How do I secure my wireless internet?

Wireless networking (Wi-Fi) generally makes our lives easier – it let’s us access the internet anywhere in the house using portable devices like mobile phones, gaming consoles and laptops. Sadly it’s much easier for dodgy people to take advantage of an unsecured wireless network, quite literally ‘stealing you internet’. This can lead to increased monthly bills or even your personal files being accessed, so it’s probably a good time to check your security settings.

Here’s how to do it:

Change your router’s default password

Routers often come with a general admin password, which is easily guessed by hackers. To change this, you need to follow the below steps:

1. Open the Settings page on your router (you can check your router’s user manual for login instructions – you may need to use the generic username and password).
2. Once logged in, make sure the password option is switched on in your Administration Settings page. If there’s a default password, make sure you change it to something more secure (your best bet is to include both upper and lowercase letters, as well as numbers).

Use Network Encryption

Encryption scrambles the data on your wireless signals so only computers with the encryption code can use it. Here’s how to enable it:

1. Open your router’s Security Settings page, then select an encryption security setting (WEP, Wired Equivalent Privacy, is often used for older hardware. WPA, Wi-Fi Protected Access, is the more secure option).
2. Make sure you select a password that’s simple for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.

Keep your router’s firmware up to date

It’s a good idea to check your router manufacturer’s website on occasion to see whether any firmware upgrades are available for your specific router. This is a good way to make sure your router is functioning at optimum levels.

Make sure your PC has antivirus software installed

This is kind of an obvious one. You should always make sure you have some sort of antivirus software installed on your PC to prevent hacking. Two good options are Norton AntiVirus and McAfee.

Modem vs. Router – what’s the difference?

Getting your head around the different types of hardware available can be tricky – especially when they do similar things (like modems and routers).

Basically, a modem is what you use to actually receive your internet connection through your phone line or cable. A router splits that connection up so you can use it on multiple computers.

The two are alike in that they can both connect your computer to the internet – without one or the other, you’ll be left offline.

Many people don’t need the bells and whistles that a router brings to the table. If you’re looking for a cheaper, simpler option, a modem’s probably your best bet. For example, if all you’re looking to do is run one desktop computer in your home, then a modem should do the job.

If your household technology needs are a little more complicated – for instance, more than one computer, gaming consoles or the occasional laptop, then having a wireless connection (and thus a wireless router) would make more sense. A wireless router will transmit your internet connection throughout your house without any messy cables.

If you do go for a wireless router, you’ll be able to connect to the internet using any wireless enabled gadgets within the router’s range. Just make sure you secure your wireless connection with a password so you neighbours can’t chew up your internet quota.

So the decision between modem and router pretty much boils down to what you need and what you want to spend. Go for a modem if you’re down to one computer, or you’re on a budget. Go for a router if you’ve got a houseful of devices itching to get online.

Q – How fast should my internet connection be?

A – It’s all dependant on your connection type, so here are sets of download speeds dependant on your connection:

Dialup Connection Speed:
56k dialup internet
Approximate Download Rate:
4-7 kilobytes per second

Broadband ADSL Connection Speed:
256kbps
Approximate Download Rate:
20-25 kilobytes per second

Broadband ADSL Connection Speed:
512kbps
Approximate Download Rate:
45-55 kilobytes per second

Broadband ADSL Connection Speed:
1.5Megabit
Approximate Download Rate:
130 – 160 kilobytes per second
Broadband ADSL Connection Speed:
8Megabit
Approximate Download Rate:
700 – 850 kilobytes per second

Broadband2+ ADSL Connection Speed:
up to 20Megabit
Approximate Download Rate:
1500 – 2500 kilobytes per second

Your actual download speed is also dependant on where you are downloading from. Peer-to-peer applications (such as Kazaa, LimeWire and Bit Torrent programs) download from multiple internet users and not dedicated servers. This means you will usually experience slower speeds in these instances because your download speed will be determined by how fast the user at the other end can upload the data.

Downloading from international sources may also mean slower speeds, depending on where you are downloading from. This is because the data being transferred from overseas passes through numerous networks before it reaches Australia, increasing the time it takes to get the data.

For best results when downloading software from the internet, choose an Australian mirror. A download mirror is a server or computer that is located in a certain geographical region that is intended to improve speed performance for people in that area.

To perform an accurate download speed test on your Westnet internet connection, visit our Download Vault and choose an item of software to download.

How can I make my password as safe as possible?

Passwords should be easy for you to remember but difficult for others to guess.

Family names, pet names, your nickname, simple numbers and especially the word ‘password’ are super-simple to guess so you should avoid these – they really are a security risk.

The best thing to do is use a mix of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols (like #, * and !).

A combination of two or three words with capital letters placed at unusual spots throughout is easy for you to remember and renders a password much more secure.

Don’t forget: never write your password down and never share it with anyone – especially over email!

I’ve already written about a few interesting problems to do with email messages, namely spam, phishing messages and virus infections. As we know, the software or individuals crafting these messages can often use the “From” field in a message to falsify where the message came from in an effort to get the recipient to drop their guard.

Dealing with these kinds of suspect messages can be a new and concerning experience for anyone receiving them for the first time, so I thought I’d offer a way to learn more about where a particular message came from and what you can do about it.

I’m in the middle of a busy patch, so I put the call out for anyone interested in contributing to the blog. Luke Harris, one of my Team Leaders, stepped up with this explanation of the information available in the headers of your email.

When an email message is received it contains information called internet headers. These are also referred to as email headers. To avoid confusion I’ll stick to the former for the sake of this article. No matter which email program you’re using, viewing this information is relatively easy. Most email programs follow a similar method. Here are some detailed instructions for Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird.

Depending on where the email message has been there may be many lines of text, so much so that you may have to scroll to see everything. Think about your passport for a moment. It contains stamps from various airports around the world and is a history of your travels, from departure to arrival. The information here is relatively the same. The first thing to remember is that the message’s journey starts from the bottom. So to make it easier to read, you might want to use the mouse to select all of the information. Don’t forget to make sure you get the text at the bottom of the message; otherwise you’ll miss the important part. Once all the text is highlighted, hold down the “Ctrl” key while pressing the “C” key. That should copy the text. Then open Notepad and hold down the “Ctrl” key again while pressing the “V” key.

By this time you may be asking yourself where I’m heading with this, how does this help me defend against fraudulent email? Internet headers usually contain three parts. These are message information, Received header and Return path.
In most cases the internet headers contains the IP address of its source, or where it came from. If you look at an internet header and see copy resembling this:

“Received: from www.ezydvd.com.au (www.ezydvd.com.au [203.122.231.241]) by hosted01.westnet.com.au (Postfix) with ESMTP id 37CB02BF319 for ; Fri, 15 May 2009 14:38:27 +0800 (WST)”

The senders IP address is in bold. The one downside to this is that it is possible for an IP address to be “spoofed”. “Spoofing” is the slang term used loosely within the industry to describe the faking of the source information. Essentially the purpose of “spoofing” an IP address is to mislead and avoid being tracked down, making the message appear like it came from a different PC or network. Think of it as planting a fake fingerprint at the scene of a crime. A lot of spammers bet on the recipient not knowing how to gather the internet header information, so they may not bother to “spoof” the address as some effort is involved. You can find more information about that here.

Now that you have an IP address to work with you can then use a free online networking utility to run what’s called a “Whois Query” to find out registered information for that IP address. The information that will be of use is the ISP that leases the IP address and their abuse contact.

There are generally two types of spam messages. Those sent by a real person and those sent by a computer (usually sent via an unsuspecting host PC which has been infected by a virus).

In either case, the best thing to do is to check for an “unsubscribe” option. If the unsubscribe option is not present or doesn’t appear to work for you, then you can report it via the ACMA website. You can also forward the original message along with the internet header information you’ve obtained directly to the ISP abuse contact listed in the Whois Query. If the ISP is reputable, they should be very interested in assisting both you and their potentially compromised customer. Don’t forget to move the message to your spam or junk folder where it belongs, don’t follow any links in the message or open any attachments.

It’s also important to note that ACMA can only deal with spam messages that originated from within Australia. With a little knowledge and a lot of patience we can all make it a little harder for unscrupulous folk to make their mark.

Anything and everything – all things internet!

Got an internet related problem or issue? Then Ask Chris! Chris Thomas founded Westnet in 1994, and today heads up our Technical Support and Customer Service teams. Chris has been instrumental in cementing Westnet’s position as Best ISP (as voted by PC Authority in 2007 and 2008), so if you’ve got a question, he’s got the answer.

Check out his latest blog entry here.