How do you secure a wireless signal so that others can't use it

I have a new wireless D Link DI-524 wireless router (not necessarily my choice in routers, came with my husband's computer) and although we have both computers (his notebook and my desktop which is wired not wireless) firewall and otherwise appropriately covered against intrusion I don't believe our actual wireless signal is unable to be used by others and I would like it not to be. The stupid thing (like his note book and new printer) only came with quick start guides (another peeve of mine) so I can't figure out with my working but limited knowledge how to protect our signal so that we are not the neighborhood hotspot.

I do have the encryption set at 128 bit for a little added protection of outgoing info. Any other suggestions would be very welcome. Both computers have XP home edition SP2 if that makes a difference.

Thank you
Andrea

 

The best way is to use WPA, not WEP. In reality, unless you set WiFi Security for WPA-PSK, there is no way to stop someone from attempting to connect with your connection, if they have the right tools.

WEP security is a lot more insecure then WPA.

 

andreaho, wecome to the forum. brownizs is correct, but you also want to turn off SSID broadcast. THAT is the very first step in securing your wireless network. If a passerby or neighbor has a sniffer or even a wirless card it may detect a signal but it will be that much harder to get into. Go with the WPA-PSK as mentioned earlier by brownizs and your will be fine.

 

Actually turning off SSID broadcast is not secure, due to SSID can still be picked up with software like Netstumbler.

 

Some routers allow you to filter by MAC address so that only your particular network cards can access via the router - yours does too. See: http://www.dlink.com/products/resource.asp?pid=316&rid=1085&sec=0

It seems that you can also filter on IP address, URL, domain, etc.. It doesn't seem to indicate that you can filter on application though.

 

Problem is with MAC and IP filtering is that those can be spoofed. The best security is to use a distinct key, utilize WPA-PSK if available, and make sure that you change the keys on a regular basis if in an area that there are a lot of WiFi access points or routers.

 

Link to: Wireless Security.

 

thanks everyone. I enabled the WPA-PSK. We are in the burbs so no wifi spots. Just one neigbor who's signal intrudes into our house (I already knew that because it interfere's with another electronic defice in the house). But I will change the pass key frequently, probably everytime I have to change my work passwords, that is an easy way to remember to do it.

I appreciate your help. The manuals tell you how to set the settings but not what any of them really do, not much help.

 

cat5e that is a great artical. It explains the different types of security well to the casual user or even the not so casual user that does not know the wireless lingo (me).