Wireless Security Questions (My Home Network)

[Bman212121]

Originally Posted by evilchris

At my house, my wireless works as follows:

Connect to Cisco 1231AG via WPA2/RADIUS. WAP is wired to an interface on my ASA5505 that is in between the outside and inside interfaces in security level. To gain access to the inside wired network, I establish an IPSEC VPN connection to the ASA.

This solution can be considered REAL "Wired Equivalent Privacy".

If someone managed to crack my WPA2 stream, they'd wind up with an AES256 encrypted cipher stream.

LOL, nice setup, but I'm not sure if everyone can afford an ASA for their home. We just got an ASA less than a year ago to replace our PIX at work.

[Bman212121]

@911 Medic: I'm kind of suprised you've had such good luck with the router, but I'm sure quality does vary by model. The ones we had were the white boxes, so yours could have been one of their better ones. Good to hear though that someones had good luck with them.

As of late, my suggestion would have to be something like a linksys WRT300N http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...=1340439789B03

It has a ton of features, and has quite a few of those settings that you'd want to change. I'm not sure where PSK falls verus WEP or WPA, but it will do PSK with 256bit AES encryption. You can also set this up with a RADIUS server like Chris is doing. Since Cisco bought Linksys, they have included a lot of the their features into a little more user friendly package, a SOHO device like this is easier for a novice while still providing decent security.

They also have a higher grade model the 350N which has gigabit built in and a storage server which allows you to hook a device up to it for instant network storage or use their media server. I can't comment on how well this stuff works, but I have seen this particular model in use when I went on vacation. (Naturally they plugged it in and called it good, so I just typed in 192.168.1.1 and admin / admin and was able to look around. ) http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satel...=4351239789B04

[911medic]

Thanks for the reply...I'm thinking of going with this one: Linksys WRT54GL. It's relatively cheap, has Linux-based firmware (so it's easy to flash to 3rd-party versions), and has decent security measures.

I can't afford the more expensive "N" models at the moment.

[DiscipleDOC]

Originally Posted by 911medic

I have a (noob) question regarding enabling security on my home wifi network.

I have an old router (802.11b), and it has MAC address filtering and WEP. So far, I haven't done anything but enable the address filtering for security (yes, I know it can be spoofed/hacked easily). I want to enable WEP, but the last time I tried, I had major problems, likely of my own making and due to my lack of understanding (I had great difficulty connecting and getting back into my router settings to turn it off).

I want to have it enabled, and am going to try again, but here's my question:

My wife's laptop connects both here and at work. If I enable WEP here at home and configure her laptop to connect to it, will it screw up her work connection? This is a BIG deal as I will seriously be in the doghouse if this happens.

And please, I know that MAC address filtering and WEP suck, but they're better than nothing. My goal is to deter the casual wi-fi stealer (oh, look, an unsecured network...I'll just connect). I live in a fairly rural area, with only a few close neighbors. I can detect 2 or 3 other wireless networks in my neighborhood.

No it will not. I have WEP enabled at home. it will create multiple profiles for you to be able to use.

[evilchris]

Originally Posted by Bman212121

LOL, nice setup, but I'm not sure if everyone can afford an ASA for their home. We just got an ASA less than a year ago to replace our PIX at work.

$550ish MSRP - 70% for Cisco Silver NFR = cheap for me!

BTW: I hear evilghost uses something called "Gamefuel" to secure his network!

[911medic]

Just an update...

I've got the WRT54GL up and running, WPA2 TKIP+AES enabled, SSID changed and not broadcast, password changed, MAC address filtering enabled, and my laptop is connected and working well with good signal strength (actually down a bit from the Belkin, but fine).

Thanks again to those who helped!

[evilghost]

Excellent.