When creating a wireless home network, special attention should be paid to the security of the network. And this is a well-founded requirement, if not met, you can provoke an unauthorized connection from a third-party user. What types of protection for Wi-Fi networks exist today?
The oldest protection method is called Wired Equivalent Privacy, which stands for WEB for short. This method was invented in 1997 and was based on the RC4 cipher. During operation, all data flowing through the cipher was encrypted using either a 40 or 104-bit key, and a 24-bit variable was added to the key to multiply this effect. The method is good for its speed and low load, but there is also a drawback in the form of data unreliability. In other words, if you use specialized software (software), the user will be able to bypass such protection for a while and connect to Wi-Fi.
In general, the unreliability of protection moved the person to create something more reliable. And then, in 2004, a man developed Wi-Fi Protect Access, or WPA. This method, unlike its predecessor, approached data protection in a complex manner, that is, it used several technologies at the same time.
Then came a standard called WPA2, which differs from WPA in a higher degree of security, and this security is justified by the use of a modern encryption standard called AES.
The most reliable, simple and secure option for protecting home networks is to use WPA2-PSK, which is a simplified modification of the WPA2 method. When using this method of protection, only the user who enters a password that matches the password stored in the database will gain access to the network.
Particular attention should be paid to the password itself, that is, its length and symbols. The minimum possible length is 8 characters, and it is best to include numbers, letters of different case and punctuation marks in these characters, so that the password is difficult to guess. Of course, its length can be increased, and the longer it is, the better.
Also, you should not bypass other methods of protection, such as MAC address filtering, in which only those devices whose personal MAC address is on the list will gain access to the network.
