encryption Standard) or combine both
TKIP-AES for maximum encryption. Just remember to test it with all
the different host adapters you have, since other brands are
sometimes picky. Be sure to pick an encryption that works with all
your clients.
Pick a shared key. Simply type in a password that your will give
to all your clients on the network so they can log in and work
together. I recommend using the
Ultra High Security Password Generator for a completely random
63 character password.
Everything else you can leave set at the factory defaults - or
to whatever suits your needs.
There are hundreds of other things we can do to secure it more,
but most of them are overkill for home use.
I will explain a few that are commonly found in those settings
pages.
MAC (Media Access Control) address filtering is simply a list on
your access point of who can log in and who can't. The problem is
that your MAC address is at the begging of each data packet when
you transmit data, so anyone can simply sniff a few packets and
gain access to your network by changing their MAC address to match
yours.
WEP was not really designed for security. I will say this: If
your host doesn't support WPA even after software upgrades, use
WEP. It's better than doing nothing and leaving your wireless
network wide open.
Lastly, these are very basic settings - anything else will
increases your security. Just play around with what works best for
you and use this article as a guideline.
If your don't understand a feature, read through the
documentation of your router or access point. If that doesn't help,
look it up on the Internet.
Enjoy your newly secure wireless network.
Page not found | Low End Mac
Welcome Image and Text
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
