Wireless Security How-To

I thought there was enough information out there about this, but I was asked to do this.

Anyway, wireless security is a must for everyone; remember you are responsible for your wireless.  Wireless routers from ISPs usually have encryption set already, but routers you buy from a store will probably not.

So where to start, well firstly, when setting up settings on your router you should plug in via an ethernet cable (while doing this you might need to be connected to the internet).  You will need to know how to access your router config pages, easiest way is to google the model of the router. 

Common router addresses are: 192.168.0.1, 192.168.1.1, 192.168.2.1, 192.168.1.254.  Well those are the ones I know of.

Once you access your router config pages, you can then adjust various settings, but this is about wireless security so find the relevant section on your router.  NOTE: some routers have levels of user account, so if you need to login as the user with the highest privileges. 

Anyway, things to change:
1) SSID (Network Name): set this to whatever you want.  It must not be related to you in anyway (not your house number, or your name, etc)
2) Security/Encryption type: WPA (ALWAYS USE WPA, don’t use WEP no matter what anyone else tells you, WEP IS USELESS).  Most routers now support WPA so no excuses really.  The difference between WPA and WPA2 is not very great, they still use the same technologies underneath, but some people have compatibility issues with WPA2, so use whichever you can.
3) Passphrase: You will need to use a strong key, now depending on you do one of the following: a) choose a few words you will remember, add numbers, add symbols and make it a mix of upper and lower case.  That’ll do fine. b) This is for those who want ultra secure wireless, go to www.grc.com/pass, refresh the page a couple of times and then use one of the generated passwords (probably the 63 ASCII characters is what you want).  grc.com/pass is a totally randomly generated page, which is secured so only you see it, it’s also a one time page which is very unlikely to be generated again.

Now, there are advantages and disadvantages to both passphrases.  Remember once you set the passphrase on the router, you need to put the same settings into your wireless client (your pc, phone, etc).

Hopefully that makes sense.  Now start securing you wireless network.