Wireless Encryption

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:41 am

I'm helping a guy put in a network, and he wants it wireless. He's also very concerned about security of the network.

I'm not too familiar with the wireless networking equipment yet, so I need some recommendations...

He wants a wireless router with the best encryption you can get. He hasn't decided on 802.11b or g yet, either, one laptop does one, and the other does the other, I'm not sure about the backward compatibility of g to b either.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 6:58 am

G is compatible to B AFAIK, and wireless security is selectable in 2 modes......64 Bit and 128Bit. the two different numbers just indicate how many possible characters and symbols can be placed into the WEP key code

Wolf on Air · Post by **Wolf on Air** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 7:47 am

I have a 3Com OfficeConnect 802.11g accesspoint (3CRWE454G72) and run 256 bit pre-shared key WPA (WiFi Protected Access) in combination with MAC restriction and disabled SSID broadcast. About as secure as it gets without IPSec - works great with both a PC and my PowerBook. Do note that Windoze XP needs SP1 and a patch to support WPA.

G is indeed backwards compatible with B to an extent - but it essentially means everyone on G downgrades to B speeds if there is even one B client on the channel. Not optimal.

DigiJo · Post by **DigiJo** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 10:32 am

i would go for the g variant. highest possible key-encryption, make the ssid invisible to others and activate the mac-restriction. its almost as secure as cable lan then.

Wolf on Air · Post by **Wolf on Air** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 11:53 am

Do note that the difference between WPA and WEP is more than just the key size - WPA solves several known vulnerabilities in WEP, IIRC.

AceCombat · Post by **AceCombat** » Tue Apr 13, 2004 2:22 pm

i just now rememberd that WPA is more secure than WEP. sorry about that