RE: home wireless router good practices for security

[jburzenski () americanhm com]

> 1) Anyone know how much enabling 128-bit encryption will hurt 
> my wireless performance?

Not enough.

> 2) Does setting the SSID for my wireless NIC then keep me 
> from getting onto other wireless networks like when 
> traveling?  I ask since that setting was set to ANY before I 
> changed it to the SSID that I set for my wireless router.

No.

> 3) What else should I really do to protect my home network?

I have a clever friend who plugged his WAP into an outlet that was
controlled by a wall switch.  He flips the switch which turns on the light
and the WAP and switches it off when he leaves the room.  This is a very
effective means of protecting a wireless network.  

128 bit WEP is easy to crack in theory but the reality of it is it often
requires a substantial effort to accomplish.  WEP cracking tools need
packets, usually millions of them to make a good guess at a key.  If you
have a low bandwidth network and brute-force resistant key you are in pretty
good shape.  

One final tip.  Set your SSID to SST-PR-1.  This will cause most war-drivers
to move on without bothering with you.  ;)

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