If everything is working well on your wireless network, it is now time to secure it. The nature of wireless is that anybody within range can access the network. But, unless you’re feeling especially charitable, you probably don’t want people to be able to sit outside your house and use your network. If those people are knowledgeable and mischievous, they can use that access to do any number of bad things.

The two major types of security are Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and WiFi Protected Access (WPA). WEP works by requiring a password which is used to decrypt encrypted data sent across the network. The password is a key which is used to successfully decrypt the signal. The encryption key needs to be entered identically on both the access point and any computer wishing to connect to the network. This is much better than nothing, but unfortunately, hackers have found a way to bust through WEP encryption. Obviously, most people walking around your home probably have no idea how to do that, however, it can be done. So, the WiFi Organization developed WPA.

WPA combines encryption with user authentication. Instead of simply sharing an encryption key like WEP, WPA requires a client computer to log in with a password, called a shared key. If the user passes this test, the access point will then send the user a unique encryption key that is valid for a finite amount of time. All data between the access point and the client computer is decrypted using this temporary key. When the key expires, the access point and the client computer set up between themselves a new key and the process is continued.

To set up wireless network security, you should access your configuration via a web browser. It is best to do this via a computer which is connected to your network via wires. Once you enable wireless security, any wireless connected PC will be disconnected from the network until you set up the access information on those computers. A computer connected using wires is not subject to this security.

In your router settings, locate the WPA settings. If you have options to select a mode, choose “Pre-Shared Key” or PSK. Set a key, which can be any combination of letter and numbers of your choice. In most cases, the renewal period is set to 900 seconds (15 minutes) and this is adequate as is.

Once this is set up on your router, you need to go to each computer and enter the WPA shared key. Whenever you try to connect to the LAN, you will be prompted to enter the shared key.

If you don’t wish to use WPA security, you can use WEP security. As said, it is not as secure as WPA, but it is far better than nothing at all. To configure this, access the WEP settings on your router. Select to Enable WEP security. If the router offers different encryption levels, choose the highest level. Next, you need to choose an encryption key. Most routers allow you to use either hexadecimal or ASCII keys. ASCII means regular letters and numbers, so unless you’re feeling especially dorky, I would use ASCII. Enter your key. You need to enter at least one key, although many routers offer the option to enter several keys. This allows you to easily switch between keys later on.

Last, go to your computers and enter the encryption key for your network. You will need to enter it twice and then click Connect. It will remember the key so you should not need to enter it again unless you change the key.

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