Believe me, the WEP does NOT take a significant performance hit. Go to
www.extremetech.com if you want proof.
Why is it not wise to leave your internet connection open? What if some hacker used YOUR IP address / internet connection to hack a bank, or the military installations, or send out a terrorist threat to the public? Or more likely, if they used it to send out SPAM or viruses? You could be in a world of trouble...
WEP is NOT trivial to get in. The hacker must scan about 500MB of data in order to guess your password. For those who are extremely paranoid, they can change the encryption key daily and it should be more than secure. In addition, you should secure your AP with a read/write password, so someone does not corrupt or lock you out of your AP. In addition, you should use MAC filtering so that the hacker would have to emulate your MAC address before they have access to your AP.
Bottom line, you wouldn't let someone make unlimited free local phone calls on your home phone, so why would you let someone surf the web with your AP?
IMO it's even more dangerous for businesses to leave their wireless network open, because of the possibility of damage that may be caused when some outsider sends inappropriate information or hacks other websites with their internet connection. That business may well be hit with a lawsuit for being the source of the hack...
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by skofarrell:
My home AP isn't protected. I don't want the overhead of WEP (which causes a performance hit). My PCs are running current patched XP with a software firewall, so its remote that you're getting in. I could care less if someone wanted to use my cable company's bandwidth. And from what I've read, hacking WEP is pretty trivial for someone that really wants to get in.
Our Work AP's aren't protected either, but the hitch is that they are all attached to our "bastion" subnet, which is where our internet/external servers sit. To use wireless, you have to VPN in, even though you're in the building. Again, I think out telecom guys aren't concerned if someone wants to use it for some freeloading surfing.
[This message has been edited by skofarrell (edited 01-18-2003).]</font>
[This message has been edited by UALOneKPlus (edited 01-18-2003).]