Windows XP for Home Users, Service Pack 2 Edition

One of the problems with a wireless network is that all your data is just out there, broadcast over the air via radio waves, for anyone to grab. Fortunately, to keep outsiders from tapping into your wireless network, you can add wireless security to your network. This is done by assigning a fairly complex encryption code to your network; in order to tap into the network, a computer must know the code.

You can assign security codes to all the PCs in your network in one of several ways. First, most wireless hubs, routers, and adapters come with configuration utilities that let you activate this type of wireless security. If your wireless equipment has this type of configuration utility, use it.

Otherwise, Windows XP SP2 adds a new utility called the Wireless Network Setup Wizard. This title is a bit of a misnomer, in that you don't use the wizard to actually set up your wireless network; instead, its purpose is to add wireless security.

You want to run the Wireless Network Setup Wizard on each of the PCs connected to your wireless network. To run the wizard, open the control panel and click the Wireless Network Setup Wizard icon.

When the wizard launches, click Next to display the main information screen, shown in Figure 20.3 (next page). From here you can give your network an SSID name (different from the name assigned in the Network Setup Wizard), and then either automatically assign or manually enter a network key. The type and length of the key you choose depends on the type of encryption you choose; the strongest encryption comes from a 26-character WEP key.

Once the key is assigned, write it down. That's because you'll need to run this wizard on all the other PCs on the network, and manually enter this same key for each computer. After all the work is done, only those PCs that have been assigned this specific key can connect to your wireless network which means no more neighbors leeching off your wireless connection.