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 5 Things You Can Do to Secure Your Wireless Network
| 1 | Put a password on your wireless router/access point (AP).
Do not retain the default router name and password. Every other security option is meaningless if the router isn't secured. You might also consider disabling remote administration unless you have a reason to administer the router from a location other than the local network.
| | 2 | Turn off broadcast of the Service Set Identifier (SSID).
By default, your router will broadcast your wireless network's SSID. The SSID will then be visible to anyone with a computer and a wireless networking card. However, before you turn off the SSID, you need to know the name of the wireless network should you want to access it, as turning off the SSID means you won't automatically be able to get that name.
| | 3 | Consider disabling DHCP.
If only a few systems access the wireless network, you might want to turn off DHCP and give the clients static IP addresses, which have to be assigned manually and must match the IP address range supported by the router. Otherwise, if you use DHCP, any DHCP client that finds the network will be assigned an address. Disabling DHCP is simple and prevents unauthorized users from getting a network-supplied IP.
| | 4 | Use MAC-address filtering.
MAC addresses are specific to individual network devices. When you type "ipconfig /all" at a command prompt in Windows, one of the items returned is titled Physical Address and consists of six pairs of numbers. These numbers are the MAC address of the adapter, which is stored in the network adapter ROM. You can lock down your wireless network by configuring your router to accept only connections from a specific list of PCs by their MAC address. Unfortunately, this is a time-consuming task if you need to add hundreds of PCs to the list. Once the list is created, however, adding individual PCs to it is simple
| | 5 | Enable encryption.
Although Windows defaults to the 802.11 Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard when encryption is enabled, consider upgrading to Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). WPA provides a stronger security model than WEP, and you can download WPA support to Windows XP (if you don't already have Service Pack 2 - which already has it). Regardless of which encryption method you choose, you should use one, even if WPA isn't supported on all your clients.
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Many brands and models of wireless routers and APs support these five tasks and when combined with them will provide solid wireless network security.
This document is provided by Chips IT without warranty. It is intended to give useful advice to customers, but no responsibility for any action can be accepted by us. If you are in any doubt, consult the experts for advice - Chips IT.
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Posted on Tuesday, June 20 @ 23:18:54 BST by Admin |
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