Whilst last discussing the greatness of Bonjour, I might as well discuss the basics of security for your wireless network.

In my case, I am using an Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station. It’s the easiest thing I’ve ever used, even easier than my Linksys router– and that was very easy to use.

It goes without saying, that if you are transmitting any data over the air, you’d better have that data secured as to not allow anyone who is sniffing the air access to your information. Not only does security come into play, but it might be as simple as you not wanting anyone to steal your bandwidth, to say, gain free interent access off of your ISP account.

The most popular form of wireless security was WEP. However, in lieu of getting too technical, let’s just say that WEP is now broken, and any hacker with half a brain and an easily available piece of software can crack your security. Never use WEP unless it’s the only option for you.

The best security you can use is WPA or WPA2, which is even more secure. Using WPA2, and a passkey of 63 random alphanumeric characters, for all intents and purposes is uncrackable. This may change in the future, but as of now it’s the best you can do for personal security.

When choosing a password, use 63 random alphanumeric characters that even you can’t remember. Save this key in a file on your computer. If you are like me, you’ll even password protect this file (using an easier password to remember). Never use any words or phrases that are common or found in a dictionary. The best password is always random, using both lower and uppercase letters as well as numbers.

Another thing you can do is create a closed network, which doesn’t broadcast the network name (SSID). This provides another layer of security, but alone won’t protect you. When you “close” your network, any clients that wish to connect to your network must know the name of the network, as well as the password. Again, use a name that is unique to you, and don’t just leave it with the default name. Hackers know default names of routers, and it can be easy to crack a poorly crafted password once you have the network or router name.

To further provide extra security, you can also reduce the range of your wireless network, to say only your room and an adjacent room. This will prevent your signal from being broadcast across your street, potentially to another computer.

Many people who first get into wireless computing don’t realize the security concerns, and leave default names and passwords in place, or keep security measures off all together. With WPA2 it’s not difficult to protect your network once, and keep it protected without further work on your part. Like Ron says, “set it and forget it”.

It’s a good idea to always go through every option in your admin settings, just to see what they do. If you are unsure about a setting, just Google it, and you’ll soon learn what it does. Taking a couple hours to learn about your wireless security up front can save you much hassle in the future, and save you from potential disaster with identity theft or loss of personal information.

Follow these few simple rules and you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your network is secure from all the hackers and lowlifes trolling the internet.