Analysis on locking wireless router functions for security

More and more people are using the wireless router feature to reinforce their network security. What security issues may occur when using wireless networks to access the Internet? How can we protect our privacy?

The wireless router function locks Security

As more and more friends enter the "wireless School" family, the security of wireless networks has attracted much attention. Relatively speaking, wireless networks are more difficult to protect than wired networks, because the number of fixed physical access points in a wired network is limited, and any point that can be achieved by the wireless network signal may be used.

Therefore, major brand manufacturers have added methods such as keys and forbidden SSID broadcast in the configuration design of wireless routers. Are these security settings really effective? The following uses wireless devices that support the IEEE 802.11g standard as an example to illustrate how to solve the problems one by one.

Wireless Router function: Set the network key

The wireless encryption protocol (WEP) is a standard method for encrypting data transmitted in wireless networks. Currently, most wireless devices only have WEP encryption, and more secure WPA encryption is not widely used. Currently, there are two key types for a wireless router or AP. For example, the used wireless router has a 64-bit and 128-bit encryption type. Enter 10 or 26 strings as the encryption password respectively.

We would like to remind you that the data transmission encryption function is disabled when many wireless routers or APs are leaving the factory. If you use it without further settings, then your wireless network becomes a "undefended" decoration. Therefore, it is extremely important to set encryption for your wireless network. Test results: the 64-bit encryption method is used. During the test, the existence of the wireless Network is found through software such as Network Stumbler. However, the wireless Network cannot be used because the password cannot be obtained.

Wireless Router function: Disable SSID Broadcast

In general, the SSID is the name you give your wireless network. Note that the wireless routers or APS launched by the same manufacturer use the same SSID. Once attackers attempt to connect to the wireless network using a common initialization string, it is easy to establish an illegal connection, which poses a threat to our wireless network. Therefore, it is recommended that you name the SSID as a personal name.

A wireless router generally provides the "allow SSID broadcast" function. If you do not want your wireless network to be searched by someone else using the SSID name, you 'd better "Disable SSID broadcast ". Your Wireless Network can still be used, but it will not appear in the list of available networks found by others. TIPS: After the SSID broadcast is disabled, the efficiency of the wireless network will be affected. However, in exchange for improved security, it is worthwhile. Test results: because no SSID is broadcast, the wireless network is ignored by the wireless network adapter, especially when Windows XP is used to manage the wireless network, it achieves the goal of "Hiding eyes and ears.

Wireless Router function: disable DHCP

DHCP can automatically assign IP addresses to each computer in the wireless LAN. You do not need to set IP addresses, subnet masks, and other required TCP/IP parameters. If DHCP is enabled, you can easily use your wireless network. Therefore, it is necessary to disable DHCP for wireless networks. Set the DHCP server to "disabled" under the "DHCP server" setting of the wireless router. Test results: Because the IP address and DNB server information cannot be obtained, the network is still unavailable even if the wireless network signal can be found.

Wireless Router function: enables MAC address and IP address filtering

When you enable the MAC address filtering function in the settings of a wireless router, note that, in the filter rule, you must select the option "only allow valid MAC addresses in the configured MAC address list to access the wireless network. In addition, if DHCP is disabled in the wireless LAN, we recommend that you set a fixed IP address for each computer that uses the wireless service, then, enter the IP addresses in the IP address permitted list. After the IP address filtering function of the wireless router is enabled, only users of the IP address in the list can access the network normally, and others can only be stunned.

Test Results: After the MAC address filtering and IP address filtering settings are completed, even if some people barely intrude into the wireless network, the MAC address and IP address are disabled by the filtering function of the wireless router, therefore, the wireless network is still unavailable.

Wireless Router function Summary

In fact, during the actual test, we found that any method mentioned above can protect your wireless network. Therefore, ordinary users do not have to worry about it and can use it with confidence. In addition, if you use public wireless networks at airports, conference rooms, and other public places, remember to disable your own documents and print sharing functions, this type of shared documents can be easily accessed by another client in the same LAN.