network security question

[eagerinsight]

I have a linksys WRT54GS, with enabled firewall protection, Wireless SSID Broadcast enabled, SES Security Parameters Configured. WPA personal security mode TKIP algorithm. No mac filtering, and no time-day access restrictions. With this my neighbor claims he can get on my network and peek at my files. Is it possible he can get on my network, with all this security enabled. I know when I try to access a security enabled wireless network I need a network key???? Another question, when I enter my router setting I enter the router ip address, then I'm prompted to enter username and password, but as a default all I have to do is enter admin as a password. How do I change my username and password for router access?

[amazon10x]

On my linsys it is under the administration tab and the password is listed right at the top. Just change it there then click save settings.

[eagerinsight]

how do i enable SSID Hiding???

[eagerinsight]

under admin tab it has router password and its like 20 digits long, is that where i change my password?

[Sjaak]

If you have a WEP key enabled i say he's bluffing.

MAC filtering can provide another good protection system. Spoofing a mac and cracking a WEP key at the same time requires leetness.

[bchur83]

Ask him to list files you have shared. If he gets them right, call the police. It is illegal, to connect to a private unprotected network.

If he is a friend of yours, you may not want to do the above though. At the very least, I would change your SSID to something unique, enable WEP(128bit or better), set MAC filtering, and if you want, use WPA. Those alone will stop almost anybody from snooping. Also, follow the above steps to change your router password.

[da_spork]

All you could do to better yourself is use mac filtering. WPA is by far superior to WEP. Once you do that stuff, there's nothing more you could do except disable the wireless :D

Make sure you're setting it all up with nice keywords/passwords too, not stuff like your dog's name :P

SSID hiding doesn't do much except not inform the average Joe Smoe that there's a wireless network close by that windows detects.

[Sjaak]

Even better: hack into his wireless! lmao

[eagerinsight]

my network key is a 63 random alpha-numeric characters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9). If I disable ssid broadcast, it won't show up in windows available wireless networks? How do I connect to my network, the only way I know how to connect is through windows wireless connections.

[su root]

There was recently a big vulnerability discovered in WPA if you are using a Pre-Shared Key.

[jajmon]

/begin rant
How do I ? ,,,,,,,,, change the oil in my car, change a fuse in my car, change my admin's password on my router, change a configuration setting on my router. Guess I'll RTFM to find my answers. /end rant

Now for some helpful info, forget using Windows wireless configuration and use the wifi utility that came with your wifi card. You should have areas where you can put in the ssid, channel, wpa/wep key etc.

[trey_w]

Hiding your SSID is a waste of time... just enable WPA.

[crash013]

There was recently a big vulnerability discovered in WPA if you are using a Pre-Shared Key.

Can you give more info on this?

[su root]

http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=369221&rl=1

WPA is crackable with very little sniffing needed, as long as it's using weak (<20 chr) preshared keys. Can be cracked with as little as 4 packets. It's also vulnerable to a DoS attack that kicks you off the network for one minute and resets all the passwords, with as little as 2 bad packets injected.

http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/1556321
http://www.michiganwireless.org/tools/WPA-Cracker/WPA_Passive_Dictionary_Attack_Overview.pdf (pdf)