Locked Out

Dinter

I've a query about wireless internet or rather the settings that are saved on my computer. I'm sorry if this is not the most appropriate forum but I'm not capable of using a computer well enough to understand what most of the sub forums are although I promise I did look.

Anyway I've wireless internet at home and since it was installed it's been hassle free. However I was told it was unsecured which apparently meant others could use it. (It was getting very slow) I was told I should enable WEP. So I went online with the details from the router to their website. I logged in with admin, admin and then using a drop down menu I clicked WEP. I made a passphrase and this gave me a selection of numbers which I cleverly failed to note although I do remember the pass phrase.

Immediately afterwards the internet stopped working. When I check it says that the security settings on the computer don't match and that I should reset my router. However I've no idea how to do that. Is there a quick fix to this or should I think about buying a new one? It appears to be my PC that has issues not the router but the Windows help tells me it's the router that needs resetting. (When it bothers to tell me anything at all)

Apologies to all if this is in the wrong forum but any advice would be much appreciated. Even if it is just put everything back into it's box and throw it out as I don't deserve to own a computer!

tba

ok, you have put a password on your wireless, no problem, first of all I wouldn't use WEP, its as bad as not having a password, use WPA instead.

If you can move the router and the computer near each other, I would suggest physically hooking them up together as this will bypass the wireless. (you will need an ethernet cable, and will have to enable your lan connection if it is not on)

that way you can change the security settings and alter the password etc...

I would not suggest reseting the router, as this will change all your other settings and really cut you of from the net.

also you should change the password for logging on to the router from the default.

charlesD

tba is correct that the easiest way would be to physically plug your computer into the router and change it this way.

If it is not possible to move your computer, you could also use this site ( http://www.powerdog.com/wepkey.cgi ) to generate the numeric keys from your passphrase.

WEP is insecure, but it is definitly better than nothing. No matter what encryption you use, WEP or WPA, it can be broken. A person with the knowledge to break WEP could just as easily break WPA.

It is a good idea to use security, because it prevents people from using your network and capturing your data, but much like locks on your car, all it does is keep honest people honest.

Anti

Agreed, Wep is useless. Use Wpa and mac adress filtering. So basicially if someone does get onto your network they have to go about cloning your mac address too. It can be done, but its not very easy

joolsveer

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is an obsolete scheme to secure wireless networks (WiFi). Because a wireless network broadcasts messages using radio, it is particularly susceptible to eavesdropping. WEP was intended to provide comparable confidentiality to a traditional wired network, hence the name. However, several serious weaknesses were identified by cryptanalysts, and WEP was superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) in 2003, and then by the full IEEE 802.11i standard (also known as WPA2) in 2004. Despite the inherent weaknesses, WEP provides a bare minimal level of security that can deter casual snooping.

from website http://www.yellowpipe.com/yis/tools/WEP_key/generator.php

ShooterSF

charlesD wrote: »

WEP is insecure, but it is definitly better than nothing. No matter what encryption you use, WEP or WPA, it can be broken. A person with the knowledge to break WEP could just as easily break WPA.

Not true a good WPA passkey is pretty much unbreakable as it needs bruteforce. I learned how to crack wep keys to see how easy it is and have proved it to friends to persuade them to change. There isnt a wep key that cant be hacked in less than an hour.

Use WPA and dont use an easy passkey, mix words and numbers. That way a dictionary hacker cant crack it.

BKtje

Basically what has happend is this.

Your pc connected to your router wirelessly without a password which means when you entered a password to enable wep the router immediately asked your pc for that password. As you never told your pc what the password was it couldnt supply it and was cut off.

You need to give the password to the computer and it should reconnect. To do this find an icon in the bottom right (assuming you have XP with SP2 or later installed) that looks like a monitor with waves coming out of it. Right click it and choose the "view available wireless networks" option. This should open up a new display with a list of wireless networks that your computer has found. Select your one and hit connect. It should then ask you for your passphrase and if all goes as planned it should connect as before.

If you have vista the procedure is almost identical. Let us know if you have any problems or issues.

I would also consider switching to wpa (or wpa2 if you have the option) but mac address filtering* is usually overkill unless you notice other people using your connection (which you can usually check from your router). It's not hard to set it up though but requires a bit of effort.

*A mac address is a unique(ish) number that each network card has. Basically you tell your router to only allow certain network cards to connect.

charlesD

ShooterSF wrote: »

Not true a good WPA passkey is pretty much unbreakable as it needs bruteforce.

I guess I did kind of over simplify it and you are right WPA is much much more secure than WEP.

I think I was mostly just responding to TBA's statement that using no password was the same as using WEP. When it comes down to it most of your neighbors don't have the skill or knowledge to crack a WEP key, so it will keep your casual connector off of your network. Someone that is really trying to hack you will find a way, but you are right that WPA is infinitly better than WEP.

In regards to the brute force attack, if you capture the initial handshake packets, it is possible to brute force the WPA key offsite and a good dictionary will contain numbers and letters, so it is possible, but it won't be anywhere near as easy as breaking a WEP Key.

tba

true, I put my hands up, wep will stop anybody using windows (most users) as it can't packet sniff out of the box, but i guess i am just paranoid.. ¬_¬

Dinter

Thanks for all the pointers everybody.

I'm in work busily cutting and pasting them so I can print them out to bring them home.

I'll try everything this evening and all going well I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for taking the time to reply though. It's much appreciated.

Dinter

Well I managed to blunder my way back onto the internet!

Kind of afraid to turn it off now though, just in case!

Anyway thanks so much for all the tips and advice. Btw can anyone recommend a decent starter or idiots guide for dealing with things like this? It would have to be really, really, really basic to be any use to this Luddite though.

Still if I see you guys at a boards beers anytime I'll be sure and stand you a pint!