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WPA vs. WEP


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#1
Kmoe

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Hi all,

I'm new to the wireless world and jumped full into it. Of course I'm concerned about securing my home wireless connection I tried using WEP. It seemed to secure my network fine but I started reading about WPA w/ (TKIP). I switched over to WPA and found that the internet is running much faster...Is WPA a better way to secure my home network?


Thanks in advance.
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#2
Facedown98

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Hi. Which form of WPA are you using? On my router I can have WPA-PSK [TKIP] - Wi-Fi Protected Access with Pre-Shared Key WPA2-PSK [AES] - Wi-Fi Protected Access version 2 with Pre-Shared Key. I'm not really sure what the pros and cons are, but I figure that if we narrow it down a bit, it might help another tech that will be posting here soon :whistling:
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#3
Kmoe

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Thanks for responding..

I'm using WPA Pre-Shared Key (TKIP) it's set to Group Renewel 3600 seconds.

Like I said previously, internet speed increased greatly...after I switched over to WPA.

Another thing I noticed when I veiwed the wireless connections available it states that I'm using WPA. Would this be a problem announcing to my neighborhood what secure network I'm using?
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#4
Facedown98

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For the most part, no, but to an experienced person, possibly... Really, if someone very experienced knows what kind of router you have, they can break into it, but that's a very rare occassion... I suggest taking a second opinion from someone else... Anyone?
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#5
SpaceCowboy706

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WPA is CURRENTLY as good as it gets for the mass market home wireless encryption that comes straight out of the Windows Mob Box, so to speak. Of course you can purchase additional third party Wireless encryptors (generally Commercial purchases only) but then you run into compatibility issues with your access point/router and wireless Nic's... and dont forget about COST... third party generally means NOT FREE... or BIG BUCKS :)

There are other things to help WPA along to be more secure such as PASSWORD Security... Change the password to your router (and make it long and change it often), change the password to your encryption (and make it long and change it often), change the password to your PC Login (and make it long and change it often), change the password to your... you get the point right :whistling:

and then lastly one thing to remember about your wireless security.. If an intruder wants in and he is fairly educated in networking there is nothing you can do to prevent him (or her) from getting in :help: (unless you unplug power from the router) :blink: look at it this way... when you deposit your money in the bank, the bank puts your money in a safe. This safe deters normal Joe Scmo from walking in and grabbing your money right... But if an armed gunman with a psychotic mental problem runs in and shoots everyone then he can walk right in and take your money from the safe. and that is pretty much the purpose of Wireless encryption.

All you can really do with wireless encryption is keep your neighbor from stealing your bandwidth... so Wep, WPA, or even a mac filter will work for this.
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#6
Kmoe

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:whistling: Thanks StormKnight and Spacecowboy...I appreciate the information.

Excellent site!!
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#7
Facedown98

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Glad we could help. Well put SpaceCowboy706 by the way :blink: Before we set you on your way, here is a random password generator you can use to make long, hard to guess passwords. Make sure you write them down so you don't forget lol Have a look: http://tools.invisio...=CustomPassword ... We'll see you around :whistling:
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#8
umoumlex

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Helo everyone :)


I was reading the post and I think I can help ,another step we can take to make the network a bit more securer is to chose the option on the router not to broadcast the network ID (name). In this case the network will be invisible to onther pc's. Just make shore you save and put your profile always on top of the order in your profile list.
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