my bro has a trendnet 54Mbps Wireless Firewall router 802.11 G, he has the wii and PC connected via ethernet?

Question

Here's my bro's question: I have my Wii and PC connected via ethernet and i didn't use the wireless feature, i really don't know much about wireless networking but i prefer having them wired since they're just 2 feet away from each other, i hid the SSID or i think i didn't broadcast it, but didn't have time to do the WEP/WPA encryption and also i'm new at doing that, my question is DOES MY ROUTER STILL SENDS WIRELESS SIGNALS AND IF MY SSID IS HIDDEN/NOT BROADCASTED, BUT NOT ENCRYPTED DOES THAT MEAN I'M SAFE OR DO I STILL NEED TO ENCRYPT, i just want to have my wii and pc online at the same time and i really didn't need a wireless router but my wife had got a good deal for a router and it was wireless, I JUST FEEL UNSAFE WITH WIRELESS BEC. OF HACKERS AND PLUS I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT COMPUTERS AND WIRELESS

Answer 1

Well, if you aren't using the wireless, TURN IT OFF. There is a setting in your router to disable it just disable the wireless.

With a hidden SSID you are still active and transmitting and usable!

A hidden SSID can be discovered by those who know how! Would they? Maybe, but probably not because of the amount of work needed, BUT if you left the DEFAULT and didn't change it then it is no issue at all to connect to you!

Answer 2

If your SSID is hidden , then others cannot resolve the SSID. But the wireless router is still signaling. If anyone else knows your SSSID then he or she can get into your network because there is no encryption. There are applications available to determine SSID, even if its hidden. So if you Dont use the wireless feature of your router, its best to disable it, or you can add WEP encryption to it, or lock MAC against IP.

Answer 3

You need to encrypt it. Packet sniffers and the like can track your connection and anyone who knows your SSID can connect.

Encryption really isn't that hard, you just enable it on the router - its even easier if you don't ever use the wireless because it means you don't have to update the settings on anything with the encryption key.

Answer 4

Go into the router's wireless configuration page and disable wireless. This may be accomplished by a turning off a "Enable Wireless access point" checkbox. This should prevent anyone from using the wireless, but will still allow you to use the router for wired routing.