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Sunday 25 November 2012

How to ensure security for your wireless Internet at Home

By Mathew Vidales


When getting an Internet connection at a house, it is best to purchase a wireless router as well. Many ISPs will provide users with a router for free when they purchase a monthly subscription. However, there are various device models and manufacturers available. Therefore, it is better to purchase a device with features that you need rather than using the one provided by an ISP for free.

Ethernet routers require computers to be directly connected to the device via LAN cables. On the other hand, wireless routers can be connected to via wireless cards. Majority of the wireless routers also provide Ethernet ports allowing computers to utilize LAN connections as well.

Why is Wireless Internet Security important?

A wireless connection provides access points within a certain radius. In reality, the range of a wireless connection can be thought of as a sphere. Any computer devices present within the sphere can connect to the router and then surf the web. That is why it is necessary to employ Wireless Internet Security protocols.

Setting up a Pass key

Every wireless router allows users to secure it using a passkey. A passkey works just like a password and users who want to connect to the network must have access to it.

There are three types of security keys that come with every wireless router. These include WEP (Wired Equivalency Protocol) which is the most common type of security key. The other two are WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA-2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2).

Both WPA (Wi-FI Protected Access) and WPA-2 are considered to be extremely secure. These two keys are much harder to crack as compared with the weak encryption that WEP provides.

SSID Broadcasting

SSID (Service Set Identifier) Broadcasting is present in every router. When a network is setup, the name is set to default by the router itself unless it is changed. The default network name is based on the manufacturer and model of the router. Most users do not bother to modify the SSID. A default SSID name can be used to breach the wireless network by experienced hackers. Most routers also provide the option of turning off SSID broadcasting completely. This prevents public visibility of the wireless network.

Mac Filtering

MAC filtering allows a router to identify devices via their MAC IDs. Every device has a MAC ID which is unique to it. Routers have the ability to clone and save MAC addresses.

MAC filtering provides the added security benefit of preventing unauthorized users from accessing the network even when they have the password security key. Mac Filtering is offered by both advanced and low cost wireless routers. It is a very efficient way of implementing Wireless Internet Security.

Access to the router interface

Ensuring Wireless Internet Security also calls for preventing other users from gaining access to a router?s setup interface. The best wireless routers provide the option of preventing access to setup interface while a user is connected wirelessly to it. In such cases, only devices that are connected through an Ethernet port can access the setup interface.

This can be accomplished by only allowing users to access it if their device is connected via LAN to the router.




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