Help with securing wireless network please...

shopaholicsan

Hi, I managed to lose the key that secures my wireless network so have been using it unsecured. I am now experiencing problems so have to sort out securing it again. I am using a Net-Lynx WR514R IEEE802.11G router. I haven't managed to find anything helpful online after weeks of searching so am getting desperate - any suggestions please??

Thanks

FrugalFriend

Oh dear! First the bad news: using an unsecured wireless network is not a good idea. It's almost definite that you've unwanted passengers snooping around your network, and probably some viruses, trojans and other nasties as well. It's no surprise you're having problems.

Now the good news. Just by resetting your wireless access point your should be able to enter a new key. It's simple, just find out how to do a hard reset in your manual (it's usually by press a button or small hole at the back) or go to the manufacturers web site. You'll need to re-enter your ISP settings, password, etc as well.

When you've re-secured your network it'd be a good idea to run a good virus scanner, rootkit remover and security check on all your computers. Free products like AVG, Spybot S&D and Rootkit Revealer are very effective. Good luck.

slimzee

There are several things you can do to make your wireless network as secure as possible.

• Go to this website and generate a password https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm
• Select WPA2 encryption method from your router
• Dont leave your default router password as 1234, change it!!
• Dont leave your router on the default SSID, change it!!
• Dont broadcast your SSID, once your devices have stored the wireless network they will connect to it even when the SSID is not broadcasting.
• Dont allow the router to be accessed wirelessly (if your router allows this)
• Add MAC filtering to the router so only devices you allow to connect to your router are allowed to do so.
• Regulary change all passwords
• Dont do any online banking over a wireless signal...

Pretty much sums it up, you would be shocked what some people(not me, honest ) can pick out of thin air in a wifi hotspot in town :rolleyes:

I only use wireless for general surfing, any emails I need to send I do it all over a wired connection.

Marty_J

FrugalFriend wrote: »

Oh dear! First the bad news: using an unsecured wireless network is not a good idea. It's almost definite that you've unwanted passengers snooping around your network, and probably some viruses, trojans and other nasties as well. It's no surprise you're having problems.

I would say that it's more likely no one at all has connected to the network. And even if someone did, it's unlikely they did so with the purpose of spreading viruses; and I don't see how you could spread a trojan by illicitly connecting to someone's network.

slimzee wrote: »

There are several things you can do to make your wireless network as secure as possible.

• Go to this website and generate a password https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm
• Select WPA2 encryption method from your router
• Dont leave your default router password as 1234, change it!!
• Dont leave your router on the default SSID, change it!!
• Dont broadcast your SSID, once your devices have stored the wireless network they will connect to it even when the SSID is not broadcasting.
• Dont allow the router to be accessed wirelessly (if your router allows this)
• Add MAC filtering to the router so only devices you allow to connect to your router are allowed to do so.
• Regulary change all passwords
• Dont do any online banking over a wireless signal...

Not broadcasting your SSID and enabling MAC filtering will only deter the most casual and inexperienced of snoopers.

Pretty much sums it up, you would be shocked what some people(not me, honest ) can pick out of thin air in a wifi hotspot in town :rolleyes:

I only use wireless for general surfing, any emails I need to send I do it all over a wired connection.

I think this is probably overkill. If you're using WPA with a decent random alpha-numeric key, it'll take someone weeks, months, or years to crack it. They're certainly not going to be able to pluck anything out of the air.