Vista - should you change routers ip address? for security

Iv had my lynksys router for about 2 months now I secured it buy encryption with a password. Should you change the routers default ip address? When I called lynksys to help me setup the router over the phone they said nothing about it??

Hi GreatNate,

Yes, for better security, you should change the default IP address. Just be sure to write it down so you have when you need to log in to the router.

It doesnt matter what numbers you put in right?

Anything else I should change for maximum security? I ONLY use this router for my PS3 so there will not be even one single computer connecting to this router, besides the desktop thats connected by a wire

currently its on wpa personal

Do I change the local ip address or the starting ip address?

anyone please help me, Iv screwed everything up. someone please help me

Hi,

First thing - can you still log into the router?

If you can then when you change the router address you have to use an allowed group.

I believe the linksys default is 192.168.2.1 you can change any of the numbers in the last two groups - I normally change the third set, (2 in the default setup).

If you cannot access the router you will need to reset the device to factory settings to start again. Check your manual as to what is the exact procedure for this but it normally involves pressing a reset button for a few seconds.

Nate,

Since we do not know your router's model number, you can also look up some information about your router from this link at Linksys to help.

Ask Linksys

Hope this helps,
Shawn

default for older routers was 192.168.0.1. These days, in order to comply with VPN software, the routers started using 192.168.1.1. A lot of cable modems actually use 192.168.100.1, so avoid that one.

I myself created a completely whacked third and fourth octet, limiting my router from providing any more than 20 IPs (I only have 4 machines, 2 networked printers, 2 iPaqs and at most 2 visitors at any one time - but I have 6 older machines and do bring work home from clients' machines, so...) and have the router set a reservation list for all the active machines and the iPaqs and the printers so that those IPs never change....

If you don't play with your settings much, then your router is going to be able to assign 250+ IPs on the subnet - take, for example, the old default - 192.168.0.1. Now, the broadcast is on 192.168.0.254, so that one is out - and 0.1 is being used by the router. That leaves .2, .3, .4, ....250, .251, .252, .253, to be handed out. If you do a little research you can change your subnet mask from 255.255.255.0 to something else, meaning it can only offer a limited amount of IP addresses before it starts denying applicants. Furthermore, my settings allow me to specify the actual range of IP addresses I am allowed to hand out - so I reserved all my machines, say from 135-143, and then start handing out IPs from 150 to 160 for anyone who comes to visit and / or client machines.

Use a good *strong* password - don't let it contain parts of your name, DOB, address, tel#, etc....

Use strong Keys on your router, if it does not support automatic negotiation between your router and clients for wireless - use high security every which way, and for more users remote management is not needed - turn it off.

Finally, check the router every now and again to make sure that you don't need a firmware upgrade, and that all your settings are secure.

Try turning on mac
addressing there should be a mac address on your ps3

I have a linksys router. Here is how I set the security-

1. Block anonymous internet requests
2.You can disable SSID Broadcast (I leave mine enabled though-as it makes it easier to reconnect to network in the event I repair/disconnect from network)
3. Do not use default Linksys SSID- change it
4.I use WPA TKP with a randomly manual generated 20+ digit string consisting of Numbers/symbols/letters/caps/lower case-Not an auto generated string (back it up, and
store it somewhere safe- like a encrypted/protected drive)
5.Enable MAC Filtering to allow only those IP's you add to the access list (i.e., networked computers)
6. Disable remote Admin/Disable Remote upgrade/Disable UPnP
7. Set alpha/numeric random password to router that is no less than 8 digits.
8. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!-TKIP re-keying Interval must be reset to 600 seconds (or less)

If you router offers WPA2 encryption use this as it is more secure than either WEP or WPA PSK.

why is it important to have a good ssid (I did not know that)

Hi,

If you choose to hide the broadcast of your SSID, and if you still leave it at the default name someone could still "guess" it quite easily as the default names for the major router manufacturers are well known.

If you make it something unique to you and do not broadcast then this makes things more difficult for a potential hacker or leecher to gain access.

This also applies to the default router user names and passwords, there are sites on the net which actually list them,

This has been useful to me in the past when a user has locked themselves out of their router, and lost the manual so does not know the default after re-setting to factory defaults.