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Page 31 / 128 Scroll up to view Page 26 - 30
2-1
v2.1, July 2007
Chapter 2
Safeguarding Your Network
The RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B provides highly effective security features
which are covered in detail in this chapter.
This chapter includes:
•
Choosing Appropriate Wireless Security
•
Configuring WEP Wireless Security
•
Configuring WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK or WPA-PSK+WPA2-PSK Wireless Security
•
Turning Off the Broadcast of Your Wireless Network Name
•
Restricting Wireless Access by MAC Address
•
Changing the Administrator Password
•
Backing Up Your Configuration
•
Understanding Your Firewall
Choosing Appropriate Wireless Security
Unlike wired network data, anyone with a compatible adapter can receive your wireless data
transmissions well beyond your walls. Operating an unsecured wireless network creates an
opportunity for outsiders to eavesdrop on your network traffic or to enter your network to access
your computers and files. For this reason, use the security features of your wireless equipment.
Deploy the security features appropriate to your needs.
Note:
Indoors, computers can connect over 802.11b/g wireless networks at ranges of up
to 300 feet. Such distances can allow for others outside of your immediate area to
access your network.
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NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual
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Safeguarding Your Network
v2.1, July 2007
There are several ways you can enhance the security of your wireless network. In order of
increasing effectiveness:
•
Turn Off the Broadcast of the Wireless Network Name SSID.
If you disable the broadcast
of the SSID, only devices that know the correct SSID can connect. This nullifies the wireless
network ‘discovery’ feature of some products such as Windows XP, but your data is still fully
exposed to an intruder using available wireless eavesdropping tools.
•
Restrict Access Based on MAC Address.
You can restrict access to only trusted computers
so that unknown computers cannot wirelessly connect to the WNR834B. MAC address
filtering adds an obstacle against unwanted access to your network by the general public, but
the data broadcast over the wireless link is fully exposed. This data includes your trusted MAC
addresses, which can be read and impersonated by a hacker.
•
WEP.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption provides moderate data security.
WEP Shared Key authentication and WEP data encryption can be defeated by a determined
eavesdropper using publicly available tools.
•
WPA-PSK
and
WPA2-PSK.
Wi-Fi Protected Access with Pre-Shared Key (WPA-PSK and
WPA2-PSK) data encryption provides extremely strong data security, very effectively
blocking eavesdropping. Because WPA and WPA2 are relatively new standards, older wireless
adapters and devices may not support them. Check whether newer drivers are available from
the manufacturer.
•
Turn Off the Wireless LAN.
If you disable the wireless LAN, wireless devices cannot
communicate with the router at all. You might choose to turn off the wireless LAN when you
are away or when other users of your network all use wired connections.
Figure 2-1
Page 33 / 128
NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual
Safeguarding Your Network
2-3
v2.1, July 2007
The time it takes to establish a wireless connection can vary depending on both your security
settings and router placement. WEP connections can take slightly longer to establish. Also, WEP,
WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK encryption can consume more battery power on a notebook computer,
and can cause significant performance degradation with a slow computer. For more details on
wireless security methods, please see
“Wireless Communications” in Appendix B
.
Recommended Security Settings
Stronger security methods can entail a cost in terms of throughput, latency, battery consumption,
and equipment compatibility. In choosing an appropriate security level, you can also consider the
effort versus the reward for a hacker to break into your network. As a minimum, however,
NETGEAR recommends using WEP with Shared Key authentication. Do not run an unsecured
wireless network unless it is your intention to provide free Internet access for the public.
In addition, be sure to change the administration password of your router. Default passwords are
well-known, and an intruder can use your administrator access to read or disable your security
settings. To change the administrator password, see
“Changing the Administrator Password” on
page 2-14
.
Changing Wireless Security Settings
This section describes the security-related wireless settings. For details on the configuration of the
general wireless settings, see
“Configuring Wireless Settings” on page 1-10
.
To configure the wireless security settings of your router:
1.
Log in to the WNR834B router at its default LAN address of
routerlogin.net
(or
192.168.1.1
) with its default user name of
admin
and default password of
password
, or
using whatever LAN IP address and password you have set up.
2.
From the main menu of the browser interface, under Setup, click Wireless Settings. The
Wireless Settings menu appears.
Page 34 / 128
NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual
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Safeguarding Your Network
v2.1, July 2007
The available settings in this menu are:
•
Name (SSID
). The SSID, also known as the wireless network name, is broadcast by the
wireless router so that nearby wireless devices can discover your network. You can disable this
broadcast as described in
“Turning Off the Broadcast of Your Wireless Network Name” on
page 2-10
.
•
Region
. This field identifies the region where the WNR834B can be used.
•
Channel
. This field determines which operating frequency is used.
•
Mode
. This field determines which 802.11 data communications protocol is used.
•
Security Options
. These options are the wireless security features you can enable.
Table 2-1
identifies the basic wireless security options. For a detailed explanation of these standards, see
“Wireless Communications” in Appendix B
.
3.
Click Apply to save your settings.
Figure 2-2
Page 35 / 128
NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual
Safeguarding Your Network
2-5
v2.1, July 2007
Balancing performance factors (throughput, latency, battery consumption, and equipment
compatibility) against the value of information on your network, select an appropriate security
level. As a minimum, NETGEAR recommends using WEP with Shared Key authentication.
Note:
The Security Options displayed in this menu may change depending on the
current selection of Wireless Mode.
Table 2-1.
Basic Wireless Security Options
Field
Description
None
No wireless security. Only recommended for troubleshooting wireless connectivity.
WEP
WEP offers the following options:
•
Open System
With Open Network authentication and 64- or 128-bit WEP Data Encryption, the WNR834B
does
perform data encryption but
does not
perform any authentication. Anyone can join the
network. This setting provides very little practical wireless security.
•
Shared Key
With Shared Key authentication, a wireless device must know the WEP key in order to join
the network. Choose the Encryption Strength (64- or 128-bit data encryption). Manually
enter the key values or enter a word or group of printable characters in the Passphrase box.
Manually entered keys
are not
case sensitive but passphrase characters
are
case sensitive.
Note
: Not all wireless adapter configuration utilities support passphrase key generation.
• Auto
The wireless router automatically detects whether Open System or Shared Key is used.
WPA-PSK
WPA2-PSK
WPA-Pre-shared Key
does
perform authentication. WPA-PSK uses TKIP (Temporal Key
Integrity Protocol) data encryption and WPA2-PSK uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)
data encryption. Both methods dynamically change the encryption keys making them nearly
impossible to circumvent.
Enter a word or group of printable characters in the Password Phrase box. These characters
are
case sensitive.
Note
: Not all wireless adapter configuration utilities support WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK.
Furthermore, client software is required on the client. Windows XP Service Pack 2 and
Windows XP Service Pack 1 with WPA patch do include the client software that supports WPA.
However, the wireless adapter hardware and driver must also support WPA.

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