How to Secure a Wireless Connection

Posted on August 31st, 2009 by Marck

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Wireless networks are very convenient because they’re fairly easy to set up. Yet the same ease and convenience that comes with setting up wireless connections makes it prone to unauthorized access and abuse. Here’s how you can secure your wireless connections in your office or at home.

Wireless Security Protocols

Any wireless-enabled device can access a network as long as it is within range. To minimize or even eliminate unauthorized access, hardware manufacturers and software developers have designed security protocols to secure wireless access points:

WEP (Wired Equivalent Policy) is very similar to LAN, in the sense that it protects your wireless network against unauthorized access. WEP is very effective and efficient at what it does, although it is not a very effective security protocol for deterring intentional acts to compromise the system.
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) is an industry standard for 802.11 wireless networks, and is poised to replace WEP altogether. WPA is often used for ad hoc networks, although it can also be used to safeguard against restricted access for permanent wireless networks.

Securing Wireless Connections

To secure your personal wireless network, follow these steps:

Go to the Control Panel of Microsoft Windows, and click “Network and Internet Connections.”
Create a network name.
You can opt for Windows automatically assigning a key to the network, or you can make your own key. When making your own key for the wireless connection, make sure that it cannot be easily accessed and verified through guesswork.
Click the box for enabling WPA if you’re using newer devices. For older devices that do not support the WPA protocol, you may need to stick with WEP.
Set up the network using a USB flash drive or a network connection.
Save all settings and test the network.

Wireless connections should be made secure to protect system resources and critical system data. With these steps, you can keep your wireless access point safe from unauthorized access.