[AT] OT : ! puter question for dsl

[Warren F. Smith]

>>Someone mentioned using wireless links and the potential for
>>problems if
>>you don't enable encryption. The lack of security with
>>wireless systems
>>is greatly exaggerated. Actually, the likelihood of anyone "sniffing"
>>your wireless signal is extremely low, as it takes somewhat
>>sophisticated equipment to make any sense out of the bit
>>stream. Second,
>>if you are out in the country, a hacker would have to have his car
>>parked in your front yard to gain access to your signal - they only
>>travel a very short distance under the best conditions. (I can't
>>communicate between machines in my house and barn - about 150'.) The
>>biggest risk is that you might have a neighbor, if you live in an
>>apartment house, who uses your ISP access for free to surf
>>the net and
>>slow your access down. If you live in a city, I would recommend
>>encryption, but not in rural or suburban areas.

There are a couple of things I disagree with above. The main thing is, if
you have a wireless router, the encryption is built-in, free, and all you
have to do is turn it on- and you should. The reason being, if you have a
wireless network in your home or small business you are likely using a
windows network, and sharing files, drives, printers, etc. Your settings are
probably, because they are by default, and hard to find to change- set on
simple file sharing.

You are right about the distance limitations, but there are longer antennas
and people who drive around with them on their laptops. I have a friend who
is head of IT at a large company and he's done it. If someone can find your
router the odds are in their favor they will find everything else on your
computers.

Basically my point is- the encryption is there, why would you not use it?

Warren

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