# How to secure WiFi?



## gxsaurav (Sep 5, 2008)

I recently got Airtel WiFi at our home. The Router Airtel gave was Beetel 450BXI & my roommate is connecting using LAN cable while I connect using WiFi. I want to secure our WiFi connection so that neighbours can't steal our bandwidth (there are some pesky neighbours here). How do I do that?

Can I put some password like when someone tries to connect to our WiFi, he first has to enter a username or password


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## debsuvra (Sep 5, 2008)

gx_saurav said:


> I recently got Airtel WiFi at our home. The Router Airtel gave was Beetel 450BXI & my roommate is connecting using LAN cable while I connect using WiFi. I want to secure our WiFi connection so that neighbours can't steal our bandwidth (there are some pesky neighbours here). How do I do that?
> 
> Can I put some password like when someone tries to connect to our WiFi, he first has to enter a username or password



There are some basic steps needed to secure Wi Fi. Just follow these


Hide your Network SSID
Filter out MAC Address
Use encryption (preferably WPA2)
You can even check this article : *bhandler.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!1pt1v0Q4vD8jSvNS4lqdAuug!225.entry


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## RCuber (Sep 5, 2008)

I can tell you the steps which I use in my Linksys router. 

Login to your router configuration page. 
goto wireless security tab and choose 
WPA Personal as security mode, 
WPA Algorithm as TKIP,
Give a strong WPA Shared Key-This will be your password to connect to the router. Set 
Group Key Renewal something like 3600. 

After this disable SSID Broadcast. with this disabled the router will not broadcast your SSID. you have to manually add the wifi network if you want to connect to your n/w. I havent tried this but this should happen only once.


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## infra_red_dude (Sep 5, 2008)

Adding to what Charan said enable MAC filtering and add all your devices' MAC id to the filter list (as deb said). Thats a foolproof way of protecting your bandwidth. Even if somebody gets hold of you WPA/2/WEP key your router will filter it out due to MAC filtering.


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## gxsaurav (Sep 5, 2008)

Ok, I just went to my Router's Security Tab then

1) Network Authentication as Open
2) Enable WEP encryption with strength as 128bit
3) Network key = A long word

Now to connect to this network, users need to enter that long work. I guess this should be pretty secure here.


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## RCuber (Sep 5, 2008)

@infra_red_dude co-incidence? .. I just enabled MAC filtering  I also disabled SSID Broadcast. I had to reconfigure the wifi settings in my lappy though.


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## infra_red_dude (Sep 5, 2008)

gx_saurav said:


> Ok, I just went to my Router's Security Tab then
> 
> 1) Network Authentication as Open
> 2) Enable WEP encryption with strength as 128bit
> ...


Use WPA-PSK with TKIP algo for a balanced security. Most of the devices will support this. If all the devices are new then you can even opt for WPA2 which is even more secure.

Also disable SSID broadcast (it'll hide your network from the snoopers) and enable MAC filtering for maximum security. If you do all this then there is no doubt that your network bandwidth would be used by you and only you.

@Charan
Any specific reason why you enabled MAC filtering? I guess nobody around your house uses Wifi.. or do they?


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## goobimama (Sep 5, 2008)

MAC filtering is the pain. I haven't found any problems with WPA (or WEP, whichever's the better one).


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## infra_red_dude (Sep 5, 2008)

goobimama said:


> MAC filtering is the pain. I haven't found any problems with WPA (or WEP, whichever's the better one).


MAC filtering is not a pain. Its just blocks out any 3rd party device. We use it all the while coz there is a huge danger of people snooping into our network.

WEP is easy to crack. WPA is good, WPA2 is best. But some devices haf some kinda compatibility problems with WPA2.


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## gxsaurav (Sep 5, 2008)

> Use WPA-PSK with TKIP algo for a balanced security. Most of the devices will support this. If all the devices are new then you can even opt for WPA2 which is even more secure.


In My Router configuration I get this. 

*img393.imageshack.us/my.php?image=37375870uu1.jpg*img231.imageshack.us/img231/3540/26338989kw5.th.jpg

What is WPA Pre-shared key? & What should I set in the other interval?

Also in WiFi security setting of Vista, what should I enter here if I select WPA2?

*img395.imageshack.us/img395/3950/26625749fo9.th.jpg


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## narangz (Sep 5, 2008)

This might help you:
*techiesrealm.com/blog/2008/08/secure-your-wireless-network-better-safe-than-sorry/


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## infra_red_dude (Sep 6, 2008)

narangz said:


> This might help you:
> *techiesrealm.com/blog/2008/08/secure-your-wireless-network-better-safe-than-sorry/


Damn! How did I forget this useful info??! 

@GX
I'd recommend you use WPA-PSK TKIP. In some places it'll be WPA Personal.. in others its WPA Pre-Shared Key. WPA2 is still better if all the devices support it. Select WPA2 Personal or WPA2 PSK (or Pre-Shared Key).


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## R2K (Sep 7, 2008)

*offtopic*

well....how good is airtel Wifi and what about its tarriff plan


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