Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part V: The Part of Tens
deal of time to get on your LAN is minimal. This statement means that as long
as you do the basic security enhancements we recommend in Chapter 9,
you should be covered. This does not mean you are safe from maliciousness.
Even if hackers care nothing for the contents of your computer, they care
a lot about using the processing power of that computer for their own ends.
Nasty software called viruses, or Trojans, can get to your computer in many
ways. These programs give hackers control of your computer unbeknownst
to you so they do other more malicious things such as sending more spam
e-mail or infecting more machines.
You can secure the following parts of your network by taking the following
actions:
� Your Internet connection: You should turn on, at minimum, whatever
firewall protection your router offers. If you can, choose a router that
has stateful packet inspection (SPI). You should also use antivirus
software and seriously consider using personal firewall software on your
PCs. Using a firewall in both your router and on your PC is defense in
depth: After the bad guys get by your router firewall’s Maginot line, you
have extra guns to protect your PCs. (For a little historical perspective
on defense strategies, read up on Maginot and his fortification.)
� Your airwaves: Because wireless LAN signals can travel right through
your walls and out the door, you should strongly consider turning on
WPA2 (and taking other measures, which we discuss in Chapter 9) to
keep the next-door neighbors from snooping on your network.
Q: What is firmware, and why might I need to upgrade it?
Any consumer electronics device is governed by software seated in onboard
chip memory storage. When you turn on the device, it checks this memory to
find out what to do and loads the software in that area. This software turns
the device on and basically tells it how to operate.
This firmware can be updated through a process that’s specific to each manufacturer.
Often, you see options in your software configuration program for
checking for firmware upgrades.
Some folks advocate never, ever touching your firmware if you don’t need to.
Indeed, reprogramming your firmware can upset much of the logical innards
of the device you struggled so hard to configure properly in the first place. In
fact, you may see advice on a vendor site, such as this statement from the D-
Link site: “Do not upgrade firmware unless you are having specific problems.”
In other words: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Many times, a firmware upgrade
can cause you to lose all customized settings you’ve configured on your
router. Although not all vendor firmware upgrades reset your settings to their
defaults, many do. Also, it’s always best to do a firmware upgrade with a
wired connection to the router — if you lose the wireless signal during the
upgrade, you could be forced to totally reset your router — the router might
even become inoperable. Be careful!