Wireless Security

Ok, so I basically have a wireless router at my home which is often used by a laptop to connect to the internet. I can directly connect to the internet without entering a security key. I sometimes find my neighbor's wireless connection coming up on my laptop's screen, but I cannot connect to it as it demands a security key. Now the question is that how do I set up my wireless router so that it is secured by a key? It would be greatly appreciated if anyone could give me an answer to my problem. And yes, Windows 7 is a great experience! Using it since day one!
Regards,
Kamaljeet Dhiman

You need to go into the wireless router's configuration page or section.

It is best to do this from the main computer that's is hooked into the wireless router, using an ethernet connection instead of wireless, though it not an absolute must. It's just more secure that way.

Most routers use the address of: 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1

Nearly all routers will have as defaults the following in the page that pops up:

User: admin (enter - admin)
Pasword: password (enter - password)

You should most definitely change these as soon as possible.

Go the to the Wireless security section and choose: WPA2 Personal and then select another different user name and password for this setting.

Click on SAVE and the router will either reboot and such, or just save.

Now logout of the router. Go to you wireless connection settings in your computer and you should see a "security section" and what is secured now.

Also consult your router's user guide for more info, it's probably on the driver disc in a PDF format file.

I hope this gets you started.


BTW, Welcome to the Windows 7 Forums website!

Of course once you lock down your router with a passkey, you will have to go to your wireless computer and update the network connection with THAT passkey.

As added security, you mentioned you sometimes SEE his router, you can turn off the router broadcasting so even your own computers won't SEE your router but as long as you know your network name you can connect. Generally it is easiest to setup with broadcasting on and in a few days when you are done tinkering you can turn that off and your wireless computer will still have the network name stored. NOTE: this should not be used INSTEAD of a passkey, only as a possible addition to security.

Even with the SSID turned off, your router periodically broadcasts the SSID anyway.

AKs router may be broken so if you need free internet try getting in range of his house.

+1
I would suggest to AK to get a new router before Trainableman tracks him down and stalks his internet connection.

True, but someone hell bent on hacking your router probably has tools to capture your SSID anyway. Which is why the key is really important. Just like MAC filtering too. That adds an extra layer of security, but people with the know how can bypass it.

Ah yes... The MAC adress. I had it active, but since I got laptops that I take around and smartphones, I got rid of it.
It can be an additional layer if someone's got your key, but can be a pain with the process to allow a device.

Yes it does add to the complication of setting up wireless connections. My families computers are all setup that though. Not too difficult really, but sometimes those wireless cards can be a pain.

Indeed.
Each time my friends would come over with their laptops, I had to go add the laptop's MAC adress to the "allowed" list.
Most of the time, we would end up using the neighbors wifi...