routers lights,are flickering

trish06

hi
can any1 help
i have a bt wireless hub
i have set the wep key
when my pc and laptop is switch off,the hub lights are flashing,namely the wireless and data ones
they normally do flash,when i am on the internet
does this mean that someone is piggybacking my broadband

trish06

^

BillScarab

I'm not familiar with the BT wireless hub but can you use WPA-PSK instead? WEP is relatively easy to crack. Also as Al Mac said set you router up so that only specific MAC addresses can connect.

pixel_artist

yeah mac filtering is a good option, wep isn't as secure as people think but with both in place it makes it that much harder for someone to abuse...

espresso

pixel_artist wrote: »

yeah mac filtering is a good option, wep isn't as secure as people think but with both in place it makes it that much harder for someone to abuse...

MAC address filtering is a complete waste of time! If they have captured enough wireless data to crack the WEP encryption, they already know what MAC address to spoof.

I agreed that the OP should change from WEP to WPA-PSK encryption as this is much more secure, providing the longest possible random key is used from a site like this.

trish06

Al_Mac wrote: »

If you've got WEP set up, no one should be able to piggy back. Can you access the router and see who is connected, to put you mind at rest? Mine shows who is connected wirelessly. Whilst there you could also only allow you laptops mac address access. Double protection

thanks for replying
ok on my laptop,when i click on the wireless connection icon,it shows my bt home hub,plus somebody elses ,mine has got a padlock next to it
does this mean i am secure and no one can piggyback of my connection

espresso

trish06 wrote: »

does this mean i am secure and no one can piggyback of my connection

The padlock means that your wireless connection is secured i.e. not open or unencrypted but it does not mean that "no one can piggyback of my connection" if WEP encryption is in use, as it can be hacked.

WEP encryption has been superseded by better encryption methods which are not easily hacked like WEP. If you wish to set up the best security, you need to change it to use WPA-PSK encryption, using a long random key. Details of this are in the user manual.

BillScarab

Al_Mac wrote: »

I've always wondered how many people have been of have cracked WEP. Or any other security for that matter.

Most homes wouldn't be worth bothering with, or would they?

I would have thought companies would have been the first target, then rich areas.

Also wasn't there ability to pick up signals from computer screens 20 plus years and actually see what was on them?

Whole new thread really

I've no idea how common it is but if you wanted to download something illegal it may be worth hacking a home wireless network to help hide your tracks.

There certainly have been methods of picking up the radiation from CRT screens to read what was on them. I work in a very large data center and we did once have some systems for one customer that were located in the machine room inside a Faraday Cage to prevent this happening.

trish06

thanks all
i will read my manual on how to setup a WPA-PSK encryption