is my network safe

[whogiveaffff]

i just bought a philips snb5600 wireless router i install it and got my 2 comps online but i never seen anything about security not even my norton firewall had a pop up to say about it so am i safe or can next door just connect to my network and get online without me knowing this is a worry as i am thinking of sharing files between comps as soon as i can work it out which i have been trying to do for the last few days i am a newbie so any help would be great thanks

 

[Devilfish]

You will need to go to the wireless security section of the router settings. Type the router ip address into IE and it should come up.

Nowadays, you've about 2 or 3 methods of wireless security...WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy. Encryption-based security using a pre-shared key) & WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access). WEP is the oldest and can be easily hacked. Go for WPA if you can.

 

[MINDER]

hi there your router should have a firewall in it but if i was you i would put something AVG its a free anti-virus and its not bad
my router has 2 firewalls in it and i run a firewall on my pc sygate pro if you nead any of this you can msn me and i will see if i can help you out

 

[Tocano]

As devilfish said, turn on WPA security to prevent anyone using WiFi to gain access to your router.

 

[madnlooney]

you could also turn mac filtering on and just add the computer you want on there on. if you have the option turn broadcast off too.

 

[KhuramG]

Also make sure to 'change the default password' to connect to the router!

 

[pmoore31]

you could also turn mac filtering on and just add the computer you want on there on. if you have the option turn broadcast off too.

I think this way is one of the best. It does not slow your connection down

 

[benny hill squad]

I think this way is one of the best. It does not slow your connection down

how do i get the mac address, i can see the option to click for enable mac filtering when i log on to router but not sure what after that.

 

[madnlooney]

you need to go to each of your computer wireless cards and check for there mac addresses.
you can do this by going into command prompt and typing ipconfig /all

it will give you all the info about all network cards here. just look for your wireless adaptor and find out what the mac address is.

When you have that you can go into your router and add this mac to your table. then save.

just repeat this for all the computers you want to connect to your router

 

[Pie Eyed]

Quick work of caution :

Make sure that you add the MAC address of your primary machine BEFORE you turn MAC filtering on. If possible, use a wired connection while doing the initial setup.

I have made this mistake before, and the only fix is to reset and start again.

Good luck.

 

[madnlooney]

Quick work of caution :

Make sure that you add the MAC address of your primary machine BEFORE you turn MAC filtering on. If possible, use a wired connection while doing the initial setup.

I have made this mistake before, and the only fix is to reset and start again.

Good luck.

lol not just me who did that then and then again when changing my encryption

 

[pmet]

MAC filtering and WEP/WPA is only for wireless/wifi.

If you do lock yourself out, just hardwire to the router, you don't need to reset it.

 

[wobbly]

call me old fashioned, but, when I were a nipper, I'd get a belt around the head the first time and a fookin good hiding If I did (whatever) again.

If my old man said don't do that and then he caught me doing it, I knew exactly what to expect and he always met (or exceeded) my expectations..

Fookin political fookin correctness bollox