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02-24-2005, 09:18 AM
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#1 of 18 
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Member
Join Date: May 2000
Local Time: 10:22 PM
Local Date: 10-10-2008
Posts: 264
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Wireless network security help!
I have a linksys wireless router and connected to it is a DSL modem and 2 (wired) PCs. We also have a laptop elsewhere in the house that connects wirelessly. I know the neighbors can see the wireless network, so my questions are, what do I need to do security-wise to make sure people can't steal bandwidth or see files?
I really struggled setting up WPA and WEP originally, so I gave up, thinking I would just not explicitly share any sensistive data. Was I wrong about this? Recently, someone said I should filter the MAC addresses, so I added the laptop's MAC address(es) to the filter list today. Everything seems to work fine still, so any need for anything else?
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02-24-2005, 11:47 AM
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#2 of 18
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Join Date: May 2001
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one day i noticed another wireless network, which i could see and hop on to -- which kinda scared me. that kicked my butt into gear. i enabled wep and did a few other things as well...check out this link.
http://www.linksys.com/edu/page10.asp
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02-24-2005, 12:12 PM
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#3 of 18
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Ted, thanks. I did everything it says and am pretty confident now.
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02-24-2005, 12:16 PM
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#4 of 18
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Location: Michigan
Join Date: Dec 1998
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You should at least implement WEP on your wireless router and laptop. The Linksys device driver for the PCI adapter I'm using does not support WPA (although the Linksys wireless router does), so I used the wireless adapter support built into Windows XP to setup WPA. WEP, though, should be pretty easy to implement -- just pick a static WEP key for both the router and laptop (they need to match).
WPA is more secure than a static WEP key (your WPA key will change automatically, making it much tougher to break). However, WEP should at least keep the casual nearby PC users off your private network.
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02-24-2005, 02:52 PM
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#5 of 18
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hey scott - since he used mac filtering, isn't that even better then wpa? from what i can tell, it doesn't get any more specific then that??? not sure...
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02-24-2005, 04:51 PM
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#6 of 18
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I've wondered the same, Ted. While I've enabled 128 bit WEP, disabled SSID, and turned on mac address filtering, I've wondered if all I really need is to specify which mac addresses have access to the router (I have a Netgear WGR614v5).
The reason why I've wondered is that lately, I'll occassionally lose my wan access or even if the wan access is okay, my internet access goes down. So I thought perhaps the multitudes of security barriers might have an impact on access and stability.
Off the topic...for those who have a Linksys WRT54G router, what's up with this Sveasoft firmware I see all over the web? I've tried to delve into this legion of techheads, but it's all too esoteric for me without investing too much time for something I don't own.
But I'm wondering if I should switch to the Linksys for this reason if it's worth it?
my girls rock Balenciaga & smoke mad marijuana - M.O.B.
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02-24-2005, 06:10 PM
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#7 of 18
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Quote:
| I've wondered if all I really need is to specify which mac addresses have access to the router |
Well, this will keep out people who don't care at all, but can EASILY be broken. If you only use MAC filtering, all of the packets of information you send between your computer and router can be seen by others (using a free program called AirSnort among others). These packets contain headers which contain your MAC address. MAC addresses can be spoofed very easily at no cost, so they could simply convince their own computer to use your MAC addresses and they'd have full access to your network.
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02-24-2005, 09:55 PM
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#8 of 18
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ahh..good info seth.
peter - i have the wrt54g router. what's this sveasoft thing you're talking about? i did upgrade the firmware via the linksys.com site, but that's about it.
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02-24-2005, 10:38 PM
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#9 of 18
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From what little I've gathered, sveasoft is a 3rd party super firmware for the Linksys wrt54g router - supposedly, it's a stable release that adds features and improves both speed and range dramatically.
I've only gleaned casual info from threads on fatwallet & anandtech. Here's the thread at AnandTech .
Just googled sveasoft and discovered they have their own
website. While it appears that they charge for the firmware, an argument rages that this is open source based and should be free (which leads to easily obtained copies floating webwide).
Again, I'm curious if anyone with a Linksys has upgraded to sveasoft and how much of a difference it makes. I've only heard incessantly how Linksys makes the best wireless routers...now I'm wondering if it's because of the ability to apply this 3rd party firmware upgrade.
Care to try, Ted?
my girls rock Balenciaga & smoke mad marijuana - M.O.B.
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02-24-2005, 11:10 PM
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#10 of 18
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Member
Join Date: May 2001
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in a nutshell, no way. my stuff works just fine, and after reading some of the articles/threads -- this is way more geekiness then even i can handle.
my shizzle works just fine the way it is right now...not gonna mess with it anymore.
but i thank you for the info! 
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