wireless secure/not secure

have a client that brought a dell inspiron from me and was using the wireless when out of town. she stated that one connection she got was secure and another one wasnt. she wants her connections to be secure. is this something that i can configure for her or is this part of the network she is latching onto ???

i dont know much about the wireless networking other than setting them up and making sure they function. when i test the wireless i just attached to my wireless router and make sure that function works. so anymore knowledge would be appreciated.

also she was stating that she was getting a weak signal now i believe that is more than likely because she was either close to the 300 feet or beyond it. true not true ???

 

It's the wireless connection she's making that has to be secure, not her laptop.

If she connects to a non-secure network she is STEALING bandwidth from the person who's paying the bill - not that it's a hanging offence, YET.

 

thats what i thought but wanted to make sure. secure just means that the owner of that connection doesnt want just anyone piggybacking off their connection.

thanks.

 

If you could list the make and model of her Wireless Router / AP we could steer you in the right direction.

Several ways to secure.

WEP or Mack address filtering are the most common ways.

 

its the dell 1370 integrated into the dell inspiron 6000

 

No, the security is setup on the source end.
All you do on your laptop is match the security credentuals from the source.

If you don't own the source of the wireless broadcast there is really nothing you can do.

 

nope i dont own the source. these are my clients who are new to wireless who just think they should be able to attach to anyone wireless network. a training thing letting them know that some allow you to grab their connection and some dont.

 

If the owner of the source is not particularly worried about his privacy and security, you can't do anything and I don't see anything wrong in piggy backing.

 

i dont see anything wrong with piggybacking either but obviously some out there do. this client was just on a trip and she was able to get some connectivity and then others asked for an entry key which i assume is a password.

 

However you look at it, it's still stealing!

I urge everyone to set up either WEP or WPA security on their wi-fi networks to stop unauthorised people using their line.

Also, imagine the consequences if the 'freeloader' downloads child pornography and your connection is traced?

 

Oh come on now thats a little bit overboard.
I can think of 20 resturants in my city that has wide open public wireless internet!

It's stealing if you hack the wep key, or plug into it via hardwire not if you are picking up unsecured wireless signals.

Check with the FCC, you will see it's perfectly legal to pickup transmissions over the airways as long as they aren't scrambled or secured in some manner.

This includes AM, FM, UHF, VHF, KA, KU, and yes Wifi.

 

If you keep your money out on the street & somebody steals it, I don't think its thief's fault. You have to safeguard yourself.

 

Scott Smith

I am going to take you up on the offer to assist in securing MY wireless router so no unauthorized people can gain access. I just brought a dlink
di-624m its a super g mimo. has wep and wpa in the configuration.

Wireless radion is on
ssid - default
channel - 6
super g mode - disabled
ssid broadcast - enabled
authentication - open system is checked
wep - disabled
wep encryption - 64bit
key type - hex
key 1
key 2
key 3
key 4

Have gotten this wireless router so i can make sure when i build a new system with wireless that going out the door the wireless works. also, am going to let my sister-in-law use my access to get dsl ability. she is my neighbor about 100 or so feet away with a desktop.

what do i need to do to set a password and make this a secure connection. i use on my main system zonealarm security suite the new version with antivirus.

advice would be appreciated....greg

 

Greg,
I haven't read up on the WPA security but it's my understanding both ends have to be WPA ready.

Lets just keep it simple.

Change the admin password of the router.
Change the SSID to something unique.
Use the 128 bit encryption option.

Create a key of 26 characters.
Something like: B082B4446A6349F201BB67B676

The key is hexadecimal so the characters that can be used are:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

Once you create a key, copy and paste it to a text document and save it to a flash drive or a floppy so you can open it on the client PCs and paste the key when prompted. Once the key is entered you won't be asked for it again.

 

Scott Smith

ill check out the wpa..
so the key will some how read the mac address of the machine connecting and basically authenticating it.

i am assuming that I need to enable wep cuz the default is disabled ???
it looks like th key type allows a change or should i leave at default of HEX ???
super g mode leave at default of disabled ???

now if i put a password on the admin function of the router is that going to impact my sister trying to use my dsl connection ???

 

WEP Wireless Encryption Protocal has nothing to do with MAC addresses.
The encryption key authenticates any PC using that key.

SSID is what a user sees when they are scanning for wireless networks.
Default is what is loaded into the router currently. I would change it to something like MYHOUSE or something unique.

HEX

Super G enables 108 Mbps file transfer rate provided the card in the pC is a Super G

No the password is only to the admin page of the router and has nothing to do with the DSL authication.

 

sorry it took so long to get back but my isp lost some of my emails and one being that you responded. never got the email from windowsbbs. thanks for the information i will test out when i get my sister in law connected. thanks again.