Are People Stealing Your Internet Connection?
Written by Steve Lewis
10/1/2005
If you are using a wireless router chances are that your network is
not secure. Especially if you just plugged it in and did not change any
settings. What is the big deal? Well, your neighbors could be stealing
your bandwidth or looking at files on your computer. Let me explain.
Default Settings Are The Problem
Out of the box, most wireless routers are set to accept any connection
and well as broadcast your connection to others! How can you prevent
this? It is not that difficult.
Before Anything, Change The Admin Password
Your router is also configured with a default password. Before you change
any settings, login to your router and change the password. To login,
you will need to know your router's IP address and default password.
This can be found in the user manual and is usually 192.168.x.x. For
example 192.168.1.1. Type this number in your browser address window
and you will be prompted to login.
The SSID And Why Your Neighbors Like It
The SSID is like a radio station number. It is the name of your connection.
By default, your router broadcasts this and anyone with a wireless capable
PC, Laptop or other device can receive this SSID and know that there
is a wireless connection available. So, the first thing to do is to turn
off the SSID broadcast and then change the default SSID to something
else that includes random numbers and letters. Changing the default SSID
will also prevent people from guessing it easily.
Now We Need To Enable A Secure Connection
Within your router's security settings, you will find options
to set security. You should have at least the following: WEP-128 bit.
If you have WPA-Personal, use that. The other settings are beyond the
scope of this article. For more information about each option, check
your manual or help file. WEP is better than nothing but is not as secure
as WPA. In addition, if you use the WPA option, set your algorithm option
to TKIP. Unlike WEP, WPA with TKIP provides stronger security.
You will notice that once you set WPA-Personal and TKIP, there will
be a long string of numbers and letters generated below. This will be
your "key." Write it down along with your SSID. You will
need it later. If using WEP, you will have to enter a password to generate
this key. Choose a good password at least 8 characters with letters numbers.
Save Your Settings And Get Ready To Configure Your Wireless Connection
After you have saved set your settings, log out of the router and go
to you wireless PC, Laptop or other device. View the properties of your
connection. You will need to set it to use WPA-Personal and TKIP. The
actual options will vary depending upon your equipment. Now, you will
need to enter your new SSID and the "key" you wrote down from
above. If all goes well, you should get a connection. If not, double
check your settings. Keep in mind that if you ever have to reset your
router, all the settings will be lost. So, you will have to start over
again.
The above is meant for a small home router. If you are configuring a
large corporate network additional settings may be required.
Once you complete the above you will have a wireless network that is
95% more secure than what most people have!
About the author:
Steve Lewis is President and Founder of Website Nation, LLC that provides
Website Development/Marketing, Computer Help/Networking and Business
Support Services to Fortune 500 and small businesses since 1997. He can
be reached at WebsiteNation.com
|