Turn access control on

I hope my question is simple to answer!

I have a Netgear DG834G and have it set so that security is disabled and
Access Control is switched on with each attached computer's MAC entered onto
the "trusted wireless station" list. I also have Norton and MS XP firewalls
on attached computers.

Does this config give prevent anyone not on my trusted list accessing either
my network and my computers?

Thanks

John Hunter <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I hope my question is simple to answer!
>
>I have a Netgear DG834G and have it set so that security is disabled and
>Access Control is switched on with each attached computer's MAC entered onto
>the "trusted wireless station" list. I also have Norton and MS XP firewalls
>on attached computers.
>
>Does this config give prevent anyone not on my trusted list accessing either
>my network and my computers?

No.

"John Hunter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:460f8152$0$8731$(E-Mail Removed)...
>I hope my question is simple to answer!
>
> I have a Netgear DG834G and have it set so that security is disabled and
> Access Control is switched on with each attached computer's MAC entered
> onto the "trusted wireless station" list. I also have Norton and MS XP
> firewalls on attached computers.
>
> Does this config give prevent anyone not on my trusted list accessing
> either my network and my computers?
>
> Thanks
>

No. MAC addresses can be spoofed. It is better to enable encryption,
specifically, WPA, WPA2 including WPA-PSK. If your hardware doesn't support
WPA, then enable WEP. It's better than nothing. In regard to your double
software firewalls, just know that having more than one software firewall
"can" cause incompatibility issues.

--
________
Just Me, D

Doug,

Many thanks, you learn something every day.

I've now changed this to WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key) and
access control on - does this give me a reasonable degree of protection?

Thanks again,

John

"Doug Jamal" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:46102f99$0$8996$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "John Hunter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:460f8152$0$8731$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I hope my question is simple to answer!
>>
>> I have a Netgear DG834G and have it set so that security is disabled and
>> Access Control is switched on with each attached computer's MAC entered
>> onto the "trusted wireless station" list. I also have Norton and MS XP
>> firewalls on attached computers.
>>
>> Does this config give prevent anyone not on my trusted list accessing
>> either my network and my computers?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
> No. MAC addresses can be spoofed. It is better to enable encryption,
> specifically, WPA, WPA2 including WPA-PSK. If your hardware doesn't
> support WPA, then enable WEP. It's better than nothing. In regard to
> your double software firewalls, just know that having more than one
> software firewall "can" cause incompatibility issues.
>
> --
> ________
> Just Me, D

On su, 01 apr 2007 22:17:55 GMT, "Doug Jamal" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote in alt.internet.wireless:

> "John Hunter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:460f8152$0$8731$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I hope my question is simple to answer!
>>
>> I have a Netgear DG834G and have it set so that security is disabled
>> and Access Control is switched on with each attached computer's MAC
>> entered onto the "trusted wireless station" list. I also have Norton
>> and MS XP firewalls on attached computers.
>>
>> Does this config give prevent anyone not on my trusted list accessing
>> either my network and my computers?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
> No. MAC addresses can be spoofed.

No. The MAC address is sent in the clear.

On Apr 2, 12:47 am, "John Hunter" <john.hun...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Doug,
>
> Many thanks, you learn something every day.
>
> I've now changed this to WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key) and
> access control on - does this give me a reasonable degree of protection?
>

They say that this WPA-PSK IS secure if you use a 20 character or
longer passphrase randomly generated. Personally, I use one I can
remember but it's mixed alphanumeric and not words, of 20 characters.

On 2 Apr 2007 07:08:32 -0700, "seaweedsteve" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote in <(E-Mail Removed) .com>:

>On Apr 2, 12:47 am, "John Hunter" <john.hun...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>> I've now changed this to WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key) and
>> access control on - does this give me a reasonable degree of protection?

Yes _if_ you use a strong passphrase. See wikis below for
recommendations.

>They say that this WPA-PSK IS secure if you use a 20 character or
>longer passphrase randomly generated. Personally, I use one I can
>remember but it's mixed alphanumeric and not words, of 20 characters.

That's sufficient.

My own preference is to use seven diceware words.
Easy to enter, while still being very secure. See
<http://world.std.com/~reinhold/dicewarefaq.html#howlong>

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_How_To>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"John Hunter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:4610a6f6$0$8750$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Doug,
>
> Many thanks, you learn something every day.
>
> I've now changed this to WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key)
> and access control on - does this give me a reasonable degree of
> protection?
>
> Thanks again,
>
> John
>
> "Doug Jamal" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:46102f99$0$8996$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> "John Hunter" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:460f8152$0$8731$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>>I hope my question is simple to answer!
>>>
>>> I have a Netgear DG834G and have it set so that security is disabled and
>>> Access Control is switched on with each attached computer's MAC entered
>>> onto the "trusted wireless station" list. I also have Norton and MS XP
>>> firewalls on attached computers.
>>>
>>> Does this config give prevent anyone not on my trusted list accessing
>>> either my network and my computers?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>
>> No. MAC addresses can be spoofed. It is better to enable encryption,
>> specifically, WPA, WPA2 including WPA-PSK. If your hardware doesn't
>> support WPA, then enable WEP. It's better than nothing. In regard to
>> your double software firewalls, just know that having more than one
>> software firewall "can" cause incompatibility issues.
>>
>> --
>> ________
>> Just Me, D
>
>

No Problem, Sir. We've all learned things from this newsgroup. Anyway, to
answer your question....Depending on your passphrase, it will give you a
great degree of protection. I suggest using a long nonsense passphrase.
Example: y8_@&x&k7uf$8KOA24FOXWj$;6<GSp8h61.A/1ay. Other subscribers of
this newsgroup recommend the use of dice words. I've known people who play
Sudoku take the random numbers of their solved puzzles and use them as their
passphrase. Whichever you choose, just make sure that your passphrase isn't
one that can be guessed.

--
________
Just Me, D