Up until sometime last week, it was working. All of a sudden, though, it's like the wireless aspect of my network just completely died. There's no SSID broadcasting or anything. Every wireless device I've got is telling me that the access point doesn't even exist.
I'm more than willing to answer any questions that are necessary to make this work again, but I know next to nothing about wireless devices...
Edit: and make sure someone didn't bend the hell out of the antenna or something. They don't like being tweaked around. Alaan fucked around with this message on 04-20-2007 at 11:36 PM.
Which is fucking weird, 'cause I'm the only person in this house that goes anywhere near those things...
It's more likely than you think.
Disable access to the router control panel from wireless and external internet connections. Use a WEP key at the very least, but that's vulnerable so use Personal WPA if possible. And obvious though it might be, don't keep the default router password. Asha'man fucked around with this message on 04-21-2007 at 01:33 AM.
Also, on linksys routers, make sure that the "Configuration allowed via WAN port" option is disabled. If it is enabled, anyone who can guess your password and your IP can config your router, whereas if it's off, as well as the configure via wireless that someone else earlier mentioned being off, someone has to be physically wired to your net to configure it (or do a real good spoofing job).
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And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Azizza was all like:
WPA or even better WPA2 is much better although still far from secure.
They're secure. WEP's protocol is inherently vulnerable, so no matter the key you chose it could be figured out without brute force. WPA/WPA2 can be vulnerable if you use a TKIP algorithm, which was included for reverse compatibility to WEP and is therefore subject to similar weaknesses. The AES algorithm is secure to anything short of a full blown dictionary attack. So that, in combination with a non-retarded key, will pretty much keep you safe.
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So quoth Cherveny:
Really, if you want to be secure, use not only some form of encryption, WEP or better, but also turn off SID broadcasting, and use a MAC filter, using only the MACs you know your devices are using. Yes, still possible to get in, but much harder for someone this way. (Starts making it less worth their while)
Disabling SSID broadcasting is a bigger security threat to your computers than keeping it on is a threat to your router. Long story short, it's pretty much recommended to keep it *on* now.
A MAC filter is completely useless. It takes me exactly 30 seconds to go in my Ethernet adapter settings and change my MAC to whatever I might just have sniffed from passive probing.
It pretty much takes only one packet to bypass these two security measures, provided you're watching at the right time. They're a pointless hassle.
I do appreciate all the replies, though. I probably wouldn't have caught the problem without going back and reexamining everything. And knowing about those security troubles is making me want to study more about it....
Just remember what I'm describing here is not the absolute best security option out there, but in terms of security vs. hassle, it's the best you can obtain.
Assuming you have a Linksys router, this sums up what needs to be done:
and
Oh, also: Asha'man fucked around with this message on 04-21-2007 at 04:52 PM.
WPA2 is not as supported as WPA/WEP are -- it's very possible your wireless adapter doesn't have the option for it. You'll need to upgrade Windows XP to (IIRC) at least Service Pack 1, too. If the option isn't available, WPA-AES is good too, then WPA-TKIP.
