WPA Vs WPA2 Vs Radius

[godreborn]

what is the difference between these wireless security methods and what about the enterprise versions of WPA? 'cause I think my printer only supports WEP and WPA V1. thanks!

 

[cracker]

WEP is the least secure, then WPA followed by WPA2. So use WPA and consider MAC filtering to only allow your devices to connect. Hiding the SSID can prevent layusers from seeing the network as well. You could also bridge another router in WPA mode onto your current router (in WPA2 mode) and use port forwarding/firewalling/etc. on the current router to block access to all but what the printer requires.

 

[Lacius]

WEP is the least secure, then WPA followed by WPA2. So use WPA and consider MAC filtering to only allow your devices to connect. Hiding the SSID can prevent layusers from seeing the network as well. You could also bridge another router in WPA mode onto your current router (in WPA2 mode) and use port forwarding/firewalling/etc. on the current router to block access to all but what the printer requires.

WPA2 is the only secure option. MAC filtering and hiding the SSID don't offer much protection.

 

[Searinox]

In particular WPA2-AES is the best option. Consider also any firmware updates for the router after a major vulnerability was found in the protocol a year ago.

 

[godreborn]

will wpa2-aes allow existing systems to work (i.e. windows 7/10, the 3ds, the vita/pstv, the ps3, the xbox 360, the wii u, and the switch)?

 

[Searinox]

All of the hardware and OSs you listed in your example are supported. I'd be surprised if not. This implementation has been mainstream for over a decade.

 

[Originality]

To answer the question about Radius, enterprise security is the most secure out of all methods but requires a lot more to set up (namely, a dedicated authentication server to check against logon attempts). For your personal needs, you should only consider WPA2.

WEP is virtually no security and takes a phone seconds to crack. WPA has long since has its vulnerabilities published and takes a phone maybe a minute to crack. WPA2 has only recently been discovered how to crack, but it’s not been published and takes a lot to crack, making it suitable for your needs as the only consoles that can’t use it are DS and PSP.

 

[godreborn]

thanks. should the wpa2 passphrase be something easy to remember or something complicated?

 

[Originality]

If you want to be secure, it needs to be long with a mix of 4lPh4Num3r1cs! And speci@l characters. You can use a few methods to simplify connection afterwards (WPS, WiFi-key, QR code, etc).

Personally, I think a long phrase with a twist is best. E.g Iwant1pineapple?

Remember that if you use common words (e.g adminpass) then it’ll get beaten by a dictionary attack. And if you only do simple obfuscation (e.g 4dm1np4ss) without adding capitals and special characters, it can get beaten by a rainbow attack (I think that was the term). If it’s a more complicated password, then the only way to beat it is to brute force it, in which case every digit makes it take exponentially longer to break.

 

[godreborn]

do I need to select the security type with any of my examples? I mean can I just use the same key as my passphrase when switching from wep to wpa2 without having to do anything extra?

 

[Originality]

When you switch from WEP to WPA2, you will have to re-connect every device to your AP. The only way around this is if you use WPS, which can disable the pass-key requirement temporarily (30-60 seconds if I remember) whilst you re-connect them.

In most cases, it will detect the security type automatically. If not, it’s a simple case of selecting WPA2 as the security type and the rest are defaults.

 

[godreborn]

so is it wise to use the same key from wep as my passphrase for wpa2? my main concern is if someone broke into my router and grabbed the security key. it's probably unlikely that that's happened, but I do want to make sure I'm secure. I just don't want to redo everything for all devices. with that being said, should I create a new passphrase? I've been using mac filtering to mask my SSID, but does that offer any more security?

 

[Originality]

If you think someone has your previous key, then absolutely change it. Even if it’s annoying to sign everything back in, do it anyway. The risks of someone being able to do whatever they want in your network.........

Hiding your SSID protects against casual snoopers but anybody determined to connect to your network will still find it easy. The same tools are used to scan nearby WiFi networks (even those not broadcasting their SSID) and to crack weak encryptions, all from your phone. And if they’ve connected to you once, the only thing stopping them from connecting again when your SDID is hidden, is one single checkbox in network properties.

It’s a little long winded, but there are ways to detect unauthorised access if your router supports logging (and most do). You should be able to see the MAC address of everything connected normally, check against the MAC address of everything in your house, and then blacklist anything that you don’t recognise. Even this is only a weak defence against casual infiltrators because someone determined enough can still spoof the MAC of some other device on your network.