WEP/WPA vs Secure Tunnels

I am trying to decide on how best to secure my home wireless network.

From the many postings in the this newsgroup and articles on-line, WEP
should not be considered.

I have a Linksys WRT54G V4 router which does support WPA. I have configured
a laptop with Windows XP home to connect using WPA. I also have a desktop
running Windows 2000 on which I have gotten wpa_supplicant running.

Am I better off running the router using WPA or should I just chuck
everything and set up a secure tunnel using a machine running secure shell?
If I do things this way, I am guessing my network would be open but
checking of email etc would be confidential.

Any additional thoughts?

Thanks.

--
Frank Hahn

On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:23:49 -0000, Frank Hahn
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>I am trying to decide on how best to secure my home wireless network.
>
>From the many postings in the this newsgroup and articles on-line, WEP
>should not be considered.
>
>I have a Linksys WRT54G V4 router which does support WPA. I have configured
>a laptop with Windows XP home to connect using WPA. I also have a desktop
>running Windows 2000 on which I have gotten wpa_supplicant running.
>
>Am I better off running the router using WPA or should I just chuck
>everything and set up a secure tunnel using a machine running secure shell?
>If I do things this way, I am guessing my network would be open but
>checking of email etc would be confidential.
>
>Any additional thoughts?

1. Stick with WPA. Bad idea to open your network.
2. Use secure tunnel as well if you want extra security, since WPA only
protects your wireless.
3. To secure email, use SSL/TLS if supported by the email server.

--
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_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> On Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:23:49 -0000, Frank Hahn
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> <(E-Mail Removed)>:
>
>>I have a Linksys WRT54G V4 router which does support WPA. I have
>>configured a laptop with Windows XP home to connect using WPA. I also
>>have a desktop running Windows 2000 on which I have gotten
>>wpa_supplicant running.
>>
>>Am I better off running the router using WPA or should I just chuck
>>everything and set up a secure tunnel using a machine running secure
>>shell? If I do things this way, I am guessing my network would be open
>>but checking of email etc would be confidential.
>>
>
> 1. Stick with WPA. Bad idea to open your network.
> 2. Use secure tunnel as well if you want extra security, since WPA
> only protects your wireless.
> 3. To secure email, use SSL/TLS if supported by the email server.
>
Thanks for the list.

Until yesterday, I was only using WEP because one of the computers
runs Windows 2000 and the Linksys Wireless card did not support WPA. I
spent an hour or so installing wpa_supplicant. Until yesterday, I was
not aware that it also ran under Windows.

I have a Linux machine that has secure shell running on it and I have
it setup so that I can at least tunnel to it to check email, etc so my
passwords are encrypted at least part of the way.

As of right now, my ISP does not offer SSL/TLS.

Again thanks.

--
Frank Hahn

Your society will be sought by people of taste and refinement.

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 13:10:01 -0000, Frank Hahn
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>news:(E-Mail Removed) :

>> 3. To secure email, use SSL/TLS if supported by the email server.

>As of right now, my ISP does not offer SSL/TLS.

Using ISP email just because it's there is a Really Bad Idea(c) IMnsHO:
* Email address ties you to the ISP.
* Lack of security features like SSL/TLS (as in your case).
* Lack of Web and/or WAP (cell phone) access.
* Reliability. etc.
Instead I recommend using a good third-party email service.

I personally use and recommend free Google Mail (Gmail), which has a
wealth of features, including POP/SMTP access over SSL/TLS (not
supported by Yahoo), and essentially infinite archiving capability.

You can probably forward your ISP email to a new service.

I'm sending you a Gmail invitation in case you're interested.

--
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_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> I'm sending you a Gmail invitation in case you're interested.
>
Yes, I am interested. I just checked my yahoo account and do not see it.

I have had others send invites and they have not showed up. Wondering if
yahoo.com filters these out...

--
Frank Hahn

On Wed, 09 Aug 2006 16:11:21 -0000, Frank Hahn
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed)>:

>John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>news:(E-Mail Removed) :
>
>> I'm sending you a Gmail invitation in case you're interested.
>>
>Yes, I am interested. I just checked my yahoo account and do not see it.

First one bounced because I failed to fully unmunge your email address.
Second try worked.

>I have had others send invites and they have not showed up. Wondering if
>yahoo.com filters these out...

Perhaps they ran into the same problem I did.

--
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_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

Frank Hahn <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in

> > I'm sending you a Gmail invitation in case you're interested.

> I have had others send invites and they have not showed up. Wondering if
> yahoo.com filters these out...

You can create a GMail account without someone else inviting you.
http://www.google.com/mail
"Sign up for Gmail using your mobile phone"
sends an invitation via an SMS message to your phone.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

(E-Mail Removed) wrote in news:ebdinv$h95$(E-Mail Removed):

> You can create a GMail account without someone else inviting you.
> http://www.google.com/mail
> "Sign up for Gmail using your mobile phone"
> sends an invitation via an SMS message to your phone.
>
Haven't gone mobile yet. Probably won't until our daughter gets older.

--
Frank Hahn