Wireless network security is important to prevent unauthorized access and protect privacy. WPA2 encryption should be used, as older standards like WEP are no longer secure. Encryption only applies to LAN traffic, not Internet traffic. Setting up security is easy and prevents illegal activity on the LAN.
Wireless network security can be easily implemented using the software that comes with the wireless router. It will encrypt all communication on the local network and require a password to access the network.
Current routers should be equipped with software that includes second generation Wi-Fi® Protected Access (WPA) security, known as WPA2. Researchers Erik Tews and Martin Beck partially cracked first generation WPA in November 2008. An older standard, known as Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP), is no longer considered secure.
A router monitors traffic between computers on your local network and also between your local network and the Internet. A broadband modem can be built into the router, or the modem can be separate, connected to the router using an Ethernet cable. Online access is not necessary in a local area network (LAN), but sharing an Internet account is one of the main reasons for setting up a LAN.
In a wireless network, each computer on the LAN communicates with the router via radio transmissions that permeate the surrounding area. A LAN transmission can extend up to 300 feet (~100m) for an 802.11g network and up to 600 feet (~200m) for an 802.11n network. The “g” and “n” designate different protocols or standards, with the “n” flavor newer than “g” and more robust.
If wireless network security is absent, an intruder intercepting the transmission can easily intercept all files shared across the LAN. The only transmissions that would be unreadable are direct links between a computer and a secure website on the Internet, as this data will travel encrypted between those two points.
To improve security and privacy, all network traffic between each computer on the LAN and the router can be encrypted using WPA2. With the entire network encrypted, an eavesdropper would be able to see that a network was present, but would not have the credentials to access the network. If the intruder were to intercept the data packets transmitted from that LAN, they would be in unreadable ciphers.
Wireless network security is not only important for protecting your privacy, it has other benefits as well. It prevents hitchhikers from using the LAN for their own purposes, consuming bandwidth and slowing down the LAN. It also prevents illegal activity on the LAN by outsiders who could use it to download infringing material, undertake remote attacks or launch malware. Since setting up wireless network security is trivial, there’s no good reason not to.
Within the router software there will be a clear path to WPA2 and its settings. Following the instructions includes creating a password for accessing the network. This password will be used in the network configuration menus of each computer on the LAN so that computer automatically supplies the router with the stored password, allowing access to the network without user intervention. The password must be secure, using uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and other characters.
It is important to note that wireless network security such as WPA2 only provides LAN encryption, not Internet encryption. For example, if a request is made to the Internet, that request travels encrypted from the computer on the LAN to the router, but once the router has decrypted the request to read it, it sends it to the Internet unencrypted. The only encryption that happens between the router and the Internet is when a computer is connected to a secure website that provides point-to-point encryption.
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