Wired or Wireless routers? Which is the safest?

Question

My company is going to send me a computer that I will use at home. I am planning to get a wired router to network my PC now and the computer that my company will send. One thing is bothering me. The company computer that I will receive can be controlled by the IT people from my company at any time. That means, there is a possibility that they can access my PC because they're networked. I just need to share the internet connection to both computers and not sharing files. Is it possible that I can keep them from accessing our PC's hard drive? How can I do that? I really need all the help I can get before my computer arrives and before I set-up my network. Thanks a lot! :-)

Answer 1

Sure, Change your workgroup from the default of MSHOME, to start with, and make sure you dont have any file sharing enabled. Apply a decent firewall like Zonealarm and set security to high (make sure and review the logs frequently for connection attempts), make sure you are up-to-date with MS patches, and scan your computer for any vulnerable software versions;
http://secunia.com/software_inspector/

This will prevent the IT guys from eaisly exploiting your personal PC through any common, known exploits. This will NOT prevent them from sniffing network traffic off the wire, by putting their ethernet card in promiscuous mode, or doing any other # of nasty things such as arp poisoning, or IP spoofing to intercept your traffic before it reaches your PC.
Using these techniques (unlikely) they could steal passwords, through cookie snarfing, ssl certificate fraud, or any other # of ways, to anything you are accessing over the internet, They could even go as far as to configure the company box as a web-sever/proxy and capture 100% of every internet session, but they should not be able to access your PC, unless they are extremely resourceful . But really, this is a pretty-far out scenario.

Answer 2

As far as the company thing goes. Usually you have to connect to the company's network. So if you are not connected they cannot acces your files. I have a company computer at home and had the same concern at first. Also if you only plug the ethernet cable in when you are using the internet then they cannot access it anyway.

If you are worried about it while you are online with their network. I would suggest getting either an external hard drive for your personal stuff this can be disconnected at anytime and you should be able to password protect it. If that is not an option get a file encryption program. I do not have any suggestions on which one is best just do a search for file encryption software.

Answer 3

This is a real concern. The wired router is the safest connection. While nothing is absolute it is much easier to intercept and decrypt a wireless signal.
As far as gaining access to your LAN at home there are several thing you can do. First is enable and configure MAC filtering on your router. Limit the number of computer to access your LAN .
Install a software firewall on each computer on your LAN. There are several very good freeware Firewall programs. I use SyGate PFW v.5.6 but I also have Kerio Free installed on 2 of my computers at home. Both are excellent. Whenever a program or computer tries to access your computer the firewall will ask if you wish to allow it. This can be annoying but it makes for a happy computer.
Once behind most routers you would need to "PortForward" or establish a VPN for and outside system to access your LAN. That is the main reason to be behind a router even if you only have one computer.
I have links we below with more advice and security freeware.

Answer 4

Wired is the safest.

WiFi can be very safe if it is installed and the best encryption avaliable is used.

I'm adding a copy and paste setup of WiFi from a Kim Komando email newsletter. I hope this is helpful in making up your mind.

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Most wireless routers are configured through your Internet browser. So you must connect your wireless router to a computer.

Type your router's IP address into your browser's address bar. You can find the IP address in your router's manual. You'll be prompted for a user name and password. These will also be listed in your manual.

You want to use WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption to protect your network. You'll typically see this setting as WPA-PSK (pre-shared key). You'll be prompted to enter a password of eight to 63 characters--letters, numbers and symbols. The router will use the password to build an encryption key.

WPA2 is the latest and safest version of WPA. The only weak point of WPA2 is your password. So make it as strong as possible. Here is a tip that will help.

http://komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=1503

Your router may use WPA, the forerunner to WPA2. If so, be sure your password has at least 21 characters.

The earliest security standard is WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). Don't use that; it is easily broken. Check the router manufacturer's site for updates. If there aren't any, don't use the router to go online.

Now you must update your computers. Click Start>>Control Panel. Double-click Network Connections. Right-click Wireless Network Connection. Select Properties from the pop-up menu and select the Wireless Networks tab. You should see your network listed under "Preferred networks." Select it and click Properties. If it's not listed, click the Add button. In the box labeled "Network name (SSID)," enter your network's name.

Under Network Authentication, select WPA-PSK. Select AES under "Data encryption." Under "Network key," enter the same password you used for your router. You must enter it twice to confirm it. Make sure "The key is provided for me automatically" is not checked. Click OK>>OK.

Answer 5

Wired connection is much safer. Anyway, 1. Yes 2. Yes possible if your router is cOmpromised then all packets can be obtained. 3. If your computer is off it cannot be touched. You seem to worry a lot about minor things, but for added security you should enable Mac filtering (check the owner manual for how to do so) and you'll have to add your Mac address

Answer 6

I don't really know about this, But in your wireless router preferences, there should be a option where you can have a password for your router. This way, who ever wants to connect to your network, it requires a password.

Answer 7

Wired is the safest. If you have a wireless router, ANYONE within the general area could get on if you dont secure the router right...

If you have a wired router they have to plug into your router which is in your house.

Answer 8

Just encrypt all Ur files with passwords...{:-{}.