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Wireless security

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ganstar:
I am a tech dummy so please forgive all.

I bought a wireless router (Smartgate sg3300n) to connect my devices at home. It was super easy to set up, no CD to load and all devices connected immediately. But the connection is open, and I don't really know how to improve the security as the manual is all in Korean. Is there a way to improve security through the network and sharing centre, my laptop runs Vista. Just not bother? It seems super difficult to configure these settings.

And something else if anyone can advise. The laptop connects directly to the router, and upon setup (I assume) connected to the internet through the cable. I was playing around with the settings in the network centre and at some point disabled the connection. It wouldn't re-connect and I had to connect the laptop through wireless. I would rather go back to a cabled connection, assuming it's more secure, faster?

Thanks in advance.

seanathon:
As far as security goes, your router should have a 'wireless security' setup when you access the router settings directly in a web browser. If you don't know the IP address of the gateway (your router) you can always just click start->type 'cmd' in the search and hit enter->type 'ipconfig'. The IP address listed after 'Default Gateway' is the address you want to open in Chrome. It should be something like 192.168.xxx.xxx. Usually it's 192.168.0.1 but my Samsung was 192.168.123.254. Was there any paper with this information in the box? I mentioned using Chrome because it makes setting up Korean routers easy since it can auto-translate from Korean to English (if you need).

Then just set up a SSID (name of your router), choose the security mode (WPA2 for instance) and choose a password.

As for your last part did you accidentally disable your 'Local Area Connection' under 'Network Connections'? All you have to do is double click it again or right click and select 'Enable' to get it working again.

ganstar:
Hey thanks for that.

Back on the cable. But I followed your advice, but the IP you said to use didn't open the control page. The default gateway address did however? It also wouldn't generate the korean characters to display correctly. Other sites like gmarket and banking are fine however.

I chose a security mode and password. But my devices connect without me doing anything, no password prompt or anything. They still indicate the network is open and unsecured.

Anyway thanks again, it's a start.

gareit:
jw, but might they be connecting automatically to someone else's network?  :o  this is common and fairly dangerous for your credentials, specially if you bank online or anything of that sort.  I'd recommend changing your network name to something fairly unique if there are other wireless networks in the area, just to avoid confusion (for both you and your gadgets)

also make sure you apply/save changes when configuring your network settings, if you're certain changes have been applied and you're still not being prompted while connecting, I don't know what gives... what sort of encryption did you pick?

ganstar:
WPA2 and all sorted now, have to log in.

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