Network Repair 1
Wireless Networking
Tips And Suggestions

Update The Firmware And
Drivers
Just as you need to update
your operating system and
programs you also need to up
date your access point and
your network adapter to deal
with security vulnerabilities.

Updated firmware and drivers
often includes security bug
fixes and sometimes adds new
security features.

Change The Default
Administrator Password
To improve the security of
your wireless network, you
should change the
administrative password on
your wireless access point as
soon as possible.

The default passwords for
popular models of wireless
network devices are well
known to hackers and often
posted on the Internet.

Enable Encryption
Encryption is used to improve
the security of the wireless
connection by encrypting the
data and also authenticating
the client.

The different types of
encryption are WEP (Wired
Equivalent Privacy), WPA
(Wi-Fi Protected Access), and
WPA2.The best type of
encryption is WPA2 followed
by WPA then WEP. The best
key length is 256 followed by
128 then 64.

Change The Default SSID
To improve the security of
your wireless network, change
the SSID (Service Set
Identifier) to a different name
than the default.

Changing the SSID will not
prevent someone from hacking
your network but when a
hacker finds a default SSID,
they see it as a poorly
configured network and are
much more likely to attack it.

The SSID is a sequence of
case sensitive alphanumeric
characters (letters or numbers)
having a maximum length of
32 characters.

Disable SSID Broadcast
(Beacon)
In wireless networking, the
access point typically
broadcasts the SSID over the
air at regular intervals. Once
your wireless clients have
manually configured a profile
for the access point you
should disable SSID broadcast.

Disabling SSID broadcasts
decreases the likelihood that a
hacker will try to log in to your
network, as more likely the
hacker will bypass your network
seeking easier targets
elsewhere.

Enable MAC Address Filtering
Every network adapter
possesses a unique identifier
called the Physical Address or
MAC Address.

To set up MAC address
filtering, you as the network
administrator must configure a
list of clients (based on the
MAC Address) that will be
allowed to connect to your
network.

Once enabled, whenever the
access point receives a
request to connect to your
network, it compares the MAC
address of that client against
the administrator's list. Clients
on the list are able to connect
to the network as normal;
clients not on the list are
denied any access to the
network.

Enable IP Address Filtering
Some access points allow you
to filter IP addresses the same
way as in MAC filtering.
Clients on the list are able to
connect to the network as
normal; clients not on the list
are denied any access to the
network.
Disable DHCP
DHCP automatically assigns all
clients (Including hackers) on
the network an IP address.
Disabling DHCP makes it harder
for hackers to access your
network.


Replacing The Access Point
Antenna
An access point normally
contains an omni directional
antenna that radiates signal
equally well in all directions.

Omni directional antennas are
more likely to bleed signal
outside the house into
neighboring areas where the
signal can be accessed by
hackers.

Directional antennas allows the
signal to be aimed towards the
area of the house where wireless
devices are located reducing
the chances that a hacker might
pick up the signal. If possible
lower the transmit power on the
access point.

Disable File And Printer Sharing
If you must share files or folders
do not share the entire hard
drive but only share what you
need to share and password
protect everything with strong
passwords.
Use NetBEUI as the protocol for
file and Printer sharing.

Turn Off The Access Point When
Not In Use
The best security measure,
shutting down the access point
will prevent hackers from
accessing your wireless network.
Call us anytime; we are available to
serve you 24 hours a day,   7 days a
week.

Phone# (805)553-9756
Email:oquiroz@networkrepair1.com
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