How do I know my network is secure?

[macswitcha2]

Ok now I am unable to get on line. I choose wpa / wpa2 and chooses a password/ shared key, and so now in order to access the Internet I need to give my wpa password but when I put it, it keeps saying password invalid . So i put the previous password and that too I'd invalid.

I am now unable to get online. I have to use my iPhone now

 

[HBOC]

are the lights on the router on? Is the activity/internet light on or blinking?

 

[oculus42]

Are you using an older Mac that doesn't support WPA?

If all else fails, reset the router (usually a tiny button on the back you hold in for ten seconds or so) and start over.

 

[macswitcha2]

are the lights on the router on? Is the activity/internet light on or blinking?

Yes the lights are blinking

Are you using an older Mac that doesn't support WPA?

If all else fails, reset the router (usually a tiny button on the back you hold in for ten seconds or so) and start over.

in using an iMac, mid 2008, I'm not home now but when I get back I will try that.

 

[Dan73]

Yes the lights are blinking

in using an iMac, mid 2008, I'm not home now but when I get back I will try that.

You might have to reset the router and start over.

But you should be able to put your password you put on the router security and it should connect...

 

[macswitcha2]

You might have to reset the router and start over.

But you should be able to put your password you put on the router security and it should connect...

I reset my router
now I really can't get online. It keeps rerouting to Verizon wanting me to download something that I never had on my machine. This is has beena bad week. File sharing don't work and now tryingto get better security I amunable yo get online at all.

 

[macswitcha2]

This is strange, I am connected, I go into my settings and everything looks good but I can't get online. Something has to be done, how can I have lighning fast Internet and now can't get access yet I'm connected?

 

[Zortrium]

I think you need to give us some more information. What does "everything looks good" mean? For instance, does your router have an external IP address?

 

[macswitcha2]

I think you need to give us some more information. What does "everything looks good" mean? For instance, does your router have an external IP address?

I called verizon and they fixed the issue. I asked about the WPA option and the representative asserted that wep is better and that they recommend wep.

 

[belvdr]

I called verizon and they fixed the issue. I asked about the WPA option and the representative asserted that wep is better and that they recommend wep.

Terrible advice. It's just terrible. Use WPA2/AES.

 

[notjustjay]

I called verizon and they fixed the issue. I asked about the WPA option and the representative asserted that wep is better and that they recommend wep.

Do you have any friends or family who have experience setting this sort of thing up?

I ask because often it's much more difficult to type a message describing what to look for (and including contingency instructions in case we're not sure), than it is to just sit down at your desk and figure it out as we go. If I lived in your neighborhood, for example, I'd be happy to drop by, and I bet that I would have it set up within 10 minutes and I'd be able to walk you through exactly how it was done as well.

I understand your frustration about setting this stuff all up. Just this morning I said to a coworker that computers were SO much easier to figure out before someone had the bright idea to network them all together!

Good luck.

And to revisit the question about network security: If you set up a password on your wireless network, that's good enough security for 99% of us out there. That will stop people from using your internet for free and potentially snooping through your shared files. Especially if you live in a neighborhood with a lot of people using wireless hot spots (and one or more of them is unprotected) -- they'll go for the free one instead of trying to break into one of the locked ones.

 

[Consultant]

Sounds like OP is clueless.

If you can't figure it out, you can
-pay geeksquad to set up your existing product
-buy airport router

 

[jzuena]

I called verizon and they fixed the issue. I asked about the WPA option and the representative asserted that wep is better and that they recommend wep.

They are just recommending WEP because they don't know how to use WPA. Having said that and after admitting that I am a network security consultant who performs network penetration tests as part of my job, I still use WEP on my home network. Any security at all is enough to keep anyone from using the "I just connected to the network and it let me in" defense if they are caught. I check my wireless log file as well as the log files on my servers and Mac. I only allow ssh connections with public key authentication on my machines (and I carry the private key on a memory stick). I encrypt anything important. I had an iPaq with Windows Mobile 2003 SE that couldn't do WPA, so I left WEP. That iPaq has since been replaced by an iPod touch, so I really should move up to WPA2, but I'm not too worried at this point.

 

[njl]

I give up! Two days to get this thing working and no success. So much for the majestic Mac machines and OS X that people literally worship. Its just another imperfect device and system that frustrates consumers just as much as any other OS.

are you serious??? if you can't simply set up WPA2 on a router you have to blame apple. amazing logic..

anyway, if you decide to quit blaming others instead of simply blaming yourself for your inability to learn basic level wifi router security, here's what you can do to prevent someone from quickly busting in to your network:

hide the ssid (which is easy to find anyway, but it may help)
enable mac filtering
disable uPnP on the router
disable VPN and any other pass throughs including port forwarding
use WPA2 BUT with a 63 character password using ASCII

since you probably won't understand how to remember a 63 char password, you dont: you use a password manager like 1password (which encrypts the keychain file using 128AES)..

this is not rocket science, really it's not, but don't blame others for you inability to learn BASIC computer security.

 

[macswitcha2]

Terrible advice. It's just terrible. Use WPA2/AES.

No, Tried that and instead of giving me more security, it prevented me from accessing my internet access. Maybe its tooo secure being that I couldn't access my internet.

 

[VPrime]

No, Tried that and instead of giving me more security, it prevented me from accessing my internet access. Maybe its tooo secure being that I couldn't access my internet.

It is still terrible advice.. You must have done some thing wrong.

Honestly, leave it at WEP and try and find some one to do it properly for you.
Or just don't worry about it and hope for the best. Depending on your neighbors and your area WEP may be good enough.