Making a wireless router secure

albertross_2

have you disabled the ssid broadcasting?

iwilldoitthistime

no - i left it enabled.

the only things I changed were SSID - I changed it to something not linked to my name
Country to UK
WEP - Enable
128 bit encryption - changed it to a number

Is there anything you think I might of missed?

albertross_2

if the ssid is broadcasting, vista should see it when you scan for networks

iwilldoitthistime

think I might try it again in the morning - cant do it now because its in my sons room and he's asleep! thanks again for the patience..

iwilldoitthistime

Hi tried it again and it still isnt picking it up.

the router is a

Mentor wl-r4rii-uk

if thats any help?

Toxteth_OGrady

In the WLAN settings of the router have you got the WEP key set to HEX or ASCI? If it's set to HEX are you entering the key in correct hexadecimal format?

:cool:

TOG

iwilldoitthistime

Hi TOG
Ive got it set to HEX and am putting a random set of numbers in. Is this right? should I set it to ASCI?

Toxteth_OGrady

You can either set it to ASCI and put random letters/numbers in or if using HEX choose a memorable passphrase and generate a 128 bit Hex key from it using this

:cool:

TOG

iwilldoitthistime

okay - Ive done it in ASCII and I think its worked.

It now says

Name - default
Signal Excellent
Security WEP
Radio type 802.11b
SSID default

I changed the name, but its still shown as default. is this a problem. Also - do I need to change the SSID? Does this mean its now secure?? (please say YES!)

thanks

Toxteth_OGrady

For the level of risk to a home network - YES (although it's not the best protection and others on here may argue otherwise).

The most important factor e.g. 99% of the security comes from the encryption. The other 1% comprises changing the default SSID, disabling SSID broadcast and enabling MAC filtering.

:cool:

TOG