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donnie3
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/15/04
Posts: 861
Loc: bartlesville oklahoma
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i just installed a linksys G router to my desktop i order to be able to move around the house with my laptop. everything is working just fine then i find out that wireless is not very secure. how can i make it more secure. i have two dsl modems, so i tried to use both of them, the one on my desktop and set up the other in my study. i come to find out that in order to use one, i have to disconnect the phone jack to the other and viceversa. any help on either would be appreciated. thanks, don
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JAT Observatory
Space Freak
Reged: 02/20/05
Posts: 5657
Loc: Eastern PA
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Wireless can be made more secure by turning on WPA, restricting access to the wireless router by MAC address and not broadcasting your access point name.
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-Marcus
The problem with free speech is even the stupid have a voice.
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donnie3
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/15/04
Posts: 861
Loc: bartlesville oklahoma
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jat observatory: im not very computer savvy! would you please tell he what wpa and mac stands for and how to do. i had a tech person come in and set up this wireless network. he worked on it for about an hour and finally had to call at&t yahoo dsl to walk him through the setup. thanks, don
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Mattbtn
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/08/06
Posts: 3168
Loc: Chattanooga, TN
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Don, why do you have two DSL modems? Unless you have two separate DSL acocunts, I don't think you can have two modems hooked up at the same time on the same account. What it sounds like you need to do is buy a Wireless USB adapter (about $40 bucks I think) for the second desktop, and connect it to the wireless network on your new Linksys G router.
As far as security, you need to activate the encryption security on your wireless signal, and I'd suggest WPA if you have it. Once encrypted, choose a pretty complex password that isn't easily guessed. Mine is about 20 characters, and looks roughly like "2wG#L4gm$sg4kLM!derFKX" to give you some idea. You'll need to read your manual to learn how to get into the Router setup screen, which is usually done from your browser. On my CheckPoint router I just type in my.firewall, but on my older Belkin I had to type in the Router IP address, which was something like 192.2.180.0 or something.
For ultimate security, you can enable connections by MAC addresses only, which is like your computer's unique identification key. You can tell the router to only accept connections by approved MAC addresses, which coupled with the password would make it about as secure as it could possibly get.
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"Computers help us solve the many mysteries of the universe. They also help us make the same mistake many times, really fast."
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Mattbtn
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/08/06
Posts: 3168
Loc: Chattanooga, TN
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BTW Donnie, there is a lot online that explains wireless network security in very easy to read terms(don't be afraid to Google!), but WPA is basically an encryption standard that safeguards the data you are transmitting to/from your router from your laptop. There are different types of encryption methods, and WPA is one of the best available for general home networks.
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"Computers help us solve the many mysteries of the universe. They also help us make the same mistake many times, really fast."
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donnie3
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 12/15/04
Posts: 861
Loc: bartlesville oklahoma
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could you explain just how this works. can someone get into your computer only if your online and on both conputers or just the one that is on line wireless. don
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Rusty
Postmaster
Reged: 08/06/03
Posts: 16410
Loc: Brooker, FL
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If the computers are both on and networked, an intruder can get into both. Here's a place to start. Much of it will be gobbledy-gook, but there are some helpful tools.
Wi-fi security isn't the only thing to be concerned about - so is Internet security. It would be best if you can find a local geek to help you set up with both.
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Mattbtn
Post Laureate
Reged: 02/08/06
Posts: 3168
Loc: Chattanooga, TN
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What Rusty is getting at Don is that in order to be fully protected, you need to have a solid "software" security solution (firewall, spyware, antivirus, etc...) AND a "hardware" security solution (hardware firewall, wireless encryption, etc...), and I fully agree with his assessment that the best thing might be to find a local gee...errr umm "expert" to help you set it all up.
The only thing else I can add is that there are a lot of free programs out there, but I'm a strict believer in that you get what you pay for.
Good luck!
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"Computers help us solve the many mysteries of the universe. They also help us make the same mistake many times, really fast."
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