What Settings Should I Change on My Wi-Fi Router?

Dear Lifehacker,
I just moved into my first apartment, and bought my first Wi-Fi router. It's a standard Linksys "blue box," and seems to work fine, but I'm wondering—are there any settings I should be looking to change?

Signed,
Curious about Configuration

Photo by webhamster.

Dear Curious,

Good question! For most broadband home users, a Wi-Fi net connection "works" once you plug in the cable and power on the Linksys box, but there's more to having a secure, convenient, and easy-to-use network than just connecting.

Gina walked through setting up a home wireless network in 2006, using a Linksys WRT54G router as the hardware. Her instructions on the physical setup, and reaching the router's configuration page, still stand, but her security steps can use some updating—especially since she herself proved later on how easy you can crack a WEP-encrypted Wi-Fi password.

If you wanted to get really geeky, and unlock a lot of great features, you could power up your router (depending on your model) by installing DD-WRT or the more user-friendly Tomato on your router. But assuming you're just looking to get started with a Wi-Fi network and not start hacking firmware right away, we'll start with the basics.

Head to your router's administration page, then, by connecting to your router (usually linksys), opening a browser to it (usually 192.168.1.1), and entering the default username and password (written in the manual, but usually some combination of "admin," "default," and blanks).

I'm recommending at least four changes and look-intos for the typical router:

Change the SSID and Administrator Password

If you set up your router with an installation CD, there's a chance you've already tackled these steps. If not, head to the "Admin" or "Administration" tab in your settings, and in the main "Management" tab, change that password from whatever its default is.

Why bother? If you're going to leave your network "open"—or not requiring a password to connect—it's crucial to have your router administration password in place, as anybody who's half-familiar can point to 192.168.1.1, use a site like RouterPasswords.com, and then do ... well, all kinds of hincky stuff. Even if you're going to password-protect your system, it's still a smart idea to prevent anyone from messing with your settings.

Want to lock down administrative access even further? Turn off "Wireless Web Access" from this password page. Maybe it's too much of an annoyance to require that router configuration changes require a physical cable connection, but it's also a good way to ensure only those inside your house can mess with your network.

Before you go too much further, too, head to the Wireless tab, and change the "SSID Broadcast Name" in your "Wireless Settings" sub-section. If you keep your router named "linksys," you not only might encounter problems with neighbors who have simply plugged in their new routers, but you'll also train your computers and devices to always connect and accept connections to networks named "linksys"—not always a smart move when you're outside your home.

Change Your Security Settings

Even if you've already set up a password for your network, head to this page. It's under the "Wireless Security" section of the Wireless tab—and not under "Security," a design decision I've never quite fathomed.

If you haven't set up a password, do so now. As with any net-related password, don't make it weak. Use non-dictionary words, add numbers and special characters, and make it as long as you can remember. And change the security mode to WPA2 Personal. WEP is easily cracked, as noted above, and the first WPA has proven fairly easy for hacker-types to get into. WPA2 Personal isn't perfect, but it's the home networking security standard at the moment, and most devices made in the past few years can connect through it.

Open and Forward Any Needed Ports

If you're a BitTorrent user, good software like uTorrent should be able to automatically find an open port and connect through it. If it doesn't work, or if you need to pull off more advanced home network tricks, like screen control from outside your home, encrypting outside browsing through a home SSH proxy or giving tech support with a VNC connection, you'll want to open up the "Port Range Forward" section under the "Applications & Gaming" section.

The layout is a bit confusing, but it's actually a simple setup. Name your port whatever you'd like for reference in the "Application" field, add the port "range" in the two "Start" and "end" fields (usually they're the same number, for a single-number "range"), then choose the IP address of the computer you'd like incoming requests routed to, and click "Enable." In other words, if you want incoming SSH requests sent to your main desktop, add an "SSH" entry, assign it a port (22 is standard, though you can change it for more security from scanning attacks), and direct it to your home desktop's IP address.

But, wait, how do you know which IP address your home computer is on, and how do you reach it from, say, Panera? Good question! We'll tackle that in this next section.

Set Up Dynamic DNS

In the Setup tab, there's a "DDNS" section that allows you to hook up your router to a Dynamic DNS service, like our personal favorite, DynDNS. Gina previously covered the setup of your router to DynDNS in her guide to assigning a doman name to your home web server. Follow her steps, and when you want to remotely access your home computers, you can point your software to something like samsmith.dyndns.org, instead of trying to guess what IP address Time Warner/Comcast/Verizon has assigned you.

You'll also need to make sure your home computers stay on the same internal IP addresses assigned to them by the router—192.168.1.105 and the like. Adam's covered that in his remote BitTorrent guide. The basic explanation is that you set your steady, almost-always-on computers to an IP address that's lower than the "dynamic," changing numbers given out by your router.

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Those are four settings we recommend peeking into as a new router owner. There are more security measures you can take, like filtering out all but a few accepted MAC addresses (i.e. specific computers/devices) or hiding your router name entirely from those who don't know it, but the average home network owner would probably find those more time-consuming than truly helpful. Your security needs and setup will certainly vary.

Good luck with your new router, and may your browser never tell you of pages not found,

Sincerely,

Lifehacker

Wireless Network Security

Use of the Internet network that today's gathering popularity has encouraged the growth of the Internet network technology itself, which then was born of a wireless network technology (Wireless Network), a very easy user in accessing the Internet. But once there are some things that must be observed that the use of wireless networks can be run safely.

Birth of Wireless Networks for Home

Previously the computer was more regarded as a luxury than a necessity. Only the rich and fortunate are able to have a computer, while the network is only available to large companies.

However, in line with the rapid progress in this decade, so now everyone can each have their own computer. As many of us meet, it usually every parent has his own computer, as well as the child can have his own computer although it may only be used for playing and working on school assignments. The home users have also evolved from the original does not have Internet access, and then began using dial-up Internet with speeds exceeding 9600 kbps 56 kbps dial-up access, and is now developing a rival broadband connections T1 connection is often enjoyed by people at work.

As the Internet and World Wide Web has become a trend in our culture and replace the other media formats to deliver the information sought, ranging from news information, sports, weather, recipes, yellow pages (phone book), and many other things all of which is a new way, not only in the use of computers in the house, but also in terms of the use of an Internet connection.

Meanwhile, hardware companies and software now offers a variety of solutions that allow Internet users at home sharing a connection between more than two computers. Though all these computers must be connected to the network.

To connect one computer to another computer usually requires a variety of physical media, such as telephone cables, coaxial cable, CAT5 cable or telegraph wires are everywhere. But recently has found a new way of using the Internet without using a variety of media liaison terseut, this technology is now commonly called the Wireless network connection (no cable). Use of the Internet by using wireless network connection is of course very easy user in accessing the Internet, without going through the process of installation and wiring headaches.

The arrangement of the wireless network connection is very simple. Internet connection in the Internet Provider and then connected to a wireless access point or the successor router that emits a signal. When you connect by using the card or wireless network antenna to receive signals, and vice versa, then you have successfully connected.

Problems that often arise at the time to enjoy wireless signal connection is difficult to know to what extent these signals can be received. If the signals can be captured from the second floor of an office, it should also be captured from the basement which was 100 feet below ground. This can only make a hacker looking for a gap from a wireless connection to a variety of important information about you.

But that does not mean do not recommend the use of wireless networks. It's just that you have to careful in using this wireless network, and taking some basic prevention to the use of this technology can be completely secure. Here are a few simple steps that can be done to secure the wireless network you use.

Basic Security Step 6 Network:

1. Change the System ID (Identity)
Usually a wireless service equipped with a standard security or identity is often called the SSID (Service Set Identifier) or ESSID (Extended Service Set Identifier). Very easy for a hacker to find out the identity of the default of a service or network, so you should immediately turn it into a unique identity, which is not easy to guess someone else.

2. Turn off the transmitter identity
By announcing to the public that you have a wireless network will make for curious hackers breaking into your wireless network. Having a wireless network that does not mean to share it with everyone. Check the hardware manual that you used for the wireless network, and learn how to turn them off.

3. Provide encryption
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption can be to your data so that only the recipients are expected to read the data. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) has many weaknesses that make it easily infiltrated. 128-bit key only has the level of achievement is relatively low without significant security improvements, while for 40-bit or 64-bit on some other equipment, has as good encryption. With a standard way of securing it must still be easy for hackers to infiltrate, but with the way this encryption will surely make your network more secure from hackers. If possible, it is better to use WPA encryption (the older equipment can be upgraded in order compatible with WPA). WPA can be very promising in securing your wireless network security, but can still be defeated by a DOS attack (denial of services).

4. Restrict the use of unnecessary traffic
Many cable network routers and wireless-equipped firewalls. Not intended to promote firewalls, but firewalls have helped in network security defense. Read the user manual of your hardware and learn how your router configuration settings, so that only traffic that you only have permission to be executed.

5. Change 'password' you belong to the default Administrator
This is good for all use of hardware or software. The default password is very easy to be misused, especially by hackers. Therefore should change your password, avoid using the word of the personal things you are easily known people, such as last name, date of birth, and so on.

6. Lock and protect your computer
This is way past security to your computer. Use firewalls, anti-virus software, Zone Alarm, and so forth. At least one week each maintaining Anti Virus you use.
(dna)

http://www.beritanet.com/Technology/Security/keamanan-wireless-network.html