One problem with wireless networks is that people who have wireless devices that are within the range of your network can access them. Even if you have set up a password for your wireless network, that password can also be hacked and access to your network can be gained. One way to further tighten up your network security is through MAC filtering.
MAC filtering is a network security procedure that only allows access to registered MAC addresses. A MAC address is the unique ID of a network device; no two computers or network device has the same. What this means is that only registered and authorized machines can access your wireless network. So even if they somehow managed to break or hack your password, they won’t still have access if their address is not registered. This is a very effective way to ensure the network security of your wireless home network.
What you need to do is enable the MAC filtering function of your wireless router or access points. Most routers at present have this function. Next, you need to input the MAC address of the computers in your home network. Getting the MAC address is different from one operating system to another, but this should be found in the properties of the network device. Check your computer’s manual or technical support for the procedure on getting the MAC address.
So, if you’re very particular about the network security of your wireless network, then one thing you can do is to enable MAC filtering in your network.
By: Tiraton Athiwat
Posts Tagged ‘Wireless Router’
Home Networking
February 4th, 2010
Setting up Your Home Network
As society and technology change, it’s becoming common for homes to have more than one computer. When an existing computer is a few years old, parents will often take advantage of today’s lower prices, purchase a new computer, and pass the old one down to the kids.
Suddenly, there’s a need for a home network, so all computers in the house can share an files, printers and an Internet connection. Fortunately, setting up a basic home network is not rocket science. To start, you’ll need a router which becomes the central point of your network. Most office and electronics stores offer home networking kits with a router, ethernet (network) adapters and CAT-5 networking cable.
If your computer was assembled in the past five years, it probably already has an ethernet adapter. Check the back of the system unit for a port that looks like a telephone jack, but slightly bigger.
If you don’t have an ethernet adapter, you can purchase one (about $20) and install it yourself. You can also use a special ethernet adapter that plugs into a USB port, if you can’t stand the thought of opening your system unit to install an ethernet adapter.
Wired or Wireless Networking?
You’ll need to connect each of your computers to the router with a cable, or go wireless. If you want to use wireless connections, you’ll need a wireless router and a wireless adapter for each computer. Most laptops have a wireless adapter built in, most desktop models do not. If you need a wireless adapter, you can purchase one that installs inside the system unit, or get a USB-style adapter.
Having a wireless network eliminates the need to string unsightly cables all around the house, but it can also create a security risk. Wireless networks are often configured by default to allow access to any computer that attempts to connect. So an Evil Hacker driving by with a laptop (or even your neighbor) might be able to tap into your Internet connection or poke around your hard disk.
Fortunately, wireless security encryption is easy to set up. See my article Wireless Security for step-by-step instructions.
Network Configuration
Whether the network signals travel through wires or through the air, network resources must still be shared so that other computers can access them. If you are running Windows XP or MacOS X, all you have to do is connect your computers and high-speed modem to the router, and Internet connection sharing should just work like magic. If not, restart the cable modem, router, and the computers (in that order) and see if that does the trick. If you can’t access the Internet from one or more computers on the network, consult the manual that came with your router.
One nice side benefit of having a router is that they have firewalls built in to the hardware. Firewalls protect you by hiding your computers from network attacks, but still allow you to surf the web and handle email. So after installing a router, you can turn OFF the Windows firewall and any other software-based firewalls you may have running.
Sharing Files and Printers
Sharing files and printers on a Windows network is also pretty painless. To share a printer, go into the Printers section of the Control Panel, right-click the icon for the printer that needs to be shared, and choose Sharing from the resulting menu. By assigning a name to the shared printer, the owner allows other computers on the network to access the printer by browsing using their Network Neighborhood (or My Network Places) icons. Access can be restricted to only some computers or users through the use of the Security or Permissions options on the Sharing screen.
The same concept applies for shared file and folders on a network. For example, if you want to share a collection of MP3 files on a home network, just browse to the folder using the My Computer icon, right-click the folder name and choose Sharing. After assigning a name to the shared resource and setting Permissions other computers on the network can access that resource via Network Neighborhood or My Network Places.
By: Bob Rankin
How to Setup a Home Network – Choosing Your Network Equipment
February 4th, 2010
If you want to build a personal network, planning ahead can save both money and time especially if you ever know you will grow your local area network in the distant future.
The whole point of coming up with a plan is to realize what you actually need to put in your network, after all there are many more things available than just having computers that connect to the internet.
This includes WiFi, cables, or even both
Although you might be only using wired connections, will you be able to use WiFi in the future?
Almost everyone at some point, and the difference in prices between a wired router and wireless router is small, and just about every wireless router still have a wired ethernet hub built into them meaning we can still connect both wired and wireless devices.
The whole point most people want a home network setup is to share an internet connection, in this case it’s imperative the security and the router has the latest firmware, this includes Wireless Security, Router Security & each computer must have a firewall, anti-spyware and a firewall.
Long gone are the days of having to share your hard drive or have a special computer, network attached hard drives are easy to setup and they typically have space from 500gb to 2tb. Some even have a wireless option.
The speed of a network can be a major factor if you send big files, truth be told a cabled network will always be faster than wireless, as a rule of thumb use cabled where possible and wifi where you have to, i.e laptops.
One of the big mistakes made when many of us are setting up a home network in the house is thinking about future expansions to the network, spending a little less today will only mean you spend more down the road, work within your budget but be realistic, setup the network that suits your needs and and budget.
By: Alex D Smith
