[P1] OT: Setting up Public Wi-Fi

[Scott Warren]

On Mar 12, 2004, at 12:04 PM, Mike Beede wrote:

>
> On Mar 12, 2004, at 11:50 AM, Harry D.Corsover wrote:
>
>> On Mar 12, 2004, at 12:31 AM, Nikon's World wrote:
>>
>>> You probably don't have much to worry about but if you want to be on  
>>> the safe side simply change the network name and password and stop  
>>> the the router from broadcasting the SSID.
>>
>> Are there generic instructions about how to do this? In case it  
>> matters, I use an SMC Barricade 2804WBR ("extreme"). It's probably  
>> not an issue, since we are on two acres, set back from the road quite  
>> a bit, and someone would have to drive or walk a few hundred feet up  
>> our driveway or up a pretty steep hill to get near enough to the  
>> house to get a signal. File sharing is not enabled, and Panther's  
>> firewall is enabled.

Sounds like geographic security is enough there... Mike is right  
(below) saying that smc has a way to set it (  
http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?sec=Support&pg=Support-Center- 
Downloads&prod=290&site=c )
>
> Your SMC probably has a page in the management interface that allows
> you to set the network name.  I don't see any advantage to changing  
> that.
> It also has someplace to set the WEP key.  That's what the writer
> meant by "password."  If you haven't enabled WEP, do so.  You'll need
> to either make up a passphrase or a string of hex digits (digits drawn
> from the set "0123456789abcdef").  Each machine that uses the network
> needs to have the key or passphrase set into it.  Be aware that when
> you enable encryption you will lose your wireless connection to the
> router until you enter the key in your computer.  If you didn't write
> down the key you may have to do a factory reset on the router.  Don't
> forget to write it down.
>
I have just adopted the personal policy that when I work on my router  
configuration, I am hard wired in with an ethernet cable....