Thursday, August 7, 2008

Wireless Security

Important tips to secure the Wireless Network on the Linksys Router.

Change the default password of the Router / Access Point :

In the setup page click on Administration tab and change the password there, click Save Settings.



Enable Wireless Encryption :
In the Setup page, click Wireless and than click Wireless Security (subtab).

Setup Mac Address Filtering :
Every wireless device has a unique mac address or a physical address. The routers maintains a table that keep track of the mac addresses of all the devices connecting to them. To setup the mac address filtering, on the setup page, click Wireless tab, click Wireless Access (sub tab). By enabling this feature, you can permit / prevent only certain computers' access to the router.
Assign Static IP Addresses to the computers :
By assigning static IP Address to the computer, you wont have to rely on the router's DHCP server. Also you can change the Local IP Address on the router. Remember the IP Addresses that is being assigned to the computers is in the network range of the Local IP Address of the router. After doing this, disable the DHCP on the router. All these settings can be done from the Setup page of the router.
Disable the SSID Broadcast :
If you disable the SSID broadcast the name of the network will no longer be displayed (broadcasted). A wireless profile needs to be created on the computer. Also try not connecting to any free hotspots, as it exposes the computer to security risks. Change the security encryption at regular intervals (eg. after every 2 months)

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