how do i encrypt my belkin router so that next door carn't nick my signal.....?

Answer 1

Go into the management screen of your router. Look for the words "security" or "encryption". You will have the opportunity to turn on a security feature such as WEP or WPA, and assign a password or key.

That will protect the router, then you need to go to your wireless computer to put that key into it, through Network Connections, using the Properties of the wireless connection.

Answer 2

Even with SSID off, if someone knows the SSID it can still be hacked.

There are two ways to do it, I utilise both in my wireless network.

First is a WEP Key. Check the manual of your Router on how to do this but usually you type the IP address of the router into a machine on your network, enter the password and supply a WEP. You then tell each machine on the network what the WEP Key is and it works.

For added security I enable "Mac Address Filtering". Every network card has a completely unique MAC Address which is six hexadecimal numbers, ie:

00 : 01 : 00 : 3F : FF : C2

You should be able to set up your router so it will only communicate with certain MAC Addresses. This is a very safe way to do it because the chances of someone guessing your MAC address is very remote and with the WEP Key almost impossible.

TO FIND OUT THE MAC ADDRESS OF YOUR NETWORK CARD.
It depends on the Operating System of your machine but if you have Windows XP then Click on START and Run, type in CMD and press ENTER. You will now get the Command Prompt.

Type in

IPCONFIG /ALL

and press ENTER.

You will see a list of the network devices attached and it will include the MAC Address.

Good luck.

Answer 3

set up a password on your network

Answer 4

Turn SSID off