hello,
Here at home we have a router and two computers. Right now our wireless network is unsecure. My Uncle is a computer guru but is never around to secure our network. He told us not to do it by ourselves because we can get locked out of our own network. Yet isn't it true that if it is not secure, anyone can use it?

So.... with that question in mind,

How does one secure a home wireless network? Both computers are running Windows XP Professional with SP2. I am getting tired of waiting for Uncle Jeff to come do it for me. Is it wise to do it by myself?

Hope I made sense and help!,
Jesse

This article covers most all of it.
http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c...FVisitorWrapper

To set that up you usually need to point your web browser at the IP address of your router and log into it using the default user name and password, or the user name/password it was most recently set to by the owner. Check the router's documentation for details on that.

Security is a relative term here. How secure do you want your network? If it's just to be secured from drive by leeches sucking up your bandwidth - almost any security will do. The leeches will move on to easier places.

If it's to protect your network from "poachers" - then you'll have to start with the differing levels of security that your router offers. Also, I'm a great fan of the time honored tradition of turning things off when they're not being used. If you turn your wireless router off when you're not using it - no one can get in!

You can use WEP or WPA to secure it via a security key. These are OK but are easily hacked.

The best form of attack in my opinion is Mac address filtering. But I would say read the manual for the Router before setting up any security on it. This can result in not being able to connect to it.