New to wireless + security

[ILC]

Well, I am moving out and going to be living in small apartment for the next couple years. My lease starts on June 15th, but I will not be physically living in the apartment until August.

Anyways, I plan on setting up a wireless network within the apartment so I can place a second desktop in an alternate location and also be free to use my laptop wherever. Now, I admit that I know as much about networking as my five year old niece. I think I have the schematic of the physical network, so basically I am looking for corrections, suggestion, and answers (yeah, yeah…I am looking for everything).

Alright here it goes. The cable goes into the cable modem (Linksys BEFCMU10) which is then connected by Cat5 to a combined WAP/cable router/4-port switch (Linksys BEFW11S4). From this switch, Cat5 will be run to my main desktop. My laptop, connecting through a D-Link 650+ wireless card, would then be able to connect to the network through the WAP. Now, I may or may not install another desktop (either wired or wireless) to this network also, and there is also the possibility of installing my Casio E-200 wirelessly.

Now, being that I will be in an apartment complex (‘hotel’ style and on the fourth floor) security is a major issue. I do have concrete walls above, below and all around me, but I do not think it would be enough to terminate my signal. So, what can I do about security? What is WEP? What about firewalls – hardware or software, both? I must admit that I do not have anything that is critical to protect but I don’t want people to be snooping around my files and I definitely do not want them stealing my bandwidth.

I appreciate any comments of suggestions on anything. Thanks,

ILC

[M_Six]

Lots of answers here. WEP will help secure your wireless. You can also hide the SSID and allow only the laptop MAC to connect. WEP is an encryption algorithm that is easy to set up with Linksys components, but may take a bit of fiddling with the D-Link card. There's an FAQ about that at the above link.

[GroundZero3]

WEP (change the keys monthly), disable SSID, mac address filtering (one of the most important) you should be pretty well off with keeping people off

[ILC]

Probably a rather silly question, but what is mac filtering?

Thanks for the replies.

ILC

[M_Six]

MAC filtering allows you to limit which network devices can access your wireless network. Every network device has a distinct MAC address. You can use that to limit which devices get access.

[GroundZero3]

there is no silly questions!

of course change your router/access points passwords!!!

[ILC]

Will every item have a specific mac address? What I mean is, does every computer/peripheral have its own individual mac address? Are they assigned automatically or manually? From where would I assign them?

Also, what about firewalls?

ILC

[GroundZero3]

yes ever network card has a mac address. it should be printed someone where on the card or the manual. its very easy to find.

[kwebb]

You can do an ipconfig /all at a dos prompt to get your MAC addy off your NIC. MAC addresses are spoofed with relative ease by someone wanting to get into your network. WEP, MAC filtering, change your SSID and turn broadcasting off, change the default IP range and disable DHCP. My router uses IP access lists for controlling wireless clients instead of MAC filtering. There are many ways to secure your WLAN. It will never be extremely secure when you are talking about micorwaves as the medium, but following the procedures listed by the board members here should give you some peace of mind.

[PackerGuy]

I have Roadrunner wireless. If I was to share my network with a neighbor is this legal and what are the security risks to my computer, legalities and liabilities am I exposing myself to? I want to be a good neighbor but do not need any trouble. Any thoughts? My gut tells me this is too risky and could potentially cause huge legal problems. If it's ok what do I need to do to give them access? Thanks