how to secure wireless network

**theone50** · May 7th, 2009, 03:33 PM

please could someone tell me how to secure my wireless network router so other people can not use my signal
running vista belkin router thanks in advance

**Niclo Iste** · May 7th, 2009, 04:16 PM

what model number on the belkin router?

**Ferrit** · May 7th, 2009, 06:42 PM

The very best way is to get the manual for that particular router and read,read,read.

**Draggar** · May 7th, 2009, 08:57 PM

The basics - the "how to" will be different with all routers:

1) Log into the routers admin - usually accessible though an IP address in your browser. The default information for my LinkSys router is:
Access though IP: 192.168.1.1 (In your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc..))
Login: admin
Password: (nothing - leave it blank)
2) CHANGE THE ADMIN PASSWORD. This should be the very first thing you do.
3) Change the SSID (not completely needed but it won't make your network look like an easy target. You can even turn off the SSID but note what it is.
4) Set up encryption - write down the key and passcode.
5) Save everything.

The - go to your computer(s) that would access the network wirelessly and set it up to connect to the SSID you set up and use the encryption key you wrote down.

That's the basic but the exact "how to" will be different with different manufacturer's routers.

**theone50** · May 8th, 2009, 02:19 AM

Originally Posted by Ferrit

The very best way is to get the manual for that particular router and read,read,read.

thanks i will do that thanks also to Draggar

**CCT** · May 8th, 2009, 05:24 AM

I have a Linksys and it has the feature to restrict wireless use to computers with specific MAC addresses.

**NooNoo** · May 13th, 2009, 06:20 AM

Where possible use WPA or WPA2 rather than WEP. If you want to restrict users further, use the MAC address facility.

Which settings you use depend on the capability of the router and the capability of the wireless device. No good setting up for WPA if the wireless card can only do WEP.

**Akuma** · May 13th, 2009, 03:08 PM

On my setup I have a personal admin password (not default or blank), WPA encryption, the SSID doesn't broadcast, and MAC address cloning is enabled for my laptops and PSP's. How and where all those settings are depends on device make and model.