# Is your home network secure? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863 "2007-08-16T22:40:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/1 "2007-08-16T22:40:58Z")
There are a few threads right now about the ethics of accessing unsecured wreless networks, the detection of freeloaders and what to do about them. So, I got curious and wanted to know how many people here have secured their networks. My questions are: \*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes B: No C: The what? **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** A: Yes B: No **What level of encryption are you using?** A: None B: WEP C: WPA D: WPA2 **If “none” why?** A: Don’t think it’s needed B: Don’t know how to C: I want to provide the connection freely so anyone can use it **Have you done anything else to secure it?** For me, it’s a non-broadcast, non-default SSID with WPA2. I am using an atypical IP range, which makes it unlikely for a would-be freeloader to select a static IP in the right subset of 192.168.1.xxx. Is this needed? Not really, but in my case, it’s a holdover from having some things that could not do WPA, so I hid the front door. They’re gone now, so I could revert to the default IP range, but it’s working fine so why mess with it? ---
**Author:** ![Sofaspud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@Sofaspud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofaspud)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/2 "2007-08-16T22:50:26Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** Yes **What level of encryption are you using?** WPA **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Eh. No, not really. If I notice the WLAN light blinking when my laptop isn’t on, I’ll check connections and see what’s up. Usually it’s nothing more sinister than (I assume) someone in my neighborhood trying to find a free connection. Since there’s plenty of those around, I don’t worry and it typically goes away after a couple minutes. In the years it’s been running, I haven’t had what I would call an ‘attack’. Closest that ever happened was my brother-in-law parking his car just down the block and using his laptop. I’d given him the key a while before and told him he was welcome to use it, but totally forgot about it, so seeing the ‘intruder’ pop up was mildly worrisome. I pulled the plug and a couple minutes later he was at the door asking if he could use my network because his laptop kept dropping the connection on him. Doh. At any rate, I’m not too concerned about it, is what I’m getting at. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/3 "2007-08-16T23:06:41Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** A: Yes **What level of encryption are you using?** C: WPA **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Nope. That’s enough I think. I don’t expect anyone’s determined enough to run a brute force attack on my router’s passkey. I can’t hide the SSID because my PocketPC wouldn’t find the network then. I only got a cheap wireless access point for that reason. It’s barely powerful enough to reach downstairs, let alone outside! All my PC systems are on a wired network. ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/4 "2007-08-16T23:14:48Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** B: No **What level of encryption are you using?** A: None **If “none” why?** A: Don’t think it’s needed **Have you done anything else to secure it?** No, my SSID is very difficult to guess and I am not that worried about the elderly neighbors trying to connect. I’m dying to tell someone what my SSID is. OK, you won’t tell. It’s **not** BOSCO 😛 SSG Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/5 "2007-08-16T23:32:51Z")
Okay, you’ve made me paranoid now **gotpasswords** and I’ve locked the router to only accept connections from the MAC address of my Pocket PC. That’ll stop them bandwidth thieves! I suggest everyone else locks their network’s down asap. **gotpasswords** is clearly trying to get a collection of networks so he can have Internet all round the world! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/6 "2007-08-16T23:36:04Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** B: No **What level of encryption are you using?** B: WEP-128 **Have you done anything else to secure it?** MAC filtered to only allow specific machines to join the network ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/7 "2007-08-16T23:49:09Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** A: Yes **What level of encryption are you using?** B: WEP **If “none” why?** A: Don’t think it’s needed **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Nope. I just want to prevent casual wardriving and identity theft. Beyond that, wireless is just so dangerous that I might as well assume it’s insecure. If I need something to be secure, I use SSL and the underlying network becomes irrelevant. Otherwise, I pretty much assume that everything I do is watched by other people on the network/neighbors/hackers/Big Brother. If I have nothing to hide, why do I need privacy? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2007, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/8 "2007-08-16T23:52:33Z")
My little network has been renamed, blacked out, and encrypted with a pretty dang strong 17-character WPA password. Good enough for the times I actually use my laptop. ---
**Author:** ![Aserrann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/82dd89/32.png) [@Aserrann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aserrann)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/9 "2007-08-17T00:21:17Z")
Hm. Since I started one of those threads, I feel I should respond… Although I don’t have a network of my own, I will in a couple of weeks, and I know how it _will_ be. Have you changed the default SSID? A: Yes Is your SSID broadcast or not? A: Yes What level of encryption are you using? B: WPA Have you done anything else to secure it? Change the router login and password. I personally don’t see the point of disabling SSID broadcast… anyone who can break WPA won’t have much difficulty finding out your SSID. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/10 "2007-08-17T00:36:20Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** Yes **What level of encryption are you using?** WEP **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Living in the sticks, within my home-built Faraday cage. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/11 "2007-08-17T00:50:54Z")
Have you changed the default SSID? **Yes** Is your SSID broadcast or not? **Yes** What level of encryption are you using? **WPA** I used to have it set to not broadcast the SSID, but I had a heck of a time trying to get Linux to connect to it. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/12 "2007-08-17T02:00:52Z")
**Have you changed the default SSID?** Yup. **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** Nope. **What level of encryption are you using?** WPA with a randomly generated very long key. (I forget how long at the moment, but it is definitely longer than twenty characters: probably closer to thirty.) **Have you done anything else to secure it?** I do make use of MAC filtering for when I have encryption off and SSID broadcast on (usually only when I’m troubleshooting), the rest of the time its on simply so I don’t have to remember to turn it back on again. It’s only real use for me is to discourage a casual leecher/wardriver from hopping on my network, as its pretty easy to spoof MACs. I’ve also made sure that my router’s password is a strong one, I don’t allow remote/external logins to it, and I’ve turned off unneeded services on it. * * * \<\< I have NOT lost my mind. It’s backed up on the server. (And the network is down again…) \>\> ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/13 "2007-08-17T02:34:29Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* What? **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** What? **What level of encryption are you using?** Um, what? **If “none” why?** Because . . . what? **Have you done anything else to secure it?** No. Obviously. [sub]Help![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/14 "2007-08-17T02:39:54Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** B: No **What level of encryption are you using?** E: Something my laptop calls “WPA Personal” **If “none” why?** n/a **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Changed my default IP address to a lesser used one, reduced the number of available IP addresses by setting my subnet mask to 255.255.255.240, change encryption key monthly and use the longest key allowed (63 characters), which I generate randomly at [http://www.ibeast.com/content/tools/PasswordGenerate/index.asp](http://www.ibeast.com/content/tools/PasswordGenerate/index.asp), and MAC filtering. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/15 "2007-08-17T03:40:14Z")
Uh, what **Jodi** said. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/16 "2007-08-17T04:52:25Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] There are a few threads right now about the ethics of accessing unsecured wreless networks, the detection of freeloaders and what to do about them. So, I got curious and wanted to know how many people here have secured their networks. [/QUOTE] My questions are: \*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* A: Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** A:Yes, it’s handy for troubleshooting. **What level of encryption are you using?** A: None **If “none” why?** A: Don’t think it’s needed B: Don’t know how to C: I want to provide the connection freely so anyone can use it D: I got too many compatibility problems with various devices connecting to it when encryption was enabled, and got bored troubleshooting. And I don’t really care if someone else uses it. **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Nope. As I say, I don’t really care if someone uses it. As a point of information, Eircom, the largest broadband supplier here in Ireland, ships wireless routers with default wide open settings,and their front-line tech support have no idea how to change them and no clue this is in any way problematic. I’ve heard that dozens of P2P cases brought by the Irish equivalent of the RIAA have quietly collapsed on this very point, and at least 3 child pornography cases. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/17 "2007-08-17T05:12:00Z")
Out of the box, plugged in and wide open. Why? I’m in the middle of thirty acres and I would probably notice someone sitting in my yard with a laptop. At which point I explain to them that Mr. Beretta is far better protection than WPA. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/18 "2007-08-17T05:15:43Z")
Maybe one of you can help me with [my problem](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=433114). I really thought I had things under control. I did with the last router, but I let it go too long with this one it seems. ---
**Author:** ![Suda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@Suda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suda)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/19 "2007-08-17T09:34:33Z")
\*\*Have you changed the default SSID? \*\* Yes **Is your SSID broadcast or not?** Yes **What level of encryption are you using?** WEP (Nintendo DS doesn’t support anything better) **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Changed the router password ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2007, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863/20 "2007-08-17T11:51:51Z")
[QUOTE=Suda] **Have you done anything else to secure it?** Changed the router password [/QUOTE] Oh, yeah, that too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-your-home-network-secure/415863.md?page=2)