Hidden WPA network-How secure?

[spork183]

I know the answer for WPA is "not very", but here's the issue. Using phone company dsl wireless access point. Mixed environment with intel imac, g4 imac, emac, dell and toshiba laptops and an airport express for itunes. Ran into repeated connectivity issues (dropped connections, having to reboot the router, etc.) until I dropped down to WPA.

So, on a hidden network, with WPA, and phone company firewall, how hard is it to crack from the outside? I'm in a rural area (only 6 access points showing up for wifi) so that reduces exposure somewhat.

 

[MarkMS]

I know the answer for WPA is "not very", but here's the issue. Using phone company dsl wireless access point. Mixed environment with intel imac, g4 imac, emac, dell and toshiba laptops and an airport express for itunes. Ran into repeated connectivity issues (dropped connections, having to reboot the router, etc.) until I dropped down to WPA.

So, on a hidden network, with WPA, and phone company firewall, how hard is it to crack from the outside? I'm in a rural area (only 6 access points showing up for wifi) so that reduces exposure somewhat.

Getting into a router with WEP isn't that hard even if it's hidden. If you have WPA in place along with a hidden SSID, then you decrease the possibility of someone trying to get in. In short, WPA is infinitely more secure than WEP. To me, it seems that you have done everything you can do to protect yourself. Just remember to avoid dictionary words in both the SSID and WPA passphrase.

Now to protect your computers from someone entering -- That's a whole different story. Just remember to enable the firewall in OS X (System Prefs>Security in Leopard) and enable the firewall in Windows. Would also be a good idea to get a third-party firewall like Zone Alarm or whatever is good nowadays for Windows.

 

[fandsw]

If you know which computers are always hooked up set up the router so that it only allows known MAC addresses of those computers to get in/out thru that router. That in concert with the things mentioned above will cause people looking to do ill intent to look for easier targets.