Who should/can use them?
Anyone with a computer should use and can use wireless networks. Be it at home, at work, or just on the road. But beware! If you don't secure your wireless network properly, intruders from outside your home or office could probably get in and play around with everything! Many law firms and superstores have left their wireless networks open, leaving confidential information available to anyone with a computer/laptop with a wireless card in it.
Why should I secure it?
Well, let's put it this way. Would you rather leave it open and have people reading your *private* e-mails or secure it so that no one can bother you and your life? Let's hope you chose to do the right thing and secure. If you didn't, well, your computers and network may be vulnerable to attacks from outside (and by outside, I don't mean the Internet; I mean people on your street).
What should I buy?
Well, any router out there that is capable of enabling/disabling WEP and MAC filtering is good enough. Usually 802.11-G routers are better, since they are backwards compatible with 802.11-B cards and vice versa. If you don't have a computer, then why are you even reading this? Any 802.11-B or 802.11-G cards are good, especially if they have an external antenna connector. STAY AWAY from 802.11-A cards and routers. They just aren't as good. Also, there are routers on the market capable of going up to speeds of 108 megabits per second. Stay away from those as well, since they will interfere with other wireless networks (usually using up most of the bandwidth in the "air").
OK, I bought everything, now what?
Well, if you want to surf the Internet wirelessly, I hope you have subscribed with an Internet Service Provider, offering either Cable Internet or DSL, or anything faster. Now, take the router out of the box, read the manual (I didn't because I've had previous experience with routers), plug it in, and pop your wireless card into your computer. If your computer does not recognize the wireless card, insert the CD or floppy disk that came with it and carry on. Once it is installed, it should say that there is an available wireless network (because you haven't done anything to the router, so it is OPEN TO ANYONE). Open up Firefox (or Internet Explorer, or whatever browser you have) and browse to 192.168.1.1 (your router's address may be different, so READ THE MANUAL). Usually, the default password is "admin" without the quotes on Linksys routers.
I got into my router's setup page. How do I secure my wireless network?
Well, by now you've probably entered all the information needed into the router to connect to the Internet. Now, on most wireless routers, the WEP setup page should be located on the router's main page. If there is a checkbox to "Enable" WEP, check it, create a WEP key (128-bits is better; For good WEP keys, click here), but DO NOT press OK or APPLY. Instead, take note of your WEP key and passphrase, THEN press OK or APPLY. Your router will disconnect you from your wireless network, so go to your wireless card's configuration window and enter the WEP key into the box that asks for it. Now, go to the "Advanced" tab and make sure that the "IEEE802.11 authentication" box is unchecked. If you have an OS other than XP, you may not have it. Now your computer should be able to find the wireless network again.
Is WEP enough?
No, WEP is not enough. Log back into your router and change your SSID. Also, do NOT disable the SSID broadcasting as this will screw up XP's ability to connect to your wireless network. If you use another OS, then you're OK. Now, look for the MAC filtering option in your router. On the side or bottom of your wireless card (it is also located on the card's box), you should find a fairly long alphanumeric string that resembles this: 00063923415E (this is not my MAC address). Whatever you find on your card is the card's MAC address. You can also open up your command prompt and type "ipconfig /all" without the quotes and the "Physical Address" line would be the your card's MAC address as well. Enter that MAC address into the MAC filtering option and enable MAC filtering as well. What this does is lets ONLY the computers you specify to connect to the wireless network. Someone being able to crack your WEP key will and spoofing your MAC address is very unlikely. Even if someone does crack your WEP key (which takes hours), they will still not be able to login to your wireless network because they are not on this MAC filter list.
Are we done yet?
We are pretty much done. If you would like to secure your wired network, please consider using a firewall, as this will block hackers from gaining access to your computer.
Why did you write this guide?
I wrote this guide because of the number of wireless networks I was able to find unprotected and actually use (if I wanted to). I also wrote this guide because of some friends having wireless networks, and having them "open" to everyone living around them. Everyone should be secured and keep their private stuff private.
What do you use to find wireless networks?
My favourite utility to find protected and unprotected wireless networks is called NetStumbler (works with Windows 98 and up). This program will "sniff" the air for all wireless networks (as long as you have the proper card). There is also a program called Kismet that does the same thing, but under most *nix operating system.
If I have more questions, where can I contact you?
Me? Where would you contact me? Oh, well, if you need to contact me, my e-mail is me [at] mikesoares [dot] com. Please replace the [at] with @, the [dot] with . , and remove the spaces (this is for spam protection). Any question you ask will be put on this page!
How can I contribute to this guide?
Well, if you really do want to contribute, you can put a link to my website (http://www.mikesoares.com/) on your own website!