Securing Your Wireless Network

What is a Wi-Fi Network Name (SSID)?

A Wi-Fi network name (SSID) is the name that your wireless router broadcast (like a radio station) that allows you to identify your wireless router from your neighbors.

The SSID that your wireless router has when you take it out of the box needs to be changed during the initial set up using the CD that came with the wireless router, it needs to be between 1 to 32 characters long. It is case sensitive, which means when you decide on the SSID you will have to put it on each computer exactly as it was put in the router.

It should not include your address, name or anything else that will identify who you are.

What is a Wi-Fi Security (Network) Key?

A Wi-Fi security (network) key is very similar to a door key, it protects yourself from unknown people getting on your wireless network.

Below is a list of the three types of wireless security offered for home and small business users as well as their strength in relation to the others.

It is recommended that the wireless network is configured with the highest level of security that the wireless devices have in common.

• Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
  Low protection
  
  WEP is one of the original security types. Every home wireless router supports WEP even the latest models to make it compatible with every wireless network adapter. While WEP is better than no security the network key used to encrypt the wireless data can be broken in as little as a few minutes.

• Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
  Medium protection
  
  WPA was developed to close the security holes that WEP has. It uses several mechanisms to prevent the network key from being broken but still uses the same encryption method as WEP.

• Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2)
  Highest protection
  
  WPA2 has been implemented has the highest form of security for home and small businesses. It takes the mechanisms used by WPA and uses a more secure encryption method.

How Do I Create a Wi-Fi Security (Network) Key?

WPA and WPA2

WPA and WPA2 use letters (a-z, A-Z, 0-9) that are between 8 and 63 characters long. The key can be made up from an upper and lower case letters, numbers and the special characters (~!@#$%^&*()_+:;'"<>).

It is recommended that all three types of characters be used in the key and that they are used in a random order. This will make it very difficult for someone to guess the key.

WEP

WEP comes in two lengths 64bit and 128bit and in two forms ASCII and Hexadecimal. The key you create will include an additional 24bit header so the key you create is actually only 40bits or 104bits long. That's why a 64bit WEP key is also referred to as 40bit. ASCII is the numbers and letters we use every day, a - z, A - Z and the numbers 0 - 9. Hexadecimal is also known as machine code, when a computer is running a program it's being told what to do by Hexadecimal numbers. Hexadecimal uses the numbers 0 - 9 and the letters a - f.

Refer to (Table 1) for the number and type of characters needed to create a WEP key.

Key LengthASCIIHexadecimal

Table 1: WEP Key Creation

(There are free WEP and WPA key generators available on the Internet.)

How Do I Find my Wireless Network Name?

The easiest way to find your wireless network name (SSID) is to put the computer and the wireless router 3-9 feet (1-3 meters) away from each other.

Do one of the following tasks:

• For a notebook computer:
  1. Move the computer to within 3-9 feet (1-3 meters) of the wireless router.
     Note: Make sure the wireless antenna is on, For more information refer to CyberPowerPC Knowledge Base article How to Turn the Wireless on a CyberPowerPC Laptop On and Off (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Mobile Broadband).
  2. Touch or click the network icon ( or ), either in the taskbar or in the hidden icons area (Figure 1).
     Note: Both are located in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
     
     Figure 1: Hidden Icon Location
     
     
  3. Look for a listing that has the most white bars next to it (it may be necessary to scroll up or down to find it) and write it down exactly as you see it.
     Note: When there is more than one listing with the same number of white bars or the listing reads as "Hidden network or Other Network", refer to the Getting the Wireless Network Name Directly from the Wireless Router tab, for instructions to get the wireless network name from the wireless router directly. 

• For a desktop computer:
  1. It may be necessary to move the wireless router within 3-9 feet (1-3 meters) of the desktop (you do not need to move or power off the broadband modem because Internet access is not needed at this time, but any other computer(s) that are connected to the wireless router will not be able to access the Internet during this process). Make sure the wireless router is powered on after moving it.
     Note: Make sure the wireless antenna is on, For more information refer to CyberPowerPC Knowledge Base article How to Turn the Wireless on a CyberPowerPC Laptop On and Off (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth).
  2. Touch or click the network icon ( or ), either in the taskbar or in the hidden icons area (Figure 1).
     Note: Both are located in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
     
     Figure 1: Hidden Icon Location
     
     
  3. Look for a listing that has the most white bars next to it (it may be necessary to scroll up or down to find it) and write it down exactly as you see it.
     Note: When there is more than one listing with the same number of white bars or the listing reads as "Hidden network or Other Network", refer to the Getting the Wireless Network Name Directly from the Wireless Router tab, for instructions to get the wireless network name from the wireless router directly.
  4. After finding your wireless network name, you will need to move the wireless router back to its original location and re-connect it to the Broadband Modem.

How Do I Find my Wireless Network Key

For this process to work a network cable will have to be connected between one of the LAN ports on the back of the wireless router and the LAN port on the computer.

1. Touch and hold or right-click the network icon ( or ), either in the taskbar or in the hidden icons area (Figure 1).
   Note: Both are located in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
   
   Figure 1: Hidden Icon Location

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2. Touch or click Open Network and Sharing Center.
   

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3. Touch or click Ethernet.
   

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4. Click Details.
   

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5. Locate and write down the IP address to the right of IPv4 Default Gateway.
   

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6. Open an Internet browser.
   

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7. In the address bar, type http://[Default_Gateway_ip_address], where [Default_Gateway_ip_address] is the IPv4 Default Gateway IP address (do not include the brackets).
   

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8. Log into the router. For some of the most common router username and passwords, refer to Table 3.

Wireless router manufacturers typically keep the Wireless Network Name or SSID under a page listed as Wireless, the method for getting to that page varies (please refer to the wireless router documentation or contact the wireless router manufacturer, links are provided in Table 3).

Be sure to write the wireless network name down, exactly as you see it.

When the common defaults do not work, it means that either someone has changed the default or your model of wireless router has a unique username or password. Ask whoever may have set up the wireless router what is the username and password, refer to the wireless router documentation or contact the wireless router manufacturer (links are provided in Table 3).

Table 3: Common Wireless Router User Name and Passwords

Getting the Wireless Network Name Directly from the Wireless Router

For this process to work a network cable will have to be connected between one of the LAN ports on the back of the wireless router and the LAN port on the computer.

1. Touch and hold or right-click the network icon ( or ), either in the taskbar or in the hidden icons area (Figure 1).
   Note: Both are located in the lower right-hand corner of the screen.
   
   Figure 1: Hidden Icon Location

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2. Touch or click Open Network and Sharing Center.
   

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3. Touch or click Ethernet.
   

   ---

4. Click Details.
   

   ---

5. Locate and write down the IP address to the right of IPv4 Default Gateway.
   

   ---

6. Open an Internet browser.
   

   ---

7. In the address bar, type http://[Default_Gateway_ip_address], where [Default_Gateway_ip_address] is the IPv4 Default Gateway IP address (do not include the brackets).
   

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8. Log into the router. For some of the most common router username and passwords, refer to Table 4.

Wireless router manufacturers typically keep the Wireless Network Name or SSID under a page listed as Wireless, the method for getting to that page varies (please refer to the wireless router documentation or contact the wireless router manufacturer, links are provided in Table 4).

Be sure to write the wireless network name down, exactly as you see it.

When the common defaults do not work, it means that either someone has changed the default or your model of wireless router has a unique username or password. Ask whoever may have set up the wireless router what is the username and password, refer to the wireless router documentation or contact the wireless router manufacturer (links are provided in Table 4).

Table 4: Common Wireless Router User Name and Passwords

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