I have only just got into the realms of Wireless as I installed my router last night.
I want to use WEP, or should I use WPA?
I generate a 128bit set of keys on my Linksys Wireless G router and choose 104bit on the 9500, as mentioned in the manual. but when I enter the keys there does not seem to be a enough character spaces for the key. Is it just masking the amount of space? Is there an easier way of entering the keys than typing them manually?
Any help for this wireless newbie will be appreciated. :icon14:
You cannot enter the key because you have the wrong WEP key mode. Change from ASCII to HEX and it should work. 😉
thanks but I did, or so I thought (goes away and checks) yes I had.
So I now have thought what the hay and typed the keys in, even though it looks like nothing is happening beyong a certain amount of characters, tested it and it works (I should of just got on with it in the first place nothing would have been ireversable)
So it looks like I have answered my own question, the dialogue box is just masking the amount of characters you are typing.
Why so many keys anyway when you only use one? Are you supposed to rotate them to be ultra secure or something?
Because you can actually find a network's WEP key by sniffing enough packets. After transmitting a certain amount of data, your WEP key is virtually useless.
So it is not that secure then, how often do they recommend that you rotate keys? Is there some thing that will do it automatically? If the 9500 can't connect with the selected key will it try the others?
Had to add that last question or it could have been off topic and needed to be on a PC forum 😃
I can't remember exactly but if my memory is not too crappy you need to sniff around 200 megs to crack the key. I'm not 100% sure about that figure though.
As my router recently gave up on me, I can't try the 9500's WEP key management but I think you probably have to manually specify the right key each time you change it. You could probably generate a few keys in advance, save them in a document on your 9500 and copy-paste as you replace them.
WEP is, indeed, not very secure. With the right software and time to accumulate a couple of gigabytes of traffic data, it can be broken. The shorter the keys, the easier/quicker, probably (I'm no expert on these matters).
The way to complement WEP security is to limit access to access points by MAC address, hide the SSID. Also using WPA instead of WEP helps (WPA was designed after WEP weakness was discovered a few years ago, so presumably it is more secure, but I could be wrong).
At home it is often difficult (expensive) to arrange, but with any company/corporation, all WLAN networks should also contain no servers to connect to; they should all be outside the WLAN, inside the company's wired network, and accessible only via VPN from the WLAN (even if both the WLAN and the wired network is owned by the company). That way all traffic on the WLAN is protected by both the WLAN mechanisms and the VPN encryption.
In addition, of course, any device on the WLAN should have no open services and preferrably also its own firewall (with a 9500 it doesn't matter, unless you install, e.g., a web server that runs on the phone and waits for and accepts incoming connections).
Ok I will probably switch to WPA as both devices support it.
Both my PC's connected to the router are firewalled, but these are wired anyway not wireless, I just bought the router for my 9500, Game console adaptor and my PSP when it arrives, although I am thinking of getting a laptop, so I might have to re-evaluate then.
Thanks for the info :icon14: