Wireless security?

[DaveTN]

I have three computers on a home network.

Two wired desktops (Windows Media Center Edition & Windows XP pro)

One wireless laptop (Windows XP Pro)

Router is Linksys WRT54GS

Laptop uses Linksys WUSB54GC USB adapter

I really don’t want to have to use a password each time a device connects.

Can I just input a MAC Addresses in the router set-up for the devices I have and be secure from someone outside my home having access?

[Guest Mugster]

Well, yes and no. While you can bind a mac to an ip, you need to make sure the dhcp server is configured not to hand out a random IP to an unknown computer. Technically, this would work pretty well, you are correct.

Usually what you do with a WAP (wireless access point) is set an SSID and then share an encryption key with all the clients you want to connect. At least change the default password. The kids keep track of such stuff and hand it out so they can drive around and use your wireless, AKA war driving.

Normally you wouldn't care about a threat jacking in a wire when you aren't there. Some networks do guard against that using the mac/ip pair thing, but, thats overkill for a home network, imo. Once physical security is lost in any computing sense...your goose is cooked.

Edited January 11, 2009 by Mugster

[DaveTN]

Well, yes and no. While you can bind a mac to an ip, you need to make sure the dhcp server is configured not to hand out a random IP to an unknown computer.

Internet connection Type = Automatic Configuration- DHCP ??

Usually what you do with a WAP (wireless access point) is set an SSID and then share an encryption key with all the clients you want to connect. At least change the default password. The kids keep track of such stuff and hand it out so they can drive around and use your wireless, AKA war driving.

Security Mode Choices ?

WPA Personal

WPA Enterprise

WPA2 Personal

WPA2 Enterprise

Radius

WEP

WPA Algorithms Choices ?

TKIP

AES

WPA Shared key: Is this the password?

Group key renal: 3600 seconds

[Guest Mugster]

Yeah, choose DHCP. This starts a process that once an authenticated client connects, this hands it an IP. At the bottom there may be a section to enter a mac address manually and bind it to one particular ip. There should also be a block to configure a range of ip's to hand out. The better ones will distinguish between wired and wireless ip ranges.

On the shared key, thats not a password. Basically, you create a shared key and give it to the clients (computers) you want to connect. Computers without this key can't connect at all. Depending on the strength of the encryption, this is pretty secure. Do not choose WEP, that is broken. I would choose WPA2 enterprise and TKIP.

The key you choose, make it pretty good with some characters and numbers in it. But not too long, you'll have to use it on your pc's to generate a certificate so they can connect. Something like drink30beers4aparty would be pretty good. Something you can remember.

You wind up plugging that key in at some point on your computer and generating a cert which gets stored. So when you connect, you don't have to type anything. What you may be doing now is retyping the key, I dunno. All your communications with the wap get encrypted by doing this. So its (relatively) safe to send confidential info over wireless.

The password that needs reset is the password into the WAP itself. Once connected to the network, you'll have to enter a login/password combo to configure the router itself. The passwords that the factory sets them to are well known and published. So reset that for sure, first thing after you jack it in to the net.

Edited January 11, 2009 by Mugster

[Guest Mugster]

I've boggled my attempt to explain this a little, but you may be able to puzzle it out.

[DaveTN]

Thanks for the help.

What’s a “RADIUS Server Address:â€

It won’t let me continue without one.

[Guest Mugster]

Its required if you use certain forms of WPA encryption.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RADIUS

One thing that may bite you. I'm mostly a unix/linux kind of guy. I don't normally do windows stuff at all. You may have to use a lesser powered encryption protocol depending on which version of windows you are running. Like one of the WPA personal protocols may be all windows personal edition can support.

Just try to stay away from wep. That got cracked wide open about a year ago and all the youth are driving around breaking into old routers.

[DaveTN]

Okay.. If I use “WPA Personal†and “TKIPâ€, it doesn’t ask for a “RADIUS Server Address:â€

x

[Guest Mugster]

Give it a whirl.