Wireless Security

Despite all the security I have on my actual PC, yesterday I found out the perils of an insecure wireless network.

I have ADSL2 at home, which theoretically can go up to 24000kbps. And a new Netgear Rangemax Wireless Router, so we can all have access from anywhere in the house.

I only upgraded the Router last month, and it took so long – around 6 hours – of stuffing around, resetting defaults, waiting on the support line – to get connected, that initially I didn’t set the standard security features on. I didn’t want to risk losing the connection again.

So when the download speed slowed right down for a week to basically useless levels, I finally logged on to my iiNet account to see why. I had exceeded my monthly alotment, and had been downgraded to 64kbps. That explained the pathetic speeds.

So then I logged on to the router and noticed that there were four connections using it. Strange – there were only three of us at home.

I checked my iiNet usage history and from around the time I got the new router, it looked like someone nearby had detected my network and had hopped on for a free ride. My usage had been 6 times higher each day than it had the previous months.

So I finally put security on my router, restricting it to the Mac addresses of the laptops of me and my kids.

Finally decent speeds again. But oh, the shame.

My favourite new commands are:
ipconfig /all
ipconfig /release
ipconfig /renew