WRT54G Security

I am setting up a wireless access point using the WRT54G so I can connect
with only my laptop

Will my network be secure if I use a MAC address filter that allows only the
MAC address of my laptop, and use the WEP feature?
Also, is it advisable not to broadcast the SSID? Should the SSID be set to
the Windows Workgroup name or something else, or doesn't it matter?

I plan to have shared folders available to the wireless laptop and want to
be sure the neighbors can't get in.

--
Paul Delaney
AE6JN

"paul" <nobody@nowhere.com> hath wroth:

>I am setting up a wireless access point using the WRT54G so I can connect
>with only my laptop
>
>Will my network be secure if I use a MAC address filter that allows only the
>MAC address of my laptop, and use the WEP feature?

No and no respectively. MAC addresses are easily spoofed and WEP is
fairly easily cracked. You should be using WPA or WPA2 encryption.
Never mind the MAC address filter.

>Also, is it advisable not to broadcast the SSID?

Yes, it not adviseable to not broadcast the SSID?
SSID hiding does little for security as the SSID can easily be
extracted by various common Linux utilities. If you set your router
to not broadcast the SSID, you run a good chance that your neighbors
will not know you're there and land on your channel.

>Should the SSID be set to
>the Windows Workgroup name or something else, or doesn't it matter?

Doesn't matter. There are limitations as to what ASCII gibberish can
be used. Stay with letters and numbers and don't use control
characters and funny symbols. All that is important is that it is
unique. I use my street address.

>I plan to have shared folders available to the wireless laptop and want to
>be sure the neighbors can't get in.

WPA or WPA2 should be sufficient security. However, setting a
password on shared folders would not be a bad idea.

The FAQ wireless security section:
| http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Wi-Fi_Security

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

> WPA or WPA2 should be sufficient security. However, setting a
> password on shared folders would not be a bad idea.
>
> The FAQ wireless security section:
> | http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Wi-Fi_Security

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the advice. I don't see WPA as a feature in my WRT54G.
Do I need to upgrade the firmware?

--
Paul Delaney
AE6JN

"paul" <nobody@nowhere.com> hath wroth:

>> WPA or WPA2 should be sufficient security. However, setting a
>> password on shared folders would not be a bad idea.
>>
>> The FAQ wireless security section:
>> | http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi#Wi-Fi_Security

>Thanks for the advice. I don't see WPA as a feature in my WRT54G.
>Do I need to upgrade the firmware?

It's there. Which hardware version of the WRT54G do you have?
v1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 6.0, or 7.0?
All these have firmware that supports WPA-PSK or WPA-Personal.

My guess(tm) is you have a V5 or V6. See:
| http://www.linksysdata.com/ui/WRT54G.../WSecurity.htm
Select WPA-Personal or WPA2-Personal.
On the early versions of the firmware, for the early hardware
versions, it's called WPA Pre Shared Key on the same pull down menu.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WRT54G

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"Jeff Liebermann" <jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us> wrote in message
news:1odmi293e28uh60ukteifv6aholh7bhe4u@4ax.com...
> "paul" <nobody@nowhere.com> hath wroth:

>>Thanks for the advice. I don't see WPA as a feature in my WRT54G.
>>Do I need to upgrade the firmware?
>
> It's there. Which hardware version of the WRT54G do you have?
> v1.0, 1.1, 2.0, 2.2, 3.0, 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 6.0, or 7.0?
> All these have firmware that supports WPA-PSK or WPA-Personal.

It is version 1.1. Apparently the owners manual I downloaded was a bit out
of date.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

look at dd-wrt
http://www.dd-wrt.com/