Following on from the stealing BB thread, I thought I'd better check.

I've only just gone wireless and am using an orange Livebox. Got a desktop wired to the livebox and a wireless laptop. When I first set up the network it was a surprise to find 15, yes 15! wireless connections nearby. When searching for a network it says that mine is "security-enabled". AFAIK I'm on WEP security as the only thing I did during the setup of the laptop was have to change the Livebox security from WPA to WEP to get it to connect.

Anyone else got an orange Livebox and doing things differently or is there something else I should add to increase my level of security.

If you're using WPA/PSK make sure you set your key to something more than 20 characters long - maybe a phrase or a date spelled out in letters. The rotating encryption method used by WPA means that shorter keys are far easier to crack given a large enough sample but one you hit 20 it becomes ridiculously tough.

You could also consider turning on MAC address filtering if the livebox has it - on each PC that'll use it, click 'run' from the start menu, type 'CMD' then type 'IPCONFIG /ALL' in the black box that appears. This will give you a MAC address for each network adaptor in that PC usually in the form xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx. Write down the one that's relevant to the netork connector you're using (ie wireless or ethernet) and enter this into the relevant page on the livebox. This prevents any computer other than yours connecting to your system unless the owner knows how to detect your MAC addresses and spoof them which is beyond the scope of your usual neighbourhood leech

You're better on WPA than WEP. WEP can be broken into pretty easily.

How can WEP be broken into? SUrely they'd need to break into your house and read the key off the bottom of the livebox? :confused:

I just use my livebox's WEP key to connect to it. Unsure if there's other codes, but I've had no issues I'm aware of. Live in a dead quiet area so I probably don't even have anyone on wireless within range of the router.

There are algorithms out there now that can workout your WEP key in minutes and give someone full access to your network. :eek:

Here is one guide how to do it.

TAZ Forum :: A Computer, Gaming, and Social Network Community of Friends :: TAZForum :: View topic - Tutorial: Crack WEP with aircrack + inject packets (WINDOWS)

Lots more around. WEP is still better than nothing. WPA or WPA2 is much better.

You don't want your dodgy geek neighbour downloading 50Gb of illegal movies through your connection or some other 'stuff' that would get you a knock on the door from the boys in blue.

I now use WPA2 at home, as long as your wireless cards and router can support it then use this because its even better than WPA.

I've gone into the router setup and changed the security to WPA only - got it work eventually. I had to change it from "WPA or WEP" to WEP only initially to get the connection to work. I hope that helps with the security.

WPA was just a hacked down version of what became the WPA2 spec, ie how it was intended to be - the encryption is MUCH tougher in WPA2. As a previous poster said, WEP should be considered useless for almost all circumstances as the latest algorithms can crack it with a relatively tiny packet sample. It's far easier than that to carry out a DOS attack on a WEP connection too if all you're interested in is causing problems for the owner.

I can only use WEP on my wireless card as it doesn't support WPA, same on my PDA when connecting to my live box.

The live box is good as you have to pair devices before connecting to it, which requires you to press a button on the livebox.

With no WPA or WEP security on a livebox I think your safe anyhows.

I can only use WEP on my wireless card as it doesn't support WPA

Are there any newer drivers that include WPA support? It's easily done in software and many manufacturers are adding support retrospectively now people are becoming more informed about personal security.

I can only use WEP on my wireless card as it doesn't support WPA, same on my PDA when connecting to my live box.

The live box is good as you have to pair devices before connecting to it, which requires you to press a button on the livebox.

With no WPA or WEP security on a livebox I think your safe anyhows.

Not seen this pairing thing with the livebox - only had it a week, I'll have to look into that. Maybe its something to do with this MAC thing I've seen mentioned on the stealing BB thread.

Not seen this pairing thing with the livebox - only had it a week, I'll have to look into that. Maybe its something to do with this MAC thing I've seen mentioned on the stealing BB thread.

On the side of the Livebox, there are 2 buttons. A button 1 & a button 2. You press button 1 for 2 seconds, then the Livebox goes into pairing mode (lights flash). It will be active for 5 minutes to let you add a new device to it.

One paired up you can then connect to the livebox, entering the WEP key and away you go.

Also if you log onto the Livebox, it shows all paired devices, a bit like bluetooth on phones. I occationally check to see how many devices are connected to mine to be on the safe side, but ive never had anyone else connect.

In a web browser you can log onto your Livebox by enetering the URL:http://www.configuration.adsl/