BMT 580 01 NCC - Management Systems

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Securing Your Home Wireless Network There are 5 replies:
Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer Students Author: Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer, Email: DSSchanzmeyer@owls.williamwoods.edu   Show MyInfo popup for Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer
Securing Your Home Wireless Network Original post: Wed 10/19/2011 at 8:59 PM

There are a number of things that can be done and features that can be installed and enabled in order to secure a wireless home network.  The first thing that should be done is to make sure that the Wireless Access Point (WAP) is installed in a central location and is positioned to eliminate wireless coverage off of the premises.  The second thing when setting up a WAP will be to change the default username and create a secure password to keep others from accessing the WAP set up utilities.  The next thing to change is the SSID, which is the display name of the WAP.  When people see a wireless network with the default name they usually try connecting to it first as they can tell it has not been configured.  Once the SSID is changed another thing that can be done is to disable the SSID broadcast, hiding the wireless network from anyone who does not know it is there.  After performing these steps it will be very important to make sure that the WPA if available or WEP encryption is enabled to encrypt the data being transferred between devices and the WAP.  The next thing that can be done to help secure the wireless network will be to turn of the DHCP broadcast range which automatically hands out IP Addresses to devices. It will then be necessary to configure a private network range and statically assign devices an IP Address within the range.  Another feature that will need to be used is the MAC Address Filter. To use this feature the MAC Address of each device that is allowed on the network will need to be entered into the WAP so that it knows which devices to allow.  Some other things that can be done to secure the wireless home network are to make sure that firewalls are enabled on each workstation and on the WAP to stop restricted traffic.  Then the last thing that can be done to ultimately secure a home wireless network is to make sure the WAP is turned off if it is not going to be used for extended periods of time.  These features and configurations described above if used correctly can greatly help to secure a home wireless network.

Jeffrey Stone Faculty Author: Jeffrey Stone, Email: jeffrey.stone@williamwoods.edu   Show MyInfo popup for Jeffrey Stone
Re: Securing Your Home Wireless Network Posted: Thu 10/20/2011 at 9:46 PM, in reply to Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer
Good review Dustin.
Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer Students Author: Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer, Email: DSSchanzmeyer@owls.williamwoods.edu   Show MyInfo popup for Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer
Re: Re: Securing Your Home Wireless Network Posted: Fri 10/21/2011 at 8:17 AM, in reply to Jeffrey Stone

Thanks, it appears I answered the wrong question though and posted an answer for #8 instead of #7.  Sorry for the confusion.  Please advise if you would like a response for #7.

Jeffrey Stone Faculty Author: Jeffrey Stone, Email: jeffrey.stone@williamwoods.edu   Show MyInfo popup for Jeffrey Stone
Re: Re: Re: Securing Your Home Wireless Network Posted: Thu 10/27/2011 at 9:43 PM, in reply to Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer

Not necessary to repost. Was good information and you did well. That was what was important.
Gregory Joe Wood Students Author: Gregory Joe Wood, Email: GJWood@owls.williamwoods.edu   Show MyInfo popup for Gregory Joe Wood
Re: Securing Your Home Wireless Network Posted: Sun 10/23/2011 at 12:40 PM, in reply to Dustin Steven Schanzmeyer
Dustin, this is an excellent posting on home wireless network security.  It seems that you have covered every facet of the process.  One thing that I find amazing is how few people even think to secure their wireless network.  So many people love the advantage of having the wireless technology in their home, yet they seem to be oblivious to how easily other people can connect to their network.  Once the connection is made, it does not take a lot of skill to gather private information, passwords, bank accounts, etc. from the accessed networks connected devices.  Even though people are warned to the danger, I wonder if the "it's not going to happen to me" mentallity keeps them from worrying about security.  I also wonder if they think it is just too complex to do themselves.  Resources (such as your posting) are available to make securing a home wireless network easier, but I don't think the resources are adequately utilized.