A uqestion about a WIFI pasword
Greetings ladies and gentlemen.
If my WIFI password has only numbers in it, it makes my network less secure for crackers?
I don't know much about WIFI.
Thank you
bad news - no matter what you do, your wifi can be cracked. wep is "broken" at an ecryption level however, so wpa/wpa2 is a better suggestion. using a long password makes breaking it much more difficult (well, time consuming really). however, the only real solution is to change your password more often/faster then the cracker can brute force it (not something most people do, changing their wifi passwords often i mean). best of luck.
Thank you
Well, it's true that wpa/wpa2 is better than wep. But as far as the password goes, you should take some things into account. First, you should have a password with:
CAPITAL LETTERS
regular letters
numbers (12345...)
Symbols .,-?º+*
Second, make it at least 12 characters long.
Why all of this? Because if the router is susceptible of an attack using "rainbow tables", it will make it almost impossible.
Third, you should NOT change it very often. When we try to think of a password that is strong, we usually can come up with one that is both strong and easy to remember. However, the more we change it, the more "simplified" our passwords will become. Because we tend to do so, in order to remember it. So we make it weaker by changing it.
In the end, you must check if your router has a "pin" activated. Read here http://lifehacker.com/5873407/how-to-crack-a-wi+fi-networks-wpa-password-with-reaver
Basically what it says (and it works!) is that now matter how strong you password is, if someone can get the "pin" mentioned in the article, they will get in. So, yeah... keep an eye out for this too.
Also, you should change the name of the wireless network. Some routers have names that somehow "reveal" information about the router itself making it EASY for a total NEWBIE to crack your password (thomson routers for example).
That's all the advice I can give you =) hope it helps.
You should consider leaving your WiFi without a password so other people can use it.
Almost everyone's WiFi routers stay idle most of the time. Even when the WiFi owner uses the Internet connection, it isn't usually fully utilized. Why not share the connection then? That's what I do and it doesn't make my connection bad.
Sometimes when I'm out with my laptop, I'm able to connect to the Internet through someone's opened WiFi router. I can then do some web browsing and some brief communication through my computer. If find this very useful. If most WiFi routers were opened like this, cell phones will be a lot less useful.
Try leaving your WiFi without a password to see, if it's any hindrance at all.
"You should consider leaving your WiFi without a password so other people can use it."
Please mention also the legal problems which can arise.
He should do a lot of research about the law in his country before he opens his wlan. Things can turn out pretty bad otherwise.
Agreed. As much as I appreciate the ideals behind Open Wireless Movement, there are still many legal issues to be taken into account. Of course, if he can make sure he has no problem with being a part of it, he is welcome to do so. BUT, right now, I don't think things are in such a good legal status as to do so blindly.
Also, a_slacker_here, maybe you could consider helping your community other way... by providing a Tor relay. You can read about the Tor project in www.torproject.org and think about it, if you want to help others with your internet connection.
As for the security of the router, I hope you read my comment above.
You are making it sound like this is something very dangerous and it's not.
The router has an option for no password, so people can use it. If your country's police is known for severely punishing people without WiFi password, you should probably be aware of this.
I know where I live there are many public spaces where they have WiFi without password, so I don't feel I need to do "a lot of research about the law" to figure how things are. I have better things to do.
In any case, you are free to do your law research because I wont. But first consider what is good for people. If everyone worries so much about breaking the law rather than doing good, I think everyone will be pretty miserable.
Hello,thank you for your responses.
I have to say that I never considered to provide a Tor relay, and I cannot do so because I am only at house in a short period of time and I could not maintain the relay.
Also, I could not share th WIFI because that decision is not entirely mine.
But I will consider your proposals in the future.
Thank you.
Like any password, you actually want it to be a passphrase, i.e., long. You need not put numbers, symbols and caps letters in it. Just several words. Say three. In this way the password is strong and you can easily remember it.
For more information (and the math): http://www.baekdal.com/insights/password-security-usability