network security

[paultek6]

OK here is my dilemma. I live with my son who has wireless internet in his home.It is unsecured and I cant get him to secure it.He is a know it all who doesnt think its necessary.
So now here is my issue .When I go online I dont feel protected so what can I do to protect my laptop when Iam on his network .
Any help would be appreciated.
Paul:\

 

[Fandango21]

You can set up your own VPN. Check out OpenVPN or if you have a router that has dd-wrt flashed on it, it should already be installed and it's pretty easy to set up.

 

[Ghiedo27]

Are you trying to protect your laptop from malware or your personal information while doing online banking and the like? If you're trying to protect your laptop, neither wireless security nor OpenVPN are going to help you because you're still at the mercy of the things you choose to connect to. You need to have proper antivirus, malware, and firewall protection on your laptop.

Keep in mind that regardless of what encryption / authentication system your wireless router uses it's all stripped before your data goes to the internet. That's only there to protect your network from people within the range of your wireless router.

Ideally you have all of that and WPA2, but you may as well start with what you have control over. That way even if someone connects to your network you have your own line of defense. You could also bring up wireless isolation. At least with that wireless clients on the network can't directly access anything but the internet. That way they can't connect to you or change the router's settings.

 

[JackMDS]

Get a second Wireless Router and put yourself on a Segregated Network.

Here How-to, http://www.ezlan.net/shield.html

 

[Nothinman]

OK here is my dilemma. I live with my son who has wireless internet in his home.It is unsecured and I cant get him to secure it.He is a know it all who doesnt think its necessary.
So now here is my issue .When I go online I dont feel protected so what can I do to protect my laptop when Iam on his network .
Any help would be appreciated.
Paul:\

Reboot it randomly while he's using it and when he asks pretend like you have no idea what he's talking about. But securing the router won't really protect your data. You still need to make sure that whenever you doing something sensitive that it's transmitted over an encrypted channel, e.g. HTTPS, ssh, etc.

 

[ImDonly1]

Setup WPA2 then go on his laptop and connect. Once the profile is saved and connects automatically, he won't bother to check or know.

Or do the router reboot like above, unless that fails and he thinks its a broken router and buys a new one.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Just set up WPA2 and don't tell your son.

Wireless encryption might not be perfect, but WiFi with no password is the same as running a LAN cable to your sidewalk. (anybody can see your network ressources, use your internet bandwidth, etc.) Not a good idea...