Originally Posted by
Beth
http:///forum/post/3215768
So what kind of wireless setup would be secure?
IMO nothing that is sold to consumers. Most wireless security schemes, such as ssid disadvertising, mac whitelists, WPA, WPA2, WEP, etc are pretty easily cracked in a very short period by someone who knows what they are doing, such as the 14 year old next door who has too much time on his hands.
The really secure wireless uses certificates and 802.1x authentication schemes... techie stuff so I won't go into it but the one I deployed at work cost us $20K to procure. Personally, I have my house cabled. I have a wireless system like most folks, but it stays powered off unless I am actively using it, which isn't often. My computers are all connected into my network with physical cabling.
All this aside, the thing is that if someone cracks your wireless, they gain access to your internet connection and your computer, but if you have your computer set up properly, there is little they can do with that, and when you shop websites, 99.99% of them nowadays use SSL to encrypt the traffic going from your computer to the internet. Even if someone was able to crack your wireless and sniff (watch and read what goes by on the wire), they likely won't be able to see things like credit card numbers, etc. Most folks that crack residential networks aren't doing it to steal your info anyway, they just want to mooch off your internet connection.
The range of wireless networks is one of their biggest security advantages. More than likely only one or two houses on either side of you are in range of your wireless. Apartments are scary though. I would rather go without internet than risk a wireless in an apartment..... that or crack my neighbor and mooch off him.
