How to Secure Wireless Network
How to secure wireless network :
This topic contains some simple steps you can take to secure wireless network.
Many people setting up wi-fi rush through the job to get their network working as quickly as possible. It’s also quite risky as numerous security problems can result. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use wireless networking. You just have to be smart about it and take some basic precautions to make it more difficult for curiosity seekers to get into your personal information. Today’s wireless networking products don’t always help the situation as configuring their security features can be time-consuming.
1. Change router log in Passwords (and Usernames)
Router setup page is the page where you can change the settings manually. This web-page is protected with a log in screen (user name and password). The default user name and passwords are very simple and well known. Change the default user name and password of Router setup page.
2. Secure your wireless network using WEP / WPA / WPA2:
There is encryption technology for the security. This Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over the wifi so that they cannot be easily read by humans. Several encryption technologies exist today to secure wireless network. Naturally you would like to use the strongest encryption that works to secure wifi. However, all Wi-Fi devices on your network must share the identical encryption settings.
WEP, WPA and WPA2 are the most common types used for the security.
WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy. A WEP key is a security code used on some Wi-Fi networks. WEP keys allow a group of devices on a local network to exchange encoded messages with each other while hiding the contents of the messages from easy viewing by outsiders.
A WEP key is a sequence of hexadecimal digits. These digits include the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F. Some examples of WEP keys are:
• 1A648C9FE2
• 99D767BAC38EA23B0C0176D15
WPA stands for Wi-Fi protected access. WPA improves on the authentication and encryption features of WEP. WPA was developed by the networking industry in response to the weaknesses of WEP. WPA provides stronger encryption than WEP through use of either of two standard technologies: Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). WPA also includes built-in authentication support that WEP does not offer.
WPA2 (Wireless Protected Access 2) replaced the original WPA technology on all certified Wi-Fi hardware since 2006 and is based on the IEEE 802.11i technology standard for data encryption.
3. Change the wireless network name:
SSID is the name of your wireless network. Open the setup page of the router and change the SSID so that you can identify your own wifi.
4. Enable MAC Address Filtering on your router:
Access points and routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Many such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment, that restricts the network to only allow connections from those devices. Do this, but also know that the feature is not powerful as it may seem. Hackers and their software programs can fake MAC addresses easily.
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Categories: Router Set up, wireless connection problems Tags: router setup, secure wireless network, wireelss network security
Wireless network adapter on windows XP.
How to check if the wireless network adapter is working properly on your computer ?
You can check the wireless network adapter status in the Device manager. You will need to open the device manager. Go to Start. You will see My computer Icon. Right click on My computer and go to Properties. At the to you will find hardware Tab. If you click on hardware tab, you will get Device Manger. Open it. In the Device manager list you will see the option network adapters. Click on the Plus sign to the left. You will see your wireless network adapter in that list.
Right click on it and go to Properties. Not you will see the Device status. If it is working properly then you will get the message “This device is working properly”. If there is any problem then you will get the error code under device status.
Click here for description of error codes
If it is not there then the wireless network adapter is not installed or it is not recognized by your computer. If you have connected your device to the computer then make sure that you can see the light on it. If there is no light lit up then make sure that the device is connected properly. Try to unplug it and replug it.
Keep the Device manger list opened. Unplug your adapter. See if there is any change in the list. If you see any device disappeared then plug it back in and see if you can see that device again. Some times if the drivers of the adapter are not installed properly. In that case you will see your device under other devices option. Unplug it and replug it and see if there is any change under other devices. If you see change, then right click on it and go to properties, you will get the error message there.
Once you have your device working properly then you can try to connect to your SSID.
Click here for easy steps to connect to the wireless network on windows XP.
If you are not sure about the settings of your wireless network then you will need to open the set up page of the router.
Click here to know how to check the settings of the router.
Easy setup guide is designed to work with Linksys wireless router , Netgear wireless router, D Link wireless router and all other brands of routers.
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Categories: wireless connection problems Tags: Device Manger, Fix Home Network, SSID, XP
How to connect to wirless network on WINDOWS Vista
How to connect to wireless network on WINDOWS Vista / 7 computers ?
On windows Vista or 7 computers, you will find the wireless network connection icon in the bottom right hand corner. Right click on that icon and go to connect to a network. You will see your SSID in the list. Select your SSID and click connect. If it is secured then you will need to enter the key or password. Enter the correct password and it will connect you to the network.
If you do not find the icon in the system tray then click Start. Go to Control Panel => Network and Sharing center.
On Windows Vista computer, you will see Connect to a network in the left Panel.
On Windows 7 computer you will see Connect to a Network on the middle of the page.
Errors when you connect to the wireless network on WINDOWS Vista / 7 computer :
- Settings saved on this computer do not match : Remove your SSID from the preferred network list and try to connect again. Click here for more information about this error.
- Press the configuration button : Skip this step and go to the next step. If your network is secured then enter the password. Click here for more information about this error
- Enter PIN number : Skip this step and go to the next step or manually add the SSID.
- Windows can not connect to the network: Make sure that you are entering the correct password for the wireless network and wireless MAC filter is disabled on the router. Try changing the channel.
- Additional log on information required : Manually add the SSID. Click here for more information about this error.
Follow the Easy steps of Easy set up Guide to connect to the wireless network on windows Vista or windows 7 computer.
Click here for easy steps to connect to the wireless network
Easy setup guide is designed to work with Linksys wireless router , Netgear wireless router, D Link wireless router and all other brands of routers.
Categories: wireless connection problems Tags: wireless connection windows vista, wireless network connection
How to connect to wireless network on windows XP computer
Easy steps to connect to the wireless network on WINDOWS XP computer. Explanation of different error. How to fix the error. Easy set up Guide is your one stop solution for home or small office network.
Categories: wireless connection problems Tags: windows xp wireless connection, wireless network connection, wireless settimgs windows xp
Press the configuration button on your access point
Error “Press the configuration button on your access point”
When do you get this error ?
When you try to connect to the network on windows Vista or windows 7 computer, some times you get the error “press the configuration button on your access point or router“.
This is a type of security. Some routers use the configuration button to synchronize the wireless . For example Linksys router has a small Secure Easy set up button on the router. If you press it and hold it down, it will create a secured network with WPA security key. Now on your computer should be compatible with the Secured Easy set up. If it is then you just need to click on the SES on your computer and it will connect to that network automatically.
Huh! …Difficult!
How to Fix the error “Press the configuration button on your…” ?
When you get this error message, on the same window, at the bottom, you will find an option ” I don’t want to configure I want to enter the key manually “ OR ” I don’t want to configure, I want to connect “. Click on this option. On the next window, it will ask you for wireless network key or password. If you it is secured then you will need to enter the wireless network key or the password.
Easy steps to connect to the wireless network:
If you don’t know the password then you will need to open the set up page of the router and check the wireless settings.
Click Here to access the Easy set up Guide
Easy setup guide is designed to work with Linksys wireless router , Netgear wireless router, D Link wireless router and all other brands of routers.
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