Securing WIFI connection??

[prankie]

i just got myself wireless router of DLink for my home....
right now anyone (neighbours!!) can access it without any password...
how can i password protect it???
i've put an administrator password to it... but i m unable to put access password!!!

[NucleusKore]

Use encryption available in the router, preferably WPA/PSK, if that's not available then 128 bit WEP should be there. Refer your manual on how to login to the router and set it up. You will have to enter the passkey in your pc too so that it can access the wireless network.

[Charan]

There are three types of security algorithms availalbe in modern wifi routers: WEP, WPA, WPA2. i'd recommend selecting WPA or WPA2 as these are more secure than WEP. select either of them and then give a PSK (pre-shared key) in the network/security key option. let it haf a combination of numerals, upper case and lower case alphabets for better security. a key like ser89dME7da1we3 is a good idea! note it down. save, logout, exit.... then log back in the same way to the config page and ensure whatever you did till now (ip changing, ssid, wpa psk etc.) haf been saved. ensure that logout, exit and then unplug the ethernet cable.

goto the wireless connection wizard in control panel in ur laptop. go thru the wizard and select connect to a network. it'll search for any available wireless connection. it'll now detect ur router wid the ssid u gave (if the ssid broadcast is not turned off). click on that network and select connect. u may need to key in the ssid in case you'd disabled 'ssid broadcast'. it will now ask for the WPA PSK. jus type in the same key that u set in the router config page and then allow it to connect to the wifi network. select save connection/connect automatically. you can now see a wireless network connected icon in the system tray.

Please reffer this tutorial by infra_red_dude

the tut is for linksys router but you should be able to do this even in you model.

[prankie]

thanks... will give it a try...

[prankie]

after reading the tuto i've managed to secure my connection.. but now i m facin another prob...
i used WPA-PSK encryption... my lenovo laptop easily acceses the connection.. but when i try to access the connection via my acer tm370 laptop, i get the following error...



plz help...!!!

[NucleusKore]

If the mode is set correctly to WPA/PSK it should not give the error, you already have successfully configured for one laptop so you will know.
Try connecting with the other laptop's wifi turned off.
Acer has its own wireless manager that comes bundled with the laptop, try that. When I hap my laptop the windows wireless manager used to keep disconnecting. Everything got fixed when I installed their wireless manager.

[infra_red_dude]

Few questions:

1) Which type of security are you using? WPA or WPA2?
2) Is the other laptop thats able to connect to the router on Vista?

[prankie]

No the other laptop is on Xp
and i m using wpa....
is there a compatibility prob..?? coz my acer laptop is quiet old (3yrs)..

[infra_red_dude]

3 years? Hmm... Then just check if its wireless adaptor is 802.11b or 802.11g. If the newer one in "g" while the older is "b" then you need to make necessary changes in the router config. Also ensure that the older WiFi adaptor supports WPA. Coz if I rememb correctly, 3 years ago it were the dayz of WEP.

If WPA doesn't work then try WEP. However, WEP is less secure than WPA.

[prankie]

its 802.11b...
that means now i have to change the security to wep...
btw, what is this key1, key2,... in WEP???
do i have to put all 4 keys???

[infra_red_dude]

If its 802.11b then first configure router in its config page to tell it that both 802.11G and 802.11B devices are there in the network.

Next, just find out the model and make of the older wifi adaptor. Then search if its supports WPA. If it does then its good. Otherwise you haf no choice but to stick wid WEP.

Just use 1 key for WEP.

[prakhar18]

Hello

I need some help configuring WPA on my WGR614 router. I have put in the password and the internet is working, But when i entered the password for WPA it also asked for lifetime with max being for 256 minutes.

So does that mean i need to enter the password again on my wireless router to secure my wireless connection.

Cant I have the security for Unlimited period?

I need to secure my wireless internet connection,please help me how should i go about.

I want that once the key is entered in the router and when i access the internet on my laptop, It asks for the password only once. Not every time i switch on the laptop to access the internet.

[matthewd]

Whatever you do don't change your encryption method to the old, outdated and insecure WEP algorithm. Stay with WPA and upgrade that old .b adapter to at least a .g.
The windows wireless client should be able to detect which encryption is used whil connecting and ask for the correct key. If you are running XP and not Vista, make sure the XP machine is up to date, since I think it didn't come with WPA or WPA2 support when first released.