If you are new to wireless networks there are a couple of things you need to be aware of an order to make sure that you have a secure access point. Nowadays most WiFi routers that come out of the box are set up with security already. However, this is not always the case so you may need to configure your router so that it has encryption enabled which was then prevent unauthorized people connecting to your network and possibly using your Internet connection.
There are a number of different types of security measures that you can put in place to ensure that you have encryption enabled, have a secure connection and prevent others from accessing it. There are a couple of standards that you can implement quite easily on your router and they are.
1. SSID
2. WEP
3. Media Access Control (MAC)
We can get caught up in all sorts of acronyms with networks is basically SSID means Service Set Identifier, which is basically just a name used to identify a particular wireless network.
This name can be 32 characters long combining letters or numbers and is basically just an identifier which you can set which in torn allows you to identify your WiFi network when you go to locate. Your access points will transmit this SSID every couple of seconds.WEP is basically an encryption key that can help encrypt the data between the wireless client and the network access point. It basically creates a shared password (which you can set on your router) . The router transmits a request which is then answered by the wireless client with the password that you create. It may sound complicated but realistically is a very simple process. This is the first level security that you can settle on any WiFi router and it's basically what most people use present.
MAC is another level of security that you can add to your router basically the router can store a table of MAC addresses that are only allowed access in that particular access point.
The MAC address is specific to your WiFi network card in your computer and this can be found in a Microsoft Windows computer in the control phone and networks, and there you can locate the MAC address of the network card. Once you have this you can then enter this in the MAC address security area on your WiFi router. This is the next level of security and show to help to prevent anybody gaining unauthorized access to your network.