Does anyone know how to secure a wireless router?

Question

I have a "Linksys" router and I need to know how to secure it. I recently had issues with someone hacking into my system to the point my internet company had to lock things. They had mentioned that if I secure my router that it would prevent this from happening again. If someone can help, please do.

Answer 1

You don't need a CD. In fact, I think the one that comes with the Linksys router just has the instructions on it.

Open your browser and type: http://192.168.1.1

You'll get the router's administration screen. Go to wireless security and tell it you want to enable WEP security. You'll need to give it a password that it will use to generate four WEP keys. WRITE THESE DOWN!

You'll need to enter one of them into each device you want to connect to the Internet through the router.

It's now secure.

Answer 2

You have the CD on it right?Insert the CD in your CDROM drive and connect the wireless router to your ethernet port.Autorun the CD and follow the on screen instruction.ON the Security, you can check it and put the WEP key on it.

good luck!

Answer 3

Take a look at the information at the link below.  This will give you a good basic overview of the important pieces of wireless security in a home network.

My personal preference is to disable SSID and use the WPA/WPA2 encryption key (at least 16 characters).  Write down the network name and the encryption key because you need them in the future to add additional computers to your home wireless network.

Answer 4

You should be able to secure it by following the directions that come with the router.

You will enable the security on the router, select a security type, and a key word or number and set that up in your computer.  You can also go so far as to enable only mac address in your house to use the router.

This is not to say a very good hacker couldn't get by all that, but at least they have to work at it.

Answer 5

Use Internet Explorer to navigate to the router homepage. The homepage will usually be available at: http://192.168.1.1 (or whatever gateway address your computer has).

The router page layout usually has selection options on the left side, with information/configuration options for whatever you select on the left being displayed in the main portion of the screen.

Finding your gateway address:

Click start, then run and type in: cmd

This will bring up a black box. Simply type in "ipconfig" (no quotes)

Look for the label - Default Gateway. This is the address you need to use to connect to your router via Internet Explorer (or alternate web browser)

The router may be password protected. Refer to the manual for the password (usually with username admin and password is either "blank" (as in no password) or the word "password" - again, no quotes)

On the left side, look for wireless. This will be set into a few subheadings typically. The general settings will have the SSID - your access point name which is probably "linksys-xxxx" or "default". You should change this to something more specific to you, and select the option that says "Hide SSID" - then you can't be scanned.

Under the heading "Security Settings" you will choose one of the following: WEP only, WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK and possibly others. WPA2 is the most secure. Whatever you set here as a passphrase will need to be changed on your laptop/desktop. The SSID must also match (case sensitive).

Use a network cable will you are configuring the router, as a network drop means you won't get back on with a cable or a reset.