Securing Your Router

You failed to mention the additional measure of turning off the broadcasting of the router's SSID.

There's certainly no harm in doing so, and can prevent accidental discovery of your network, but it also give you a false sense of security; as I understand it the SSID is still in the packets and could be sniffed by someone trying to actively gain access.

06-Jul-2011

Thanks for a clear and easy understandable survey over router features. I have a question about the UPnP. I find it very difficult to open ports and all that, it's a jungle to me of mysterious abreviations and concepts. Now, if you turn UPnP on and let it do its job with the programs that need it, and then turn it off, will the settings that it has made, remain or be removed? If they remain it is all you need.
If they do not, I would appreciate another course about ports and how to use them. Video is a handy way of teaching.
A linguistic observation: I was surprised by your pronunciation of the word "router". In Denmark we say "rooter", I suppose it is inspired by the french word "route" or "en route". I guess you are right, I wonder who invented the word..
Thank you.

This webinar also failed to mention how to secure a wireless router using MAC Addresses of each computer.

I'm actually not a huge fan of that technique. While there are definitely scenarios where it can be helpful, it can also be fairly easily defeated by a determined hacker.

06-Jul-2011

Very interesting...except that there is no information as to where i can locate the router software. In short, where do i start?

With the manual for your router. This differs from manufacturer to manufacturer. Mine was an example - the software exists on the router, and you access it using your web browser as demonstrated in the video. Your specifics will vary based on what router you have, so the place to start is with that router's documentation.

06-Jul-2011

Dennis N, if you do some more research you'll find that disabling SSID is a trivial security measure. More a case of "Security Theater" than effective security.

jhosil: although there is router software you can load on your machine, 99% of the time the router is a separate piece of hardware (roughly the size of a paperback book) that sits between your computer and your internet connection. The software is loaded there. Many routers allow you to login from a browser using the local IP http://192.168.1.1. Check the user manual for the process specific to your router.

A quick note on a device which requires me to use WEP to connect: my ereader, specifically the first generation Nook by Barnes & Noble. I use the wifi connection to download books.

Also, my daughter had difficulty connecting her iphone 3gS until I switched to "WEP, Open," terms I do not fully understand but am beginning to think are "bad.