If you have a router and not using WPA or WPA2 router security... please read this..

[williadw]

It just came to me that this would be an excellent place to tell a large group of people that if you have a wireless router connected in your network and are not using WPA or WPA2 security ( which means using WEP or NO security ), your home network and possibly your PC is open to anyone who has the desire to connect to it.

WEP security is old and extremely easy to hack into.


Be safe.....

 

[philippsfrt]

But sometimes it is not needed...I, for example, live in a house built around 100 years ago, meaning that all walls are about 2 feet thick and out of solid rock. This means I'm using 3 wireless access points to barely get wireless around my house which is about 80 feet by 100 feet in which case any form of security, be it WPA or WPA2 is completely redundant...

 

[jim hughes]

I think phillippsfrt is reasonably safe, unless maybe the NSA or Vladimir Putin takes an interest in him...

 

[philippsfrt]

The question if you are blind seems redundant (and hopefully not interpreted as a rant) here in the cafe, but what about the windows in your house?
Have you ever heard about focussing and amplifying antennas?

I never ever would rely upon the suggestion you made!
It does not cost any penny to use WPA or even WPA2 because most routers do supply these protocols - first certification of hardware was in september 2004

Yes ok ive done that myself but due to the way the house is built (in an old style with crazy high walls) the only windows that are viewable from the street that have line-of-sight with routers are one that goes to our neighbors, who are in their mid 60s and sleeping half the time, and the other to a closed private garden that we own so i dont see any danger really...

Oh and btw i don't see it as a rant

 

[jim hughes]

...our neighbors, who are in their mid 60s and sleeping half the time

Hey give me a break here, my wife and I are 60-something and not yet nodding off during the day. Do your neighbors have narcolepsy?

 

[JimCo]

Hey give me a break here, my wife and I are 60-something and not yet nodding off during the day. Do your neighbors have narcolepsy?

Yep, I just had my 61st on Sunday and find myself sleeping away half the day. The other half is dedicated to my career, family, religion, photography, wood working, yard work, etc. (not necessarily in that order except for etc.).:biggrin:

BTW, the sleeping half is about 6 hours so that gives me (almost) plenty of time my activities. :smile:

 

[Growltiger]

My house is 300 years old and has solid stone walls up to 1.5 meters thick (5 feet). I cabled the house and it too has three network access points, so one can walk through it and maintain the internet link.

Despite the walls my tests show that I can access the system from 30 metres away from certain windows, so I can use a laptop by the pond. I am about 60 metres from the nearest road and that has no traffic.

I use WPA2. Why not be safe?

 

[Randy]

i need more motivation than just one is old and one is not

other than switching my router to wpa what else is involved ? Can I reuse the same key so laptops will still connect ?

what is better, wpa or wpa2

 

[CBags04]

i need more motivation than just one is old and one is not

other than switching my router to wpa what else is involved ? Can I reuse the same key so laptops will still connect ?

what is better, wpa or wpa2

WPA2 is better, however for home networking WPA should be fine as it is a 128-bit encrypted key.

 

[PatrickO]

I'm using 2 laptops and a desktop with the same key. Works fine.

The other thing to do is turn off file sharing and use a non-administrator login (helps prevent nasties like rootkits too).

Forget snooping, a neighbour piggybacking off your WiFi can cost you. Apart from illegal downloads, they can slow your access and even max out your bandwidth limits, causing the ISP to throttle your connection due to 'fair usage' policies or even charge you for high usage.

 

[CBags04]

I'm using 2 laptops and a desktop with the same key. Works fine.

The other thing to do is turn off file sharing and use a non-administrator login (helps prevent nasties like rootkits too).

Forget snooping, a neighbour piggybacking off your WiFi can cost you. Apart from illegal downloads, they can slow your access and even max out your bandwidth limits, causing the ISP to throttle your connection due to 'fair usage' policies or even charge you for high usage.

Also, just recently some guy got his house raided by the FBI because his neighbor was downloading and sharing child porn off of his unsecured wifi.

 

[Randy]

WPA2 is better, however for home networking WPA should be fine as it is a 128-bit encrypted key.

thx

my wep is 128bits, why is 128 wpa better than 128 wep

 

[Randy]

Also, just recently some guy got his house raided by the FBI because his neighbor was downloading and sharing child porn off of his unsecured wifi.

i saw that and it prompted my post to this thread that i have been watching

 

[Randy]

I'm using 2 laptops and a desktop with the same key. Works fine.

The other thing to do is turn off file sharing and use a non-administrator login (helps prevent nasties like rootkits too).

Forget snooping, a neighbour piggybacking off your WiFi can cost you. Apart from illegal downloads, they can slow your access and even max out your bandwidth limits, causing the ISP to throttle your connection due to 'fair usage' policies or even charge you for high usage.

i use 1 desktop wired to the router and 1 desktop and 4 laptops wirelessly.

i assume your piggybacking comments were for no security ?

 

[CBags04]

thx

my wep is 128bits, why is 128 wpa better than 128 wep

Here is the wiki on WEP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy

Basically WEP is more easily crackable, than WPA. However, the TKIP protocol that WPA uses has recently been cracked as well. WPA2 is the best, but WPA will work if your router doesn't support WPA2. For most bandwidth thieves, just simply securing the network is enough to deter them.

 

[Randy]

Here is the wiki on WEP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy

Basically WEP is more easily crackable, than WPA. However, the TKIP protocol that WPA uses has recently been cracked as well. WPA2 is the best, but WPA will work if your router doesn't support WPA2. For most bandwidth thieves, just simply securing the network is enough to deter them.

my speed remains very fast so i don't think anyone is piggybacking

i am not against making the change from wep128 to whatever but i still don't see the justification. I may make the chg anyway since it's probably a simple chg
my router is fairly new so i bet it supports wpa2

 

[ddietiker]

WPA is easy to setup and no reason not to use it. But like my neighborhood, the chances of someone being aware of WEP's shortcomings, then actually doing something about it are slim to none.

As a network engineer for much of my career spanning IBM SNA/Token Ring/Ethernet/IP/DECNET/Novel IPX and even Apple Talk ,,,,,,, Even I couldn't be bothered spending the time and effort cracking a neighbors network....

 

[williadw]

If anyone questions whether someone is using their internet connection, you can always look on your router and see the current connections to the router itself.

You can also set your router up to only accept connections from certain devices, that makes it even more secure.

I went to my sister's house and changed her router encryption to WPA2 and about a week later, one of the neighbors walked over to her house and informed her that another neighbor ( directly across the street ) had come over complaining to her that she could not longer get internet and she couldn't figure out for the life of her why my sister would block her internet.

As if she was entitled to be able to use it for free.

The neighbor was really bummed out over it. People are so funny sometimes.

 

[ddietiker]

If anyone questions whether someone is using their internet connection, you can always look on your router and see the current connections to the router itself.

You can also set your router up to only accept connections from certain devices, that makes it even more secure.

I went to my sister's house and changed her router encryption to WPA2 and about a week later, one of the neighbors walked over to her house and informed her that another neighbor ( directly across the street ) had come over complaining to her that she could not longer get internet and she couldn't figure out for the life of her why my sister would block her internet.

As if she was entitled to be able to use it for free.

The neighbor was really bummed out over it. People are so funny sometimes.

Sounds like an opportunity to me :biggrin:

 

[Randy]

WPA is easy to setup and no reason not to use it. But like my neighborhood, the chances of someone being aware of WEP's shortcomings, then actually doing something about it are slim to none.

As a network engineer for much of my career spanning IBM SNA/Token Ring/Ethernet/IP/DECNET/Novel IPX and even Apple Talk ,,,,,,, Even I couldn't be bothered spending the time and effort cracking a neighbors network....

so i checked my router and it supports wpa-2
how can i tell if my clients support wpa-2 (before I make the change) ?