My network, is it safe?

djshowdowndjshowdown London
edited March 2010 in Science & Tech
Good afternoon all :)

I recently set up my home network again so that I am able to transfer files between systems and share the printer.

I have gone in to the options for the drives I want to share and checked the boxes for 'share this folder on network' and 'allow network users to change files'.

I have done this because both computers are mine and I need to update files back and forth for both of them.

I went to set up a network but the computers weren't 'seeing' each other so I googled it and one guy said it was a firewall issue. He said that in order for the computers to be able to communicate you should allow the IP range 192.168.1.0 - 192.168.1.254

I did this and it is now working fine but the information was from a website that I don't know so I am now surfing a wave of paranoia.

Can someone tell me if this was the correct way to get my network functioning, is it safe and are there any other precautions I need to take?

Look forward to your replies :)

Comments

  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    Yes opening those paths on your firewall are fine as it only allows internal communication between devices on your network. If you are concerned about your security overall then we'd need more details on how you are connecting to the internet and if you are using wired or wireless connections.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited March 2010
    Ok cool thats my mind at rest for now.

    I am connected to the internet via a Linksys WRT54GL. The main desktop is wired and the other comps in the house are wireless (2 laptops and 1 desktop). Network is secured with a WPA2 password.

    Are there any other things you need to know?

    Cheers for the quick response dude
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    As long as the firewall on your WRT54GL is enabled, then you are as safe as you can realistically expect to be in a home networking environment. WPA2 is the best off the shelf security for wireless networks. While it can be cracked, at least in theory, most people aren't going to bother. As long as you're not letting any old traffic through to your private from the Internet at large (thus why I noted that the firewall on your WRT should be on) then you should be just fine.

    Oh, I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't mention this, make sure that the web interface for accessing your router is set to LAN only. There's been a rash of virii going around that exploit the web interfaces on routers. As long as it's restricted to LAN only though you're safe (unless one of the computers on your LAN is compromised).
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited March 2010
    I haven't messed with many settings so my router should be pretty much on default settings, other than port forwarding for certain ports and DMZ enabled for my xbox.

    How can I check that the firewall is on and that I the web interface is set to LAN only?
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2010
    You shouldn't need to dmz your xbox just use upnp or do a specific port forward rule and it'll be fine. There's nothing really wrong with dmz'ing your xbox, but it's not necessary.

    Your router by default has the firewall on meaning it's blocking all ports by default and the web interface is also, be default set to lan only. You have to specifically disable those things for them not to be on, you should be fine.

    Also if you haven't change the SSID name and turn off broadcasting. If you are running any vista or windows 7 machines you'll have to then specifically allow them to connect to a network that's not broadcasting it's ssid.
  • djshowdowndjshowdown London
    edited March 2010
    Alright cool I will take all your advice on board. You guys came through again, thank you so much :)
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    Changing the SSID is a good idea, disabling broadcasting is pointless though. Anyone that wants to try to get into your network knows how to find hidden SSIDs. Disabling SSID broadcast is, at best, a false sense of security for people who don't know better.
  • AlexDeGruvenAlexDeGruven Wut? Meechigan Icrontian
    edited March 2010
    Back when everyone in my apartment complex was running wide-open 'linksys' and 'default' networks, I would hide my SSID just to make things hide a little higher.

    Now people have stepped things up in the neighborhood, so I'm running WPA2 with a 50char passphrase. But I have my SSID broadcasting.
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