Wireless security question

Hi,
I'm new to wireless broadband and set up my BT Home Hub 2.0 about a week and a half ago. When I was first configuring the settings, I was prompted to change my admin password, which I did. I subsequently decided to change the wireless key as well, for extra security. I simply went into Hub Manager - Advanced Settings, viewed my wireless key, entered a new one and clicked apply. It seemed to update immediately without me needing to do anything else and my connection was not affected.
Last night I decided I wanted to change my wireless key again to make it even stronger. I followed the same procedure as before, but this time when I clicked 'apply' the process froze, my wireless connection was lost and when I tried to reconnect I couldn't. I re-set the hub to default and started again, then tried changing the wireless key whilst plugged into the hub with the ethernet cable. This worked fine, although I then needed to re-configure my laptop with the new security key. What puzzles me is that I didn't have to do this when I first changed the key - I didn't need to connect by ethernet and I didn't need to re-configure my laptop.
This makes me wonder if my original change to my wireless key ever happened - although every time I logged into Hub Manager and checked the security settings, it showed the new key. If I had changed the key, then how was my laptop able to connect to the hub if I hadn't manually updated it? I was definitely always connecting to my home hub and not BT Fon/Openzone which I am opted out of. I am worried that when I originally tried to change the security key I may have inadvertently switched off my security altogether, yet in Hub Manager it hasn't changed from day 1 - it's always been set at 'Use WPA + WPA2', and there has never been any indication that I am connecting to an insecure network: i.e. there's no yellow triangle with an exclamation mark over my homehub wireless connection indicator, security type for the network has always been showing as 'WPA-PSK' and the wireless and broadband lights on my hub have always been blue and not orange. So has my wireless connection been secure during that period, or not?

Thanks for your responses.
Yes, I can see now any changes to security are best done via ethernet.
Regarding the first time I changed the key, I did change it (wirelessly) from my laptop, but only in the 'hub manager' application. Is it possible that this was sufficient to update the laptop settings as well? I didn't make any manual changes to the network connection info on my laptop because I was connecting just fine so didn't think I had to!
I can't remember suspecting the connection has 'frozen' when I first changed the key, or pressing re-set on the hub... at the time it just seemed to update really quickly with no problems. However, it looks possible that it never really changed the key and it was still on the default setting - despite what was showing up in my browser (strange that it would retain information that had never been properly registered??).
As regards default security settings, I have never turned WPA off or set the hub to 'no encryption', but I'm still a bit concerned that in making what may have been a failed attempt to change the security key something may have happened to switch it off without my knowing... As far as I can tell, that didn't happen, but would it be obvious if that had happened, e.g. would my home hub connection have the same exclamation mark as the BT Fon or Openzone unsecured networks - and would it say 'Security Type: Unsecured', and/or would the wireless or broadband light on the hub glow orange?

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E4200 Wireless Security Question

I have an E4200 router in my home but the signal does not reach a room where I want to use a laptop. I have an older Viewsonic VS10407 that worked well with my old Linksys WRT54GS router. The Viewsonic is capable of WEP, WPA Pre-Shared Key and WPR Radius. I am using WPA2/WPA Mixed Mode on the E4200.
I want to use the Viewsonic on the same network and I also want the security scheme to work properly. How do I get the Viewsonic onto the E4200 network? How should I secure the Viewsonic signal? Should I use the same password?

You can configure the E4200 with WPA or WEP .
Open the setup page of your linksys router and configure the wireless security settings .
If you want to use WPA you can use the same password .
If you want to use WEP then the password should be from 0-9 or A-F .

Open Wireless Security Questions

I am using a neighbor's wireless to access the internet and have turned on all the available security options in the Preferences Pane. After doing so, the Preferences Pane still states (at the top) that other computers on the network can access my computer. Why does it say this when all the security options are on?
Isn't the the firewall supposed to keep Everyone out of my computer?
Is it safe for me to use a credit card when I am using this network?

Access to https site for e-commerce uses strong encryption that would take the NSA many years to break. So unless you are are a known terrorist, you can be fairly sure that no one, not even Dick Cheney, will expend the resources to snoop on your personal business. With the constantly increasing power of computers, however, codes that were secure five years ago may be insecure five years from now.
E-mail is and has always been quite insecure on the other hand, no matter who your ISP is. An e-mail message probably passes through six to eight computers to get from you to its recipient, and any of those computers can see everything you wrote. In fact, the White House wants the NSA to scan the e-mail of millions of Americans to catch terrorists dumb enough to plan attacks openly.
If you are paranoid about this, you can encrypt your messages yourself with software like PGP, freeware downloadable from the Web. That means that your recipients have to be able to decrypt a message somehow to read it, but then you somehow have to send the key to them securely. To be really safe of course, you also have to change your keys about once a week. So, decide your own tolerance for inconvenience.
Computer security is not hard, but it requires paying attention to details. Fortunately, you put yourself a few steps ahead of 90 percent of people on the Web by not buying a Windows computer. Apple is not 100 percent secure, but it is in fact designed so that you can more easily make the right choices.
One right choice is for your friend to turn on WPA for his wireless router. To get on the network for the first time, you then have know its name (SSID) and the password. After that, your iBook will remember and connect you automatically.
Watch out for open hotspots, whether they are free or charge you an hourly fee. These send information back and forth without encryption, so that the guy next to you in Starbucks can pick up all your communications with the right software, downloadable from the Web of course.
Happy computing!

Questions about the WEP wireless security

I entered a paraphrase and generated 4 long keys. What are those for? and what does encrytion(currently set to 40/64bit) and TX do? should i set my router to WPA2 or Wep
Message Edited by KQJai on 08-23-2008 10:16 PM

For information on wireless security :
http://linksysfirmwares.googlepages.com/wirelesssecurity
C | EH
linksyshelp.blogspot.com

Wrt160nv2 wireless security help

Hello I'm new to this forum and had some questions regarding the wireless security settings on this router (WRT160Nv2) I have the security mode set to: WPA2 and what I need to know is which Encryption is better AES or the other setting which is TKIS or AES shouldint it be just TKIS? Any info would be great thanks still trying to figure out the router...

AES offers a higher level of encryption than TKIP, or "TKIP or AES".
Here are my other tips for setting up wireless security:
To set up wireless security, you must use a computer that is wired to the router.
Where to find the router settings: The router's login password is usually on one of the "Administration" pages. The other settings are all found in the "Wireless" or the "Security" section of the router's setup pages, located at 192.168.1.1
First, give your router a unique SSID. Don't use "linksys".
Make sure "SSID Broadcast" is set to "enabled".
Next, leave the router at its default wireless settings (except for the unique SSID), and then use your pc to connect wirelessly to the router. Test your wireless Internet connection and make sure it is working correctly. You must have a properly working wireless connection before setting up wireless security.
To implement wireless security, you need to do one step at a time, then verify that you can still connect your wireless computer to the router.
Next, encrypt your wireless system using the highest level of encryption that all of your wireless devices will support. Common encryption methods are:
WEP - poor (see note below)
WPA (sometimes called PSK, or WPA with TKIP) - good
WPA2 (sometimes called PSK2, or WPA with AES) - best
WPA and WPA2 sometimes come in versions of "personal", "enterprise" or "radius". Most home users should use "personal". Also, if you have a choice between AES and TKIP, and your wireless equipment is capable of both, choose AES. With any encryption method, you will need to supply a key (sometimes called a "password" ).
The wireless devices (computers, printers, etc.) that you have will need to be set up with the SSID, encryption method, and key that matches what you entered in the router.
Retest your system and verify that your wireless Internet connection is still working correctly.
And don't forget to give your router a new login password.
Picking Passwords (keys): You should never use a dictionary word as a password. If you use a dictionary word as a password, even WPA2 can be cracked in a few minutes. When you pick your login password and encryption key (or password or passphrase) you should use a random combination of capital letters, small letters, and numbers, but no spaces. A login password, should be 12 characters or more. WPA and WPA2 passwords should be at least 24 characters. Note: Your key, password, or passphrase must not have any spaces in it.
Most home users should have their routers set so that "remote management" of the router is disabled. If you must have this option enabled, then your login password must be increased to a minumum of 24 random characters.
One additional issue is that Windows XP requires a patch to run WPA2. The patch is located in SP3, so you will need SP3 to run WPA2.
Note:
WEP is no longer recommended. The FBI has demonstrated that WEP can be cracked in just a few minutes using software tools that are readily available over the Internet. Even a long random character password will not protect you with WEP. You should be using WPA or preferably WPA2 encryption.
Message Edited by toomanydonuts on 06-25-2009 03:43 AM

Facetime works with wireless security disabled, dropped otherwise

On a D-Link DIR-615 wireless router, configured as an access point.
Security mode: WPA-Personal
WPA mode: WPA2 Only
Cipher type:AES
I tried inserting a 1.3 Mb file, to no avail.
I have an iPad mini with OS 8.1.2
Please let me know if more information is req'd.
To have facetime with my son and grandchildren I have change the security mode to 'none' during the session! Really? If I do not, we have about a one minute session that is dropped.
Any ideas will be explored!
Thanks in advance,
Grandpa Pete

Three answers:
1-The router is an access point as it is a 'slave' to the wired router. The wired router assigns the ip addresses and is connected to the Comcast-Arris modem.
2-Security mode options: None, WEP, WPA-Personal, WPA-Enterprise and
the password options are Auto (WPA or WPA2), WPA2 Only, WPA only. I chose the WPA2 only as some other place I'd seen something about a problem with the TKIP cipher. I'm a novice, though. What you're suggesting makes sense and I'll try to go to WPA only.
3-I tried inserting a file showing the wireless router setup page, via a screen shot. I can't even insert a half Mb file, for whatever reason. The error page says to keep it to less than 2 Mb.
-As above, the wireless device must be an access point. It's in the living room, where wireless devices are mostly used. The wired router is in one corner of the house, with the main winxp pc.
-I can't make the wireless router security mode WPA2, so I used WPA for everything and see if it works for the next facetime session. All the other wireless devices are now functional.
-I'm not understanding the third option. Is that for my tower, each wireless device?
(No, winxp is not a joke. I use it as my main pc os and have no need to replace it. I'm posting my problem in this forum because we now have an apple product, the mini iPad, and I'd sure like to use it for the facetime with the wireless security setting on during the session. So far, it's REQUIRED to turn the wireless security off to keep the facetime session longer than about 60 seconds.)
Thank you very much for your time! I really appreciate it. As a novice, routers are still mysterious to me, what with all the settings inside of them.
Grandpa Pete
btw: my question is not solved. Not at all! I still believe I have an unsolved question. I don't know why the green box and checkmarks exist! Did I miss something?

Wireless Security & Methods

Hi,
I've some experience on WLAN Networks, but I would like to have your opinion around Wireless Security implemenations.
We have several sites where we have some Cisco Access points running IOS. We are currently doing WEP 128b, with Mac-Authentication against a central ACS Server.
But having fixed WEP, and mac registrations is not very practical.
Do you know about any method to have authentication against Active Directory (passing through the Cisco ACS), and Dynamic WEP Keys ?
Any recommendation is welcome.
Of course with this we would like to bring up our level of security.
Thanks a lot for all,
Best Regards,
Jorge

An ACS server can be used to do authentication based on user logon to AD.
So it would only require a single login if your wireless adapter supports it.
You would just need to enable the wireless vlan to do 802.1x (EAP-FAST) authentication.
This document would answer some of your questions.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns339/ns395/ns176/ns178/netqa09186a00802030dc.html

Best wireless security for mixed Mac OS X, Windows XP and Windows 2000

While I am posting, I may as well ask this question too.
It seems that WPA/WPA2 are only supported by Windows XP or later.
But I also think I read somewhere that there are different flavours of WEP for Macs and Windows.
For a home network based on AE, what is the best form of wireless security to handle 2 Macs (iMac and MacBook Pro), a Windows XP and a Windows 2000 notebook (all running wireless G).
Thanks

Thanks for the suggestion Michael - unfortunately software changes to the Win2k machine are not an option for me - it has been completely locked down by my corporate IT dept.
So I think I am stuck with WEP. From scouring the Apple tech discussion posts it looks like a five letter ASCII or thirteen letter ASCII password in WEP are my only options, but I am not sure which of these is most appropriate for all 4 machines.

Wireless Security - DOES NOT WORK?

My problem: AEBS works fine UNLESS I use any Wireless Security. If I set security to WEP, WPA/WPA2 Personal, or WPA2 Personal then the following occurs:
-- the AEBS DOES NOT appear as a base station in AirPort Utility
-- the Wireless Network DOES appear as an available Wireless Connection in the Menu Bar
-- I CAN connect to the wireless network but no internet connection is available
-- I CANNOT alter settings of AEBS unless I connect through ethernet (or reset AEBS to factory default)
-- if I set Wireless Security to NONE then everything works fine
Here's my setup:
Airport Extreme Base Station:
-- Wireless Mode: Create a Wireless Network
-- Radio Mode: 802.11n (802.11 b/g compatible)
-- Channel: Automatic
-- Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode) [I am connecting through a pre-existing router - only need the AEBS for 802.11n and disk sharing]
-- IPv6: Link-local only
MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo
-- AirPort Extreme Update 2007-001 installed
-- 802.11n enabler installed
Questions:
1. Any ideas on how to fix?
2. If this is a known bug - any idea how long until it is fixed? Am I expected to run without security until then (this is directed to Apple)?
3. Will a fix likely be via firmware update?
As a recent "switcher" so far I am majorly disappointed in this product.
Thanks for any insight.
MacBook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Sorry, I forgot to mention something else to try. Open Keychain Access, /Utilities/Keychain Access/, and delete the keychain for the wireless network. Then open System Preferences>Network and remove the wireless network from the Preferred networks list. Now try connecting again, you should be prompted for the wireless network password. Also, make sure that you are using the correct number of characters in your passwords. WEP doesn't seem to be picky about how many characters you use but WPA/WPA2 passwords must be between 8 and 63 ASCII characters.
Other than what I've mentioned above, sounds like you are setting everything up correctly and seeing as you have two Macs both exhibiting the same behaviour then I would definitely lay the blame squarely on the base station. If you're willing, the only other suggestion I have is to reset the base station to factory defaults, hold the reset button down for at least 5 seconds, and start again. Other than that, I would return it for exchange, if your willing to give another base station another chance.
Just so you know, my base station was set up in a matter of minutes and has worked flawlessly. So, they aren't all that bad.

How long does it take for new security questions to take effect?

I am trying to make an in-app purchase from my iPhone, and forgot my security questions. So I went and changed them so that I could input them on my iPhone to make the purchase. Having saved the security questions, the new ones are not appearing when I go to make the purchase now. Ive saved the security questions multiple times, and they still have not changed. Also signed out and back into my account on my iPhone hoping the changes would take effect.

Hi pinkiepie! Welcome to the Verizon Wireless family. Hopefully by now, you've discovered that when your old phone stopped working, your new Verizon Wireless phone was already up and running. A port from another wireless carrier usually takes between 5 minutes and 24 hours to complete, depending on the carrier and the accuracy of the information submitted. During the process of the port, you'll be able to make calls right away from your new Verizon Wireless phone but you will not be able to receive calls. Once the port is finished, the service on the old phone will completely shut off and the new phone is ready for full activation and you'll be able to place and receive calls successfull. In case you're curious, here's a link to more FAQs about Local Number Portability: http://bit.ly/QTARox
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Wireless security with zero client configuration

Dears,
i have a client that needs to have 802.1x based wireless security with zero configuration at his smart-phone devices , just needs to select the ssid prompt for authentication ,login by his domain account and that's it .
is it possible ?

You can find examples on the Internet depending on what Radius server your using.
Here are some:
http://www.labminutes.com/sec0095_acs_wireless_dot1x_peap_eap_tls_machine_authentication_2
http://networklessons.com/wireless/peap-and-eap-tls-on-server-2008-and-cisco-wlc/
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Help out other by using the rating system and marking answered questions as "Answered"

TS3297 When I download an app from the iTunes Store there are security questions that i don't know. Is there anyway to reset them?

When I try to download a app from my new iPad and my iPhone 5 there are security questions that I may of forgot. But it works perfectly on my iPod . Is there any way to change the security passwords back to something I know ?

It seems to me this is craxy - I can play personal videos and put my pics up on the TV via wireless - but not things I bought through itunes. I guess I ahve to ask myself w hy I would want to keep buying things through itunes if I want to watch them on my TV> If I buy thorugh Amazon prime or netflix, I can watch in either place. SUrely Apple isn't that shortsighted?

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I work at a "Verizon" store and I spent 30 minutes of my afternoon today watching two co-workers waste a woman's time trouble shooting her mifi. Since I'm new they think I don't know anything so I acted as such. The issue seems rather simple but I would like some clarification on a couple of things.
First off, the default security passcode printed on the back of her device was 14 digits in length. Her laptop isn't the newest and runs XP. Attempting to connect to the Mifi using xp's wireless utility generated an error stating the passcode was incorrect and needed to be either 10 or 26 digits in length.
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I was also wondering if configuration of the Mifi is possible via the usb cable?
From what I can tell the answer is no but I hope I'm wrong.

Sickboy254698 wrote:
My question here is what is the default security mode for the Mifi's wireless signal? Also is a manual configuration sometimes needed depending on the pc's OS and wireless card?
I was also wondering if configuration of the Mifi is possible via the usb cable?
Hello,
To answer your questions:
1. Default security mode of the MiFi 4510L is WPA2 Personal
2. Manual configuration should not be necessary unless her wireless adapter is out of date. Any device which can establish a connection to a B/G/N router will be able to connect to the MiFi right out of the box.
3. No. Configuration of the MiFi is not possible with a USB cable. The USB cable is for firmware updates only. You will not be able to communicate with the MiFi through a USB connection. Some threads have layed out steps to help people work around this feature to both charge and use the MiFi from a USB cable. The actual connection when going through this workaround is still via wireless, but the USB cable will provide a power source to charge the device simultaneously.
One more comment from your post:
Wireless passwords are goverend by the Wireless Security mode of the wireless device, not the computer or its software. Hence a WPA2 connection will require 8-63 characters in length for a password. WPA and WEP have different requirements. If the user is being prompted to enter 10 -26 cahracters to connect to the MiFi the requirement is not coming from the MiFi itself.

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