Wireless LAN Security Questions

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

Okay guys, I would appreciate your input on this. I just installed a wireless access point at my place to allow me freedom of movement with my laptop, etc... I have been researching security measures on the internet. So far I have changes my ssid and router password. I have not disabled ssid broadcast or enabled WEP since I have read that those actions do not allow more security anyway. My question to you is what suggestions do you have for added security? Am I pretty much good to go as is? Thanks.

[Cypher]

If your access point has this feature, turn on MAC address filtering. On a Linksys router (I assume it would be the same for a Linksys AP, if that's what you have), go to setup -> advanced tab -> advanced wireless and there will be a section for Wireless MAC Filtering. There should be 2 options: (1) prevent addresses listed (2) permit addresses listed. Choose permit and enter your laptop's NIC MAC address in the list. Also add any other computers you may have that are using wireless. This means that only your laptop will have access to the AP (or someone spoofing your MAC address... but who would know your MAC address to start with?).

I THINK that if you turn on the MAC filtering, the SSID broadcast is irrelevant because other computers wouldn't see it anyway... but it's not a bad idea to turn it off just in case.

As I understand it, the purpose of WEP is to encrypt the traffic floating through the air so that it can't be intercepted and read. WEP will slow down your connection just a bit (takes time to do the encryption/decryption) and I don't know if it's that critical for you anyway.

If you decide to try playing with WEP, I want to talk to you about it after you get it set up and working.

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

Thanks, I'm going to skip the WEP, but how do I set the MAC address on my laptop? And yes, it's a Linksys AP.

[Cypher]

Start > Run
type "cmd" & press enter (opens command prompt)
type "ipconfig /all"
look for the section for your wireless card -- look for "physical address"

Should look something like this: (please excuse the censorship)

<code>
C:\>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : xxxxxxxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : xxxxxxxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : xxxxxxxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : xxxxxxxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : xxxxxxxx

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Dual-Band Wireless A+G Notebook Adapter
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<font color="red">Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00</font>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
</code>

The highlighted (red) text is your MAC address (in hexadecimal). Just enter this into your Linksys AP setup (I think Linksys uses colons instead of hyphens to separate the pairs of hex digits)

[Cypher]

Just FYI -- MAC addresses are hard-wired at the factory; every network device has a unique MAC address (in theory). So you can't "set" a MAC address for your laptop (unless you try to spoof one, but that's another story altogether).

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

w00t Thanks man!

[K-BOMB]

Robby, I'm assuming you're running your desktop through your router as well. If so, don't make the same stupid mistake I did. I was working in the router admin utility through the hardwired desktop - when I enabled MAC filtering for the laptop, I instantly locked my desktop out! So, I turned around to the laptop, logged into the admin utility wirelessly, and added the desktop to the filter. Voila, shared internet access...

[Cypher]

Interesting... my Linksys router's MAC filtering only applies to wireless (not wired).

[Lt.Dan]

I have found that if you pay the little green men who live in the router to defend it from the invading nazis, than your safty will be greatly inproved. Thus eliminating the use of MAC filtering and setting up firewalls :).

[Apocalypse]

Although I don't follow anything that's going on in this thread, I do know this...Lt.Dan ceases to amaze me. lol dan

[LA_MERC_Dirge]

LMAO Nah Steven, the desktop is okay... The notebook has been problematic... But I think it is under control now. All the flashing lights keep me up at night though...

[LA_MERC_Diesel]

LMAO Apoc, Trey is insane in the membrane!