Linksys Wireless Security
 

i currently have a wireless internet connection which has no security enabled. It is a Linksys router & on my PC I have a linksys wireless G PCI adapter & on my laptop a linksys wpc54g adapter. everything works fine, but I really think I should add some protection to it.

The question is, given that I'm not starting from scratch installing the equipment & software for the first time, what do I do first?

I've had a nose at the PC & by going to Wireless Network connection Properties & then to linksys properties I can change the data encryption from disabled to enabled & then it looks like it expects me to enter a network key (presume I make this up). Do I just do this & make a note of the network key & then go to the linksys set up on the laptop & change the profile to WEP & put in the key there too?

Thanks

Re: Linksys Wireless Security
 

You normally set the encryption on the network first, and then allow the computer's adaptor to connect to the enrypted network.

You don't say which model of Linksys router you have, but most will enable you to access the admin panel on the default IP of 192.168.1.1. Once you connect look at the wireless settings and enable WEP or alternative encryption from there. Yes you can choose what password or encryption pattern you like, or accept the default that is offered. Then you save the settings which will enable it.

Make sure you've written the password / encryption down, as your wirless on PCs will be disabled until you try to get them to log in and enter the right passwords.

Re: Linksys Wireless Security
 

Remember that WEP keys must be entered in hexadecimal - only A to F and 0 to 9 are allowed - nothing else. It also must be a certain length (depending on the strength of the security you set it at).

Re: Linksys Wireless Security
 

There's an ASCII to hex converter here...

Remove the % signs though... ;)

Personally I'd advise using WPA rather than WEP as it's more secure...

Re: Linksys Wireless Security
 

thanks for the replies, logged into the admin panel on the router, took a few seconds to do it. internet access then crashed, logged into the linksys set up in the taskbar of the laptop, typed the same details in there & internet back up, whole thing took a couple of minutes, will do the other PC in the morning, I'm sure that will be easy enough too