[EarthBound]

Is your wireless connection secure? Ie: 128 bit WEP encrypted?

[EarthBound]

Also, what your neice is doing is known as "war driving" and is illegal, as she's stealing other people's connections.

[MikefromOhio]

Do you have WEP enabled?

[Terpfen]

Your niece is engaged in an illegal activity.

Firewalls will work with wireless connections, but with wireless, you have to actually secure the signal. Enable WPA, or preferably WPA2.

[kevkrom]

I have a wireless network. I also have firewalls. Can people hack into my system through my wireless connection?

Yes.

But the good news is, you can fix that. Use 128-bit WEP encryption. The generally recommended setup for a home network is to use "Open Authentication" with "Shared Key", which means you will need to enter the same key value into every device connecting to your network. (If you have a wireless printer, you may need to hook it up wired temporariliy to set this key.)

For an additional layer of protection, you should be able restrict the ehternet card MAC addresses allowed on the network. Fire up all the machines at once, and add them to the "allowed" list.

[cripplecreek]

We recently started sharing the connection (and cost) with a neighbor. I'm not the computer expert here but my wife had to let him in so the firewall must work for wireless.

[ConservativeMind]

Getting onto other people's wireless routers is illegal in some states now, including Illinois.

People can hack into your system most easily if you are unencrypted, have no software firewall on, and have Windows File and Printer Sharing turned on. Also, if you haven't changed the default password on your router and your router allows wireless connection to the Administration page, then even if you correctly set all the rest, a hacker could very easily change it all to his benefit (save for the Windows-specific items).

[MarineBrat]

Go to this web page...

http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm

And listen to episodes numbers 10 and 11.

DO NOT use WEP security as everyone is telling you. WEP is NOT SECURE! Use WPA with a looong password.

[Niteranger68]

Five things will keep you safe:

1) A hardware firewall (should be part of your wireless router)

2) A software firewall (Windows, Norton, ZoneAlarm, Sygate)

3) Minimum 64-bit WEP encryption (128-bit preferred) set-up in the wireless router

4) Do not share any hard drives

5) Create passwords for all Windows users/accounts

[MarineBrat]

To everyone reading this thread...

MAC address filtering is useless! SSID hiding, useless. WEP encryption, broken and next to useless. The only way to secure your wireless access point is WPA.

I mentioned listening to two episodes of SecurityNOW! in my other post. I'm also going to recommend episode #13, "Unbreakable WiFi Security."  http://www.grc.com/securitynow.htm

If you take the time to listen to these discussions you will be miles ahead of anyone who might wish to hack you.

[steve-b]

My niece has a laptop with a wireless modem (or something like that). She does not have the internet.
So she rides around in her car until she finds a house with a wireless modem/internet connection. Then she logs on through their connection.

What's her DU handle?

[kcbc2001]

We have wireless and firewalls. He's a network administrator, and he'd tell you straight out that no system is 100% safe, but if you do all that you can to secure your data then you should be fine. (Firewalls, change your passwords frequently, etc)

I don't see why your niece doesn't go to Panera's or some other place that has wireless access. I'd really panic if she's doing shopping or paying bills over someone else's connection. You just don't know who's on the other end. Sure your neighbor might be great to talk to, but if you don't know anything else about them....why take the chance?
JMHO.

[LouAvul]

I just called linksys and got sheila in the Philippines. After I got used to her accent, I reset my security settings to WEP which is ten digit encryption. Thanks for the advice.

[SoothingDave]

Why don't you have your neice come over and see if she can get in?

SD

[mom4kittys]

Let your niece know there are lots of places to get free wifi. There are websites that show them in each city and state. Here is one, but there are others:
http://www.wififreespot.com/

Also, believe it or not, Sonic Drive Ins and McDonalds have free wifi available.