Network Security- How to

[SageOfSpice]

So lately I've gotten a bit more interested in how that magical little box in the corner of my room spews out Internets and have gotten a bit curious about how one goes about securing a home network.

 

Nothing extreme, I'm not going into hiding or anything, but just to make the network less of a target towards potential intruders, especially since I've started to set up some shared network drives and I'd like to prevent the data from being compromised.

 

So if you know any good resources, or can point me in some direction, maybe share a little about what you know/what you've learned, it'd be appreciated. You don't have to be an expert, as I'm certainly not.

 

Thanks in advance.

[BrinkGG]

5 minutes ago, SageOfSpice said:

So lately I've gotten a bit more interested in how that magical little box in the corner of my room spews out Internets and have gotten a bit curious about how one goes about securing a home network.

 

Nothing extreme, I'm not going into hiding or anything, but just to make the network less of a target towards potential intruders, especially since I've started to set up some shared network drives and I'd like to prevent the data from being compromised.

 

So if you know any good resources, or can point me in some direction, maybe share a little about what you know/what you've learned, it'd be appreciated. You don't have to be an expert, as I'm certainly not.

 

Thanks in advance.

Configuring your router with a different login password is really one of the best things you can do. It makes it so people who connect can't fudge with it. Also changing the WiFi password as well to something with numbers, symbols and both lowercase and uppercase letters will keep the rookies out. 

[BrinkGG]

10 minutes ago, SageOfSpice said:

Snip

Also, I've added a computer with PFsense in between our Modem and Router (Look at an example network map to see where that is or I can show you what I mean) that allows you to control a lot more. Look for TekSyndicate PFsense if you want just a basic idea of what you can do with it. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

13 minutes ago, SageOfSpice said:

So lately I've gotten a bit more interested in how that magical little box in the corner of my room spews out Internets and have gotten a bit curious about how one goes about securing a home network.

 

Nothing extreme, I'm not going into hiding or anything, but just to make the network less of a target towards potential intruders, especially since I've started to set up some shared network drives and I'd like to prevent the data from being compromised.

 

So if you know any good resources, or can point me in some direction, maybe share a little about what you know/what you've learned, it'd be appreciated. You don't have to be an expert, as I'm certainly not.

 

Thanks in advance.

Well.

 

If you want a simple solution, set a wpa2 personal password. Its not easy to break, and more than secure for an average user. If you want more you need something like 802.11X with a domain system, which normally requires enterprise equipment.

[SageOfSpice]

4 minutes ago, Brink2Three said:

Configuring your router with a different login password is really one of the best things you can do. It makes it so people who connect can't fudge with it. Also changing the WiFi password as well to something with numbers, symbols and both lowercase and uppercase letters will keep the rookies out. 

Yeah, I figured as much, so I've hid the SSID, configured inclusive MAC filtering, and have unique passwords containing capitals, numbers, and such. The actual password for the router isn't anything legible either, no phrases or names or anything of the like.

 

1 minute ago, Brink2Three said:

Also, I've added a computer with PFsense in between our Modem and Router (Look at an example network map to see where that is or I can show you what I mean) that allows you to control a lot more. Look for TekSyndicate PFsense if you want just a basic idea of what you can do with it. 

I'd just heard about somebody on the forum recently buying a PFsense machine. Not 100% sure what it does, but I suppose I'll have to look into that. Thanks =0