Tips To Ensure Your Wireless Network Is Secure

By: Keith Park


1. Reduce the Access Point (AP) broadcast strength whenever
feasible

- Cover only required areas in your home or business by
placing the AP in a more central location, away from
exterior walls.

2. Lock down the AP

- Ensure you change the default password and Service Set
Identifiers (SSIDs), disable the broadcasting of the SSID and
the option of "administration via wireless connection", if
possible. Disable any ports not required and prevent any
pass-through traffic if not needed.

3. Use Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA)

- This will encrypt wireless connections. WEP can be used on
many AP's without many headaches during setup. WPA is more
secure than WEP but is not yet widespread.

4. Limit network addresses

- If you don't have too many computers connecting, consider
limiting the maximum number of DHCP addresses the network can
assign, allowing justenough to cover the PC's you have.

5. Use assigned IP addresses

- If you only have one or two PC's connecting to your
network, manually assign them IP's and disable DHCP.

6. Turn on logging

- It's always a good idea to log attempted or failed
connections and to review these logs on a frequent basis. This
will allow you to proactively monitor unauthorized
connections.

7. Update your AP Firmware

- Make sure your AP has the latest firmware from the
manufacturer. They will issue updates to patch vulnerabilities
in the AP that could allow someone unauthorized access.

About the author:
Keith Park has been in the IT industry for the last 7 years and
is the author of the website TechCorner PC Resource Zone. Go there for
more articles and resources.

Additional resources @ http://mgrcentral.com/computers/default.aspx?stud
entid=1575219