Security

Wireless Best Practices - Windows XP

The following tips are provided for Microsoft Windows XP only. The specific settings mentioned in these tips may not be available in other operating systems, unless they are provided in the wireless adapter's configuration utility.

First, you need to access your computer's wireless configuration.

Step 1: Click Start then Control Panel.

Step 2: Click on Network and Internet Connections.

Step 3: Click on Network Connections.

Step 4: Look for "Wireless Network Connection" under "LAN or High-Speed Internet". Right-click "Wireless Network Connection", and select Properties from the pop-up menu.

Step 5: Now, you can review or change your wireless network connection properties. Select the Wireless Networks tab. On this property sheet, you should see a "Preferred networks" section with a box listing one or more wireless networks (perhaps none).

If you see networks called "WVU.Encrypted", "WVU.MountainAir" or "WVU.ResNet", these are WVU's official wireless networks, and you should leave them in the preferred networks list. For more information about configuring WVU.Encrypted or WVU.MountainAir, refer to Wireless at WVU. For more information about configuring WVU.ResNet, refer to Wireless ResNet.

In this example, a wireless network named "linksys123" is listed under our preferred networks. We do not know if this network is safe, because we do not know who operates it. If you have similar networks in your configuration, we recommend removing them. To do this, highlight the network and click Remove.

If you use public wireless networks at locations such as Panera or the Blue Moose Cafe, you may also see these networks listed under "Preferred Networks". You should use a personal firewall and anti-virus software to help protect your computer when connecting to public networks like these.

If your computer detects any wireless networks not listed in the preferred networks list, it will prompt you before connecting to one of them. Consequently, you can determine the wireless networks to which you want to connect.

Please note, by default, Windows will automatically connect to wireless networks in your preferred networks list. You can change this behavior by highlighting the network, and clicking the Properties button. Then, select the Connection tab, uncheck the "Connect when this network is in range" box, and click OK to save your changes.

Step 6: For security purposes, we also recommend that you click the Advanced button at the bottom of the Wireless Networks property sheet, and select "Access point (infrastructure) networks only". Also, make sure that "Automatically connect to non-preferred networks" is not checked. Then, click Close to save your changes. This step ensures that your computer is connecting to a wireless access point, rather than an individual's computer. Connecting directly to another individual's computer can be dangerous, particularly if you do not know the individual.