Is your wireless router secure? Have you ever thought about it?

MarkBargain

I guess most of us set up our routers as quickly as possible and then as soon as they worked just left them without thinking about security. I "logged into" my router for the first time today and thought I'd ask a couple of things for general discussion.

1: Have you ever changed your router password? (router password, not wi-fi password). If not, it is probably the default one written on the bottom of the router, likely to be "password". Not very secure then!

2: Do you have encryption set up and if so what? The options on my Netgear router are:

- None;
- WEP;
- WPA-PSK (TKIP);
- WPA2-PSK (AES);
- WPA-PSK (TKIP) + WPA2-PSK (AES).

Mine has WPA-PSK (TKIP) but I was thinking of changing it to something better. What are the pros and cons?

I know this stuff can be looked up on Google and router manuals, but it's worth having a little discussion here even if it makes a few people (like me!) think a bit more about their security. Any comments welcome.

safesound

I have a router password set up (different to the default) and I use the same as you for encryption WPA-PSK (TKIP) primarily because my other wifi equipment cant deal with anything more secure.
I actually spent a few hours back last summer driving around my area with a laptop and was amazed by the amount of unsecured networks available. On my 500yard walk to work every day there are three (residential) open wifi networks that my android phone will "see", makes me want to knock on the door and explain how to secure their router.

lucylucky

"I guess most of us set up our routers as quickly as possible and then as soon as they worked just left them without thinking about security."

I think you are right.

It amazes me the number of home networks I can log into when I am out and about.

Browntoa

I only use WEP

being as its a BT hub it also sends out an openzone (no security) signal which I assume would be a better target for someone wanting free wireless

pompeyfaith

Have you considered not displaying the SSID your router will not be visible then and more secure I'm on WPA-PSK (TKIP) with SSID hidden

kwikbreaks

Most routers have some sort of encryption turned on by default but some don't and a brief walk running Wardrive on an Android phone will quickly reveal them. Handily for free-loaders the most commonly non-secured ones all have the same SSID - belkin54g although there are also a few NETGEAR plus the odd linksys and Belkin_G_Plus _MIMO_<varies> so if you read this and have one of those SSIDs check your router setup.

It's worth checking that remote admin is disabled - usually it is and so long as that is done physical access to the router is needed to modify the settings in which case the password is of no consequence as a reset will bring it back to default anyway.

===

Hiding an SSID give no extra protection other than against the most casual hacker and makes connecting by friends less convenient

taxi97w

If it wasn't for the unsecure network that one of my neighbours kindly offers, I wouldn't have internet access at home.

Bless 'em.

kwikbreaks

Browntoa wrote: »

I only use WEP

being as its a BT hub it also sends out an openzone (no security) signal which I assume would be a better target for someone wanting free wireless

You need an id and password to connect to the BT Fon APs.

WEP is not secure for sure but with so many wide open APs around it probably isn't worth the (admittedly short) time it would take to crack.

Andybez38

I could be using an unsecured Linksys network right now to write this reply, but im using secured virgin media account.

MarkBargain

Thanks for the interesting responses so far.

Another question: is it only possible to "dial in" to a router (to change the router's settings) using a connection (in my case wifi) provided by that router? i.e. could a neighbour who doesn't know my wi-fi password dial in to my router if they knew the router's username and password (which is "password", must change that!)

Turning off the SSID sounds like a good idea, as my devices know my network and connect automatically so I don't need to keep broadcasting this.

What does the Wardrive andoid app do? Plot wi-fi connections on a map and show which ones have no security presumably?

stevemcol

The user name and password are only of passing interest and essentially only there if you want to stop people who already have network access (kids perhaps) from changing the router settings.
The important one is your WPA key. It should be as strong as possible and best generated by an engine like this: https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

Doesn't really matter if you broadcast your SSID in fact I think it's better to do so to help savvy neighbours deconflict channels.