Setting up your WIFI - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Dilbert1234567 · 02-16-2007, 10:53 PM

Setting up your WIFI

Here we go, first, and foremost we need to have a secure mindset, most commercial routers are setup for ease of use, not security. So first step, hardware reset on the router; get rid of all the junk that was on there. Now immediately after starting it backup, with a cable, log into the router and disable the wireless; then change the default password. Now with your wireless device, scan for networks and record which channels they are on, there are 11 channels to choose from, however, these channels overlap in frequency, and the only 3 channels that don’t overlap are 1, 6 and 11. Which ever channels are being used, go to the other side of the spectrum, this will be the channel you will eventually set your router too. Now on all your wireless devices, find the lowest level of encryption available, in order from lowest to highest, WEP 64, WEP 128, WPA, WPA2. Avoid WEP like the plague, due to inherent flaws in the protocol; it is breakable in a few minutes by a pro, or in a few hours by someone reading a step by step list. If you can’t do WPA, get new devices that support it. Now we need to generate a key for the WPA a pre-shared key, everyone joining the network needs to have this key. Here is where we don’t want to skimp out, most people use weak keys, and this is where we have risk, since we have 63 characters to play with, lets. https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm the second block of text is what we want, it will be random each time you reload the page, so what we want is to generate the key, then copy it. Paste it into an instance of notepad, or other simple text editor for future use. Next we choose an SSID, the network name, this should not be kept as the default, and it makes it difficult for everyone else as well as causes network issues as well, you can set it to what ever you want. So now we have everything we need. Log back into the router and go to the wireless setup page, change the SSID, encryption, set the pre-shared key, re-enable the wireless and save your changes. Now, print the encryption key, or transfer it to the computer that needs to join, and join.

MexicanOnABike · 02-17-2007, 12:25 AM

thanks for the info! I'm sure it will be very useful for anyone here. I'll add that if you can, try to avoid linkSys. they tend to make crappier routers. just on this forum, a few ppl had problems with them.

What hardware do you recommend Dilbert1234567 ??

Dilbert1234567 · 02-17-2007, 08:17 AM

besides making your own (m0n0wall, smoothwall) i do recommend linksys, they are cheep but they work, i spent over an hour with a belkins last night, the main reason it took so long is that each change i made the router had to be reset which takes 25 seconds. the problems people have with linksys is that they cache all open connections for about 5 days, which leads to trouble when you use P2P clients.

meanSpleen · 02-17-2007, 08:46 AM

Don't really want to nag or nitpick, but can you bullet point of separate the steps a bit? It is easier to follow a guide or steps when each important part of it is unattached from everything else

- first step, hardware reset on the router; get rid of all the junk that was on there.

- Now immediately after starting it backup, with a cable, log into the router and disable the wireless; then change the default password.

- Now with your wireless device, scan for networks and record which channels they are on, there are 11 channels to choose from, however, these channels overlap in frequency, and the only 3 channels that don’t overlap are 1, 6 and 11. Which ever channels are being used, go to the other side of the spectrum, this will be the channel you will eventually set your router too.

-etc

02-16-2007, 10:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	Setting up your WIFI Setting up your WIFI Here we go, first, and foremost we need to have a secure mindset, most commercial routers are setup for ease of use, not security. So first step, hardware reset on the router; get rid of all the junk that was on there. Now immediately after starting it backup, with a cable, log into the router and disable the wireless; then change the default password. Now with your wireless device, scan for networks and record which channels they are on, there are 11 channels to choose from, however, these channels overlap in frequency, and the only 3 channels that don’t overlap are 1, 6 and 11. Which ever channels are being used, go to the other side of the spectrum, this will be the channel you will eventually set your router too. Now on all your wireless devices, find the lowest level of encryption available, in order from lowest to highest, WEP 64, WEP 128, WPA, WPA2. Avoid WEP like the plague, due to inherent flaws in the protocol; it is breakable in a few minutes by a pro, or in a few hours by someone reading a step by step list. If you can’t do WPA, get new devices that support it. Now we need to generate a key for the WPA a pre-shared key, everyone joining the network needs to have this key. Here is where we don’t want to skimp out, most people use weak keys, and this is where we have risk, since we have 63 characters to play with, lets. https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm the second block of text is what we want, it will be random each time you reload the page, so what we want is to generate the key, then copy it. Paste it into an instance of notepad, or other simple text editor for future use. Next we choose an SSID, the network name, this should not be kept as the default, and it makes it difficult for everyone else as well as causes network issues as well, you can set it to what ever you want. So now we have everything we need. Log back into the router and go to the wireless setup page, change the SSID, encryption, set the pre-shared key, re-enable the wireless and save your changes. Now, print the encryption key, or transfer it to the computer that needs to join, and join. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

02-17-2007, 12:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
MexicanOnABike Location: up north	thanks for the info! I'm sure it will be very useful for anyone here. I'll add that if you can, try to avoid linkSys. they tend to make crappier routers. just on this forum, a few ppl had problems with them. What hardware do you recommend Dilbert1234567 ?? __________________ - Movie Reviews - Ratings-

02-17-2007, 08:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
Dilbert1234567 Devils Cabana Boy Location: Central Coast CA	besides making your own (m0n0wall, smoothwall) i do recommend linksys, they are cheep but they work, i spent over an hour with a belkins last night, the main reason it took so long is that each change i made the router had to be reset which takes 25 seconds. the problems people have with linksys is that they cache all open connections for about 5 days, which leads to trouble when you use P2P clients. __________________ Donate Blood! "Love is not finding the perfect person, but learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." -Sam Keen

02-17-2007, 08:46 AM	#4 (permalink)
meanSpleen Squid hat! Location: A Few Miles Away From Halx	Don't really want to nag or nitpick, but can you bullet point of separate the steps a bit? It is easier to follow a guide or steps when each important part of it is unattached from everything else - first step, hardware reset on the router; get rid of all the junk that was on there. - Now immediately after starting it backup, with a cable, log into the router and disable the wireless; then change the default password. - Now with your wireless device, scan for networks and record which channels they are on, there are 11 channels to choose from, however, these channels overlap in frequency, and the only 3 channels that don’t overlap are 1, 6 and 11. Which ever channels are being used, go to the other side of the spectrum, this will be the channel you will eventually set your router too. -etc __________________ Like TFP? Donate To Keep It Alive!!