How to secure ur wireless area network

Here are 3 relatively simple tips to make your wireless network safer:

First of all, your wireless network must be locked. (An unlocked wireless network is like
putting your own personal filing cabinet on O’Connell St. and then letting any passer-by
have a “look in”). It also means that people can steal your bandwidth i.e., they can
piggyback on your internet connection, getting a free internet connection, while at the same
time slowing your own connection down. The best way to lock your network is to use an
encryption method such as WEP (a bare minimum) or WPA (more secure). WPA or WPA2,
if your network hardware is compatible with it – is much more secure than WEP. Make sure
the password you use is strong. A password for your wireless network such as “united2008”
is not strong whereas a hexadecimal password such as
“87BDA07EDE2C93EAB7986E4B9BA7349D6553B57764F48EFAB1681DEE5782F1B2”
is much more secure.

Change the network name to something other than the default. For example, your wireless
network might be called Eircom 5236 889985 or Netgear WGT 624. These should be changed.
Telling potential hackers what kind of router you have only makes life easier for them.

Another thing which you can do to secure your wireless network is to make sure to change
the default login code of your router. Most routers either have admin or public as the
default login codes and password as the password! Most hackers are already au fait with this
security weakness. These too should be changed to something more secure.