Securing a Wireless Network

There are a couple unique challenges in securing a wireless network. The best way to conceptualize these challenges is to realize that the "paths" we've spent so much time discussing are much more accessible to outsiders because of their wireless nature. Unless you secure these paths, anyone with a laptop and a wireless network card can access your network.

Fortunately, you can secure them. There are a couple of things that you should think about, though the specific method of doing each varies with your products' vendor:

• Turn down your router: Many routers allow your to dampen their signal so that it does not broadcast so far. If you only need to cover a small distance, consider doing this to limit others' access to the signals.
• Never use default or obvious passwords: When installing and configuring software, always use a password that is hard to guess. Never use default passwords like "admin" or "linksys".
• Use security enhancements: Consider using password security on your network. A common standard that is supported by most routers and devices today include Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). This will require that users most enter a password before they can access anything on your network, and will go a long way towards increasing your security.

Network security is a big topic and we've barely scratched the surface here. For more ideas or to see our sources for this section, check out Section Five of Wi-Fi.org's "Five Steps to Creating A Wireless Network" (available in PDF format here).