Is WEP encryption enough???

[bazooka]

You could sell bandwidth and use that money to get more bandwidth

[ps2daddy]

Hello,

tekkieman - thanks I'll have to check that out more. I thought disabling the "wireless radio" in the setup would turn it off the transmission completely

Kevin

Yep Tekkieman is right about that one if you see a button that says disable broadcasting it wont send your ssid out to everyone but you can still send and recieve signals they have to have your ssid before they can connect to you (there is always more than one way to skin a cat but its one more thing you can do to keep people from getting in very easily)

[tekkieman]

First google hit n00b! :P

Anyway, I thought this might save you the time of continually changing back and forth.

Most wireless access points (APs) and routers automatically transmit their network name (SSID) into open air at regular intervals (every few seconds). This feature of Wi-Fi network protocols is intended to allow clients to dynamically discover and roam between WLANs.
However, this feature also makes it easier for hackers to break into your home network. Because SSIDs are not encrypted or otherwise scrambled, it becomes easy to grab one by snooping the WLAN looking for SSID broadcast messages coming from the router or AP. Knowing your SSID brings hackers one step closer to a successful intrusion.

In a home Wi-Fi network, roaming is largely unnecessary and the SSID broadcast feature serves no useful purpose.

You should disable this feature to improve the security of your WLAN. Once your wireless clients are manually configured with the right SSID, they no longer require these broadcast messages.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Thanks tekkieman

Along with getting around to setting up the MAC address (already did WEP) I'll get this taken care of and hopefully my system will be as secure as I can make it.

Or at least so that most of the default settings are changed to make it harder for wrongdoers to crack in

Kevin

[rallynavvie]

I've noticed that when I turn the radio function off, Windows XP constantly pops up a little notice above the taskbar that says "Wireless network Connection Enabled" or something like that. It happens every time there's an exchange between the two devices, and it drives me nuts having to constantly "X" it out of there, so I leave radio enabled all the time.

You still have system tray notifications enabled? I get rid of those as soon as I installed XP on any system. They're annoying as hell. It's like popups built into your OS. If you don't need them for anything that the icons in the system tray can't tell you when you mouse-over them then edit your registry to turn those off. TweakUI may also be able to disable them.

[yoda313]

Hello,

tekkieman - thanks I'll have to check that out more. I thought disabling the "wireless radio" in the setup would turn it off the transmission completely

Kevin

Yep Tekkieman is right about that one if you see a button that says disable broadcasting it wont send your ssid out to everyone but you can still send and recieve signals they have to have your ssid before they can connect to you (there is always more than one way to skin a cat but its one more thing you can do to keep people from getting in very easily)

BUMP!!!!

OK I finally got a Wireless G pc card adapter for my old Pentium 2 laptop for net surfing. Now I had to disable wep security in order for me to connect to it. That doesn't seem right. It found my network but it showed a little padlock next to it. So I finally turned off the protection and I got on just fine. So what's the best way to reestablish it???

Also, I'm running Windows 98 on the laptop and the network neighboorhood doesn't seem to work. I'd like to be able to transfer files to my emachine from the laptop since the emachine doesn't have a floppy drive (and memory sticks are cumbersome since I have to use an adapter on the usb on the laptop). Any good way to see my computer on the laptop???

Thanks.

Kevin

[tekkieman]

Not only do you need to add the MAC address for the laptop into the router setup, you also need to enter the WEP key into the wireless adapter setup on the laptop. It showing you the padlock is exactly what it's supposed to do if your network is secure.

[yoda313]

Not only do you need to add the MAC address for the laptop into the router setup, you also need to enter the WEP key into the wireless adapter setup on the laptop. It showing you the padlock is exactly what it's supposed to do if your network is secure.

Hello,

Ok I'll restablish the wep and do more configuring. I just wanted it open for awhile to make sure the connection was good.

Thanks again (this is fun surfing without wires!!!!)

Kevin

[tekkieman]

Hello,

Ok I'll restablish the wep and do more configuring. I just wanted it open for awhile to make sure the connection was good.

Thanks again (this is fun surfing without wires!!!!)

Kevin

Like you needed an excuse to be able to post from anywhere! :P

[yoda313]

Hello,

Ok I'll restablish the wep and do more configuring. I just wanted it open for awhile to make sure the connection was good.

Thanks again (this is fun surfing without wires!!!!)

Kevin

Like you needed an excuse to be able to post from anywhere! :P

Hello,




Anytime yes, anywhere??? I don't want to lug the desktop tower downstairs just to post!

Kevin