Is it ok to switch my routers security from WPA to WEP and not have to worry?

Question

I have had a wireless router hooked up to my desktop so I can have wifi for my laptop and I recently bought a nintendo DS that doesnt support the WPA security key. So I switched it to WEP and it worked perfectly. So I was wondering what the risks of switching it are. I know it can be cracked easier but I live in an area with not too many people around me and I dont think think my router will go that far for other people to even use it

Answer 1

You seem to already know what you need to know, honestly.  WEP isn't as secure, since it doesn't rotate the encryption key, and i personally refuse to use it - but some security is better than no security, and 99.99% of the time does the job.  How many people have WEP crackers on their computer, honestly?

Answer 2

Chances are you'll be okay. You could turn off SSID broadcasting for a little increased security and it should still work with your DS and computers.

Answer 3

Well, like you said, WEP is easier to crack that WPA is. That being said, even if you're not worried about someone using your connection, it's now a whole lot easier for someone to sniff out your wireless information (See what sites you're on, that sort of thing). However, there are ways you can secure it a bit further:

SSID Broadcasting: You want to turn this off. SSID Broadcasting sends out the name of your wireless network for devices to find it. If it's turned off, then you need to know the name of the network before being able to connect to it. (Turn it off, change the name, now only you know it).

Encryption: You want to enable this using (in order of preference) either WPA2, WPA, or WEP (Use the best one your devices, ie laptop, desktop, videogame consoles, can connect to). This is like adding a password to your wifi network.

MAC Address Filtering: Every single wifi wireless device has what is called a MAC Address, which is kind of like a name or ID. If you use MAC Address Filtering, you can choose to either only allow specific devices to connect to your network, or block specific ones.