More and more homes are starting to use wireless networks for their personal computers. It sounds pretty useful and it is, but you have to know how to make your wireless network secure. The network security is very important, because a bad security allows anybody to connect to it and to make any kind of use of it like stealing private informations, spam sending and other illegal and very disturbing acts that might even lead to the blockage of your internet connection.

First of all, you need to set up a good password. A password is a secret key to the network that will be ask to the people who try to connect to your network. Only you and the other users of your wireless network should know what it is. The main utility of this secret key is to block other people from connecting into your network and from having a free access to internet.

Secondly, you should consider enable the WPA (the Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption instead of the WEP encryption. The principal use of this kind of encryption is to protect your network from intrusions with the use of rotating keys, user-specific keys and authentication certificates. The WAP support is built into the latest Service Packs for Windows XP.

Thirdly, you might need to disable the remote administration that most WLAN routers have. The reason is that almost anyone from anywhere could find your network and access to it. So if you don't need the remote administration, try to turn it off to protect your wireless network from unwanted intrusions and access.

Finally, install a powerful antivirus on each computer that you will allow on your network. This will prevent the transfer of viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spy bots, spams and other kind of harmful programs. Some of these programs might even turn to block your network, be aware. You might be tempted by trying out a free antivirus, but some of them are viruses or aren't good enough to protect with efficiency your network.

So, there are simple precautions to take for the use of a secure environment, with passwords, fire walls and other types of network security. You might also try not to download a lot of documents from unknown publishers or from websites you are not sure you can trust. Danger is everywhere on the web, but you can stop it, just be careful.

Learn more about this author, Simon Lalonde-Labelle.
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