WEP provides security to wireless networks by restricting unauthorized access.
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The Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol, WEP, may be the only thing that protects your Comcast Internet connection from eavesdropping. If you do transmit sensitive information over your WI-FI network, you may want to invest in additional protection. WEP networks can be compromised in less than 60 seconds using basic electronic equipment such as smartphones, according to research by the computer science department of the University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany. Although WEP is far from a perfect system, it is better than nothing, and will protect your Wi-Fi connection from opportunistic hackers looking for easy targets.
Step 1
Connect your computer to one of the LAN ports of your router.
Step 2
Open your Internet browser and type in the router's IP address. If you have a NETGEAR router, the address will be http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.1.1. Refer to your router's documentation if these addresses don't work.
Step 3
Introduce your user name and password. The default settings are "admin" and "password."
Step 4
Click on the Setup tab and then on "Wireless Settings." Click on "Security Options" and select "WEP." Choose an Automatic Authentication type and an encryption strength to either 128-bit or 64-bit.
Step 5
Select "Key 1" in the security options menu and introduce any 10 or 26 alphanumeric digits, depending of if you chose 64- or 128-bit security. Keep a note of the string of digits you choose because you will need it to configure the wireless connection of other computers in the network.
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privacy & security protectedReferences
- Computer World: Don't Use WEP For WI-FI Security
- Comcast: Configuring Wireless Security WPE
Photo Credits
- Thinkstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
