On 27 Aug 2006 01:14:47 -0700, benn686@hotmail.com wrote:

> I recently discovered that a few people are accessing the internet via
> my unsecured wireless network. In my quest I found that the 64/128
> bit Wep encryption is the norm...
>
> However, what about just setting up a MAC filter?
>
> Im probably like most users in that my network consists of just a few
> wireless devices... why do most people use encryption (
> WAP(2)/Radius/Wep ) instead of just manually listing the permitted MACs
> that can access the wireless network.
>
> I can see for a big business with many computers this would be too time
> consuming, but for home or small office wouldnt a MAC filter be the
> MOST secure and have the LEAST latency associated with it?? Why isnt
> this option ever mentioned?
>
> Thoughts??

Without encryption your traffic can be intercepted (think passwords etc...)
And a potential abuser can sit within range and easily gain a list of your
mac addresses that are used.. and simply kick one of your devices off the
wifi network and use the mac address for himself.. called spoofing.

WEP (64 or better) has been proven to be ineffective and easily cracked.
WPA or WPA2 (if supported) should be considered the bare minimum.

It's a shame manufacturers are still making wifi enabled devices with only
WEP support!