Setting a wireless modem connection....?

Question

Which box should i check for security configuration? a. WEP b. 802.1x or c. WPA. and what are they?

BTW. its a DSL modem

Answer 1

All depends on what your wireless cards support!

If all of your cards will support WPA it is indeed much more secure and safe! If your cards only support WEP then that is what you will HAVE to use. (802.1x requires a "radius" system which very few of us have - uses a username / password combination and rotating keys!)

WEP has been shown to be "crackable" in a matter of minutes. WPA on the other hand (if used with a real password) not so easy to get into!

Any of the three is better than no encryption. If you have to use WEP I would suggest you also use MAC authorization (it will be in the router settings) so that even if your "key" is discovered the "cracker" wont be able to join your network!

You can also turn off the SSID (network ID) broadcast on your router so that you run in "stealth" mode and no one knows you have a wireless network. This requires you to get all computers connected by manually entering the Network ID as well as the network key if you want to connect!

So if you can, RUN WPA!
If your cards on your computers do not all support WPA run WEP and turn off the SSID as well as authorize only the MAC addresses of each of your computers!

Answer 2

WEP is the most secure way to go. WEP is Wired Equivalent Privacy, it is a wireless network security standard. You will get a 'WEP key, a don't quote me, but I think it is 16 characters long and that is what someone would have to decipher to piggyback your network. It is a secure easy way to go.

Answer 3

WPA is a much higher security but only use it if all your computers on the network can use it. If they can juts use a WEP. All they are is passwords folr your wirless internet.