Wireless in my appartment...

Hey all, I have a question that has been haunting me over the past few months regarding a security issue with wireless in a apparment complex. My laptop is due here in a couple of days (wireless), and one of my roomates will also have a wireless capable laptop, and the rooms will be completely across the apartment, so I don't want wires running all over.

Anyhow, here is a LINK to the router I am looking at getting; it has the 10/100 ethernet ports that my desktop computer will use, and has 802.11g capability for both laptops in the apartment.

ISSUE: I have been seeing on ther forums images of poeple mocking their neighbors for leaving their wireless connection unsecure, and thus allowing the near-by neighbors to just leech off their service for free. I don't want that to happen to me. Does that router come with some sort of security that can prevent that? Can I password protect the connection, so that everytime one of the two laptops wants to log on, they need a password?

BTW, all pc's will be running Windows XP pro.

I appreciate any help, and sorry for the somewhat lengthy post.

http://overclockers.com/tips1105/

follow this phat guide

you can secure against your avareage neighbor it it just takes efoort

9mmCensor said:

http://overclockers.com/tips1105/

follow this phat guide

you can secure against your avareage neighbor it it just takes efoort

Click to expand...

exccellent read, thanks for the link. Reading page 2 right now; I'll let you guys know if I have trouble understanding anything thanks again.

dreIU said:

exccellent read, thanks for the link. Reading page 2 right now; I'll let you guys know if I have trouble understanding anything thanks again.

Click to expand...

if you have questions pm macklin01. he wrote it.

On the top of page 2, when he is talking about disabling the broadcast of the SSID, I undestand that part, but then he goes on to say:

Notice that once this is done, you'll have to manually configure each wireless device on your network to the SSID you chose.

Click to expand...

And he leaves it at that; I am not sure how you could do that. By each wireless device, he is talking about the other computers that are on the router via wireless connection (so the 2 laptops in my case)? Maybe this is really simple, but it's over my head

EDIT: I'll PM macklin01, just saw your post.

In your wireless network properties You have to enter the SSID (network name) manually in Windows Wireless Network Connection Properties. In the same setup screen you will also enter your Network Key (WEP key) and Key index (most routers I've messed with have 4 different keys that can be setup numbered 1-4)

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Speaking of security I just moved into a new place this weekend but haven't connected cable yet... I can access at least 3 wireless networks right now and even login to 1 router with full admin rights (the exact same router model you linked to). Good thing for them I have no evil intent because I could lock them from their own network in just a few minutes if I wanted.

So make sure you change the default login and password and only allow router administration from a wired connection if you have that option. This way you have to be connected via a LAN cable to access the router admin screen. But if your lazy like me and you want to admin your router from a wireless connection then VNC into your wired connection and do it from there.

A simple change of SSID, admin login, and WEP encryption with HEX and monitoring your router logs should keep 99.9% of people out simply because there are so many routers that are wide open.