Routers

[rambler6]

I did a search and couldn't come up with a answer to my question.

Just bought a D-Link wireless router for a laptop. Home use only. Had a D-Link one before but it wasn't wireless. The question is can anyone now access the net through my connection. What do I have to do to make sure this doesn't happen. Do I need to enable encription or anything. Please keep in mind that I'm not a computer expert, so any help is appreciated.

 

[rambler6]

Thanks smart guy, never would have thought of that.

I would start by reading the manual!

 

[eljudo]

I did a search and couldn't come up with a answer to my question.

Just bought a D-Link wireless router for a laptop. Home use only. Had a D-Link one before but it wasn't wireless. The question is can anyone now access the net through my connection. What do I have to do to make sure this doesn't happen. Do I need to enable encription or anything. Please keep in mind that I'm not a computer expert, so any help is appreciated.

www.wardriving.com

 

[cancowboy2001]

Also this from two years ago

Pantless driver charged over kiddie porn and stealing a internet connection

Sun Media
TORONTO -- A man caught driving naked from the waist down while watching kiddie porn on his laptop has become the first man in Toronto charged for allegedly stealing an Internet connection.

For the first time, Toronto police laid a theft of communications charge after busting a man driving the wrong way down a one-way street while downloading child porn using stolen wireless Internet signals.

The slow-moving car was pulled over around 5 a.m. by a police officer who allegedly found the driver - with no pants on - watching a movie on his laptop of a 10-year-old girl performing fellatio on an adult.

Police allege the man downloaded the movie using an Internet connection he intercepted from a nearby house.

 

[VanCan]

If you login to the router's administration page, their should be a section for the wireless setup. In this section, look for somthing that mentions WEP/Security. Here you can specify the level of security you want. Put in a Key/password and save your changes. When you next connect to the router, you'll have to enter this same key in your laptop. This should be a one-off task, you won't have to do it each time you connect.

Finally, to make it even more secure, most wireless routers enable you to limit the wireless connections to specific MAC addresses. If you put your laptops MAC address in, then, theoretically, no other laptop should be able to connect (unless they spoof the mac.)

It's never 100% secure, but just like securing your car: You want to make it tougher to steal so that someone doesn't bother.

 

[rambler6]

Mac

Thanks vancan. What or where is a MAC address. Sorry I've never used a laptop, used to regular old computers.

 

[AsianWay]

Be sure to change the default password for that administration screen, and WRITE IT DOWN.

When I war drive I always check.... uh..err... well just change it, ok?

Oh, and to answer your question YES, that means anyone nearby can access the Internet through your connection. It also means they can hack at your PC as well, and watch what you are doing, and pretend to be the website you are seeking to collect your account info, etc etc etc.

Turn on WEP at least, or better WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key) if you can. It is wise to go into "LAN and IP setup" and restrict use to ONLY your computer, as mentioned above. You can get your computer to give up it's MAC address by checking the router's "see what's connected" admin screen... where it shows the MAC addresses) or by digging into your control panel under Network Interface Adapter until you see the property called MAC ADDRESS. It looks like XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX or somesuch.

Some laywers will suggest you leave the whole thing wide open, so that no one could really prove that YOU were the one accessing website whatever (it could have been anyone). If you do that, protect your own PC from your own Wireless network by using a strong firewall.

 

[sdw]

The MAC address is the imbedded serial number in your NIC. NIC = Network Interface Card and may be an addon card, micro slot card or embedded in your motherboard.

In WindowsXP you can find your MAC address by going to Start, Control Panel, Network Connections, Local Area Connection, click Support, click Details and the MAC address is listed as Physical Address.

You should put the MAC address for each computer that will access the network into the router.

 

[LonelyGhost]

I did a search and couldn't come up with a answer to my question.

Just bought a D-Link wireless router for a laptop. Home use only. Had a D-Link one before but it wasn't wireless. The question is can anyone now access the net through my connection. What do I have to do to make sure this doesn't happen. Do I need to enable encription or anything. Please keep in mind that I'm not a computer expert, so any help is appreciated.

there should be some documentation with an address that you can use to log onto the router ... there should then be a menu for 'wireless' ... just set up the security system and it will give you the encrypted security key - write it down ... then you simply make sure your laptop's wireless is turned on and it will look for any open wireless system ... when you try to log-on for the first time it will ask for the security key you wrote down ... this will then become your main secure wireless connection.

since it is security protected, it takes some time for someone to hack into it ...

i also use a firewall from zonealarm to protect my comp in case anyone gets through to the wireless.

another good thing to do is to get into the habit of turning off the router when not using it ... i just connected mine to a powerbar so i can just shut it off with the flick of a switch but the other periphials are plugged into the 'always on' sockets.

 

[sdw]

It's easy to completely disconnect your computer. Just go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Network Connections, Local Area Connection. Now click on Favorites and create a Folder in your links. Now you have a link to the Local Area Connection page. If you click Disable when you want to be disconnected, no one can get to your computer. If you go back to the page and click Enable, you are back online. The reason for making a link in your browser is just to make it faster to do.

 

[RobBC]

If you login to the router's administration page, their should be a section for the wireless setup. In this section, look for somthing that mentions WEP/Security. Here you can specify the level of security you want. Put in a Key/password and save your changes. When you next connect to the router, you'll have to enter this same key in your laptop. This should be a one-off task, you won't have to do it each time you connect.

Also one other thing to note, WEP encryption is usually either 64 bit or 128 bit, 128 bit is harder for someone to crack so if it works it generally is the better choice (I've had problems with 128 bit not working with me so I'm running 64 bit).

Finally, to make it even more secure, most wireless routers enable you to limit the wireless connections to specific MAC addresses. If you put your laptops MAC address in, then, theoretically, no other laptop should be able to connect (unless they spoof the mac.)

That's correct, and like you mentioned MAC addresses can be spoofed, so don't get a false sense of security over this. It's definitely a good thing to do, but as VanCan has mentioned, it is possible to get around if the person trying to use your connection is smart enough.

It's never 100% secure, but just like securing your car: You want to make it tougher to steal so that someone doesn't bother.

That's true, and one thing you have to accept is that wireless is inheritently less secure than a wired connection.

Another thing you might want to do: most routers allow you to disable PING's from the WAN (Internet) side of the network, this is a good thing as generally the first thing a cracker will try to do when compromising a system is PING it.

 

[rambler6]

Thanks

Thanks for all your help. I enabled WPA-PSK and put in passwords. The login then said it was a secure network on the laptop. Hope thats all I need. I have put a password in at the admin start as well.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.