I was setting up my wireless router and they have settings for either WEP, WPA or WPA-PSK and I have no idea what each of them is and which is better......

.....can anyone give me the lowdown on what to use?
.....also what are the benefits/detriments of using each?

Right now I have it set for WPA-PSK because it was the easiest to set up for me.

 

Greetings,
If you have the WPA set-up already leave it be. Basically WEP is an encryption algorythm that has flaws and WPA was originally designed to be part of a system of security that uses RADIUS authentication. The PSK part of your WPA is the "Pre Shared Key" between your wireless AP and your PC. Under normal circumstances, the WPA authenticates you through a RADIUS server. This is usually an Enterprise type system that gets expensive. Instead of the RADIUS server you share your security keys locally.
So Basically, you've taken some steps to secure your Wireless stuff, put a firewall on your network, either software based or a hardware type and your ok as far as most kiddies trying to hack your network.
Remember, most security breaches are from the people who are authorized to use your network or PC. Don't download files your not sure who they are from,,,,,etc...etc...etc......


MV

 

My D-Link router (DI-524) seemed to have a decent firewall already setup (maybe you guys can look at the specs and let me know what you think..... http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=316 ) but I am still working on the config part of it. Only part I was not sure about was if I should set up the router to deny ping request?

 

Use the MAC filtering and block ping requests. Then go to GRC.COM and use shields-up to check you settings.


MV