Cisco WRV210 - Wireless-G VPN Router Administration Manual page 35

Configuring the Wireless Network
A Note About Wireless Security
Cisco Small Business WRV210 Administration Guide
wireless network from other wireless networks that may exist around you,
but do not use personal information (such as your Social Security number)
because this information may be available for anyone to see when browsing
for wireless networks.
• Change the default password
For wireless products such as access points, routers, and gateways, you
will be asked for a password when you want to change their settings. These
devices have a default password set by the factory. The Linksys default
password is admin. Hackers know these defaults and may try to use them
to access your wireless device and change your network settings. To
thwart any unauthorized changes, customize the device's password so it
will be hard to guess.
• Enable MAC address filtering
Linksys routers and gateways give you the ability to enable Media Access
Control (MAC) address filtering. The MAC address is a unique series of
numbers and letters assigned to every networking device. With MAC
address filtering enabled, wireless network access is provided solely for
wireless devices with specific MAC addresses. For example, you can
specify the MAC address of each computer in your home so that only those
computers can access your wireless network.
• Enable encryption
Encryption protects data transmitted over a wireless network. Wi-Fi
Protected Access (WPA/WPA2) and Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP) offer
different levels of security for wireless communication. Currently, devices
that are Wi-Fi certified are required to support WPA2, but are not required
to support WEP.
A network encrypted with WPA/WPA2 is more secure than a network
encrypted with WEP, because WPA/WPA2 uses dynamic key encryption.
To protect the information as it passes over the airwaves, you should enable
the highest level of encryption supported by your network equipment.
WEP is an older encryption standard and may be the only option available
on some older devices that do not support WPA.
• Keep wireless routers, access points, or gateways away from exterior walls
and windows.
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