Programming a Router Thru a Wireless Connection?

This topic interests me because I had a wireless router setup on my
home system and never bothered to password protect it on the
assumption that only a computer wired to the router could program it.
I have since taken it down. Can it be programmed thru a wireless
connection?

I ask now because I have connected to an open access router accessible
from my home but not on my network, and when I looked at my Network
Places, I found a description of the router I connected to and in the
Properties I found the program address for that router, along with its
MAC address. I don't want to experiment by trying to get into its
programming just to see if I can. That could be interpreted as an
attack and get me into trouble.

I just want to know so when I set up my network again I'll take the
right measures to secure my system.

Tom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In every assembly, of whatever size, passion will
always steal the crown from reason. John Adams

"Tom" <nobody@nothing.com> wrote in message
news:0v44o29cu9q9m8isnn46tpau2qd6g0joaa@4ax.com...
This topic interests me because I had a wireless router setup on my
home system and never bothered to password protect it on the
assumption that only a computer wired to the router could program it.
I have since taken it down. Can it be programmed thru a wireless
connection?

I ask now because I have connected to an open access router accessible
from my home but not on my network, and when I looked at my Network
Places, I found a description of the router I connected to and in the
Properties I found the program address for that router, along with its
MAC address. I don't want to experiment by trying to get into its
programming just to see if I can. That could be interpreted as an
attack and get me into trouble.

I just want to know so when I set up my network again I'll take the
right measures to secure my system.

Tom
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In every assembly, of whatever size, passion will
always steal the crown from reason. John Adams

My BT Voyager 2000 can be programmed wireless...........

In article <0v44o29cu9q9m8isnn46tpau2qd6g0joaa@4ax.com>,
nobody@nothing.com (known to some as Tom) scribed...

> This topic interests me because I had a wireless router setup on my
> home system and never bothered to password protect it on the
> assumption that only a computer wired to the router could program it.
> I have since taken it down. Can it be programmed thru a wireless
> connection?

<Snippety>

Check the manual. Many wireless routers CAN be programmed in this
manner, and leaving it wide open without a password is like hanging a
big red target around your neck saying I'M AN AMERICAN - PLEASE ABUSE
ME,' and walking through the streets of Fallujah, Iraq.

In short: You need to take security a LOT more seriously now to
avoid mucho trouble in the future. If you value the integrity of your
router, network, and connected computers.

The most basic and common-sense rules of ANY type of computing and
network security can be summed up as:

(1) NEVER leave ANY device that has password protection capability,
at least for its configuration section, WITHOUT a password. This most
definitely includes wireless routers.

(2) DON'T choose a password that can be easily guessed or social-
engineered. DO NOT use your name, your address, a pet's name, relative's
name, or anything that can be easily guessed with a bit of detective
work.

(3) DO use numbers and/or punctuation in your password of choice.

Happy tweaking.


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR)
http://www.bluefeathertech.com -- kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t calm
"Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..."

On Thu, 14 Dec 2006 22:19:18 -0500, in alt.internet.wireless , Tom
<nobody@nothing.com> wrote:

>This topic interests me because I had a wireless router setup on my
>home system and never bothered to password protect it

d'oh!

>on the
>assumption that only a computer wired to the router could program it.
>I have since taken it down. Can it be programmed thru a wireless
>connection?

Sure, if you can connect to its web interface, you can reprogramme it,
assuming you know the admin password. Never ever leave a router at the
default password, encryption keys or whatever. Never ever leave a
computer with no password, by the same token.


--
Mark McIntyre