General Chat

Thank Margaret...but I did as you said, right clicked, but didnt get anything up that said 'view available wireless network'!! It says 'firewalled' though...so I don't know if that means I am secure or not! Dee x

Dee Very strange I'm not going to worry about it. It must have been unsecure for at least 18 months, that's how long we have been networked. I have only picked up another network once, last night, and it's not showing now. I will get it sorted but at the moment it's giving me a headache. LOL. Margaret

Hi Margaret I had a job with mine last week and the number I used was 192.168.0.1 and I managed to do it after been trying a few days Linda

I can get into the Belkin set up OK, and when I click (on the left of the page) under 'Security' it says disabled! So I imagine I must have an unsecure network! I would like to follow Steve's advice and secure it, but how do I know whether to follow the 64 bit part of his instructions or the 128! Anyone know what the difference is? Dee x

Hi Linda Can't get anywhere with that either. Think I will give up for now. My printer has stopped working on the network as well. Worked fine until a few days ago. Works on the PC but not from laptop. It doesn't rain but it pours LOL Margaret

Dee I was wondering that as well. 64 bit or 128 bit mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm don't know

128 bit is just more secure. I would use 64bit its okay for home users. I just make up a 10 digit word using the numbers 0–9 and letters A–F (thats hexadecimal) . FEEDFEEDED for example and enter it directly into the keybox on each PC.and the router setup. Router pages are usually http://192.168.1.1/ or something like that. Bob

Hi Bob I am really going round in circles with this. I have read on a website that it is 'technicaly possible' for someone to see what I am doing on my computer. Does that mean you need to know what you are doing to be able to snoop? I can't see what my daughter is doing on her computer and we are on the same network,

all it means if your network has no security on it is that someone else is able to logon to your network and use your internet connection and they have to be in range of the signal any way If you ever take your laptop out with you you can find other peoples network and logon that if you like, that is if they havent protected it lol Around the country now are numerous hotspots these are where you can surf the net when you find them if you look on the net you can find a list of areas that has hotspots. McDonalds has them weatherspoons pubs ( not all ) has them loads of places in fact. Wouldnt worry about it really I have never had mine protected from instalation no probs at all Paul

Margaret, I wouldn't worry about that. Not very probable that anyone go to the trouble. There is a a real risk though. If someone logs on to you network and downloads child pornography it will be sent to YOUR IP address. (all computers on a router show the same IP address to the WWW) Thats reason enough to sort it. Bob

If it is unsecured then others can use your broadband connection. There is also the potential for them to access your PC depending on how your network is set up and whatever file/folder sharing you have enabled. If somebody really wanted to sit outside your house and hack into your unsecured network then yes, they could. But they would have to be pretty sad to want to spend time hacking into a home computer - maybe they like your version of Solitaire lol. Again, you need to refer to your manual but you should be able to open configuration settings for the router by typing 192.168.x.x into the address bar where x is usually a zero or low number. The difference between 64 bit and 128 bit is purely that 128 bit is more secure - it uses more characters and so is far harder to hack. If you need a hand let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Paul, Bob and Errol Thank you for your input. I will try to sort it out, but as Paul says not too much to worry about. I have only picked up one other network. A secured one through Wanadoo. Probably someone over the road, I will ask when I see them. The signal from that is very low anyway, so I imagine my signal is low to them too.