[Bungleau]

When you first get most wireless equipment, it's set up wide-open. That means that it broadcasts the wireless network ID, and will accept anyone who knows it. Think of a website asking for a password and also saying "at the next password prompt, type 'geniusboy'".

The first level of security is to simply turn off the broadcast of the ID. Make 'em know it or guess it. I turned that off the first day.

Second thing is to turn on WEP, or... Wireless Encryption Protocol, I think. There, you can specify passphrase or encryption passcode, either 128-bit or 64-bit. I was using 128-bit.

Third thing is to restrict access by MAC address. That's the ID associated with your network card (or whatever). By definition, each one has a unique ID, no matter the manufacturer. So you can basically restrict access to a particular network card. That's what I now have enabled.

Of course, there are ways to get around it. You can tell your NIC to pretend it has a different ID. And there are some manufacturers of NICs (usually low-grade knock-offs) who buy someone else's NIC and duplicate it -- including the MAC address. Buy name-brand NICs, and you shouldn't have that problem.

Anywho, that's a brief summary of everything I know about wireless security. Like everything else, it works best when you turn it on.

Ermmmm... let's leave that straight line alone, okay? [img]smile.gif[/img]