security for home networks

[mavskunk]

hello
bearing in mind that i know next to nothing about networking..can someone here let me know what i need to do when setting up a wireless network as far as security goes..

i'll have 1 PC and 2 laptops with broadband. so, do i need anti virus software and firewalls on the machines or something else? some IT friends of mine have told me hardware is better than software :?:

having had loads of problems with adware and all that nonsense with just one computer, often not my fault ;) ..the whole security issue seems pretty important as i'm just about to get new PC and don't want anymore problems (homesearch :eek: :mad: :sad: )..

any advice greatly appreciated

[Tekmaven]

If you have a router sharing the broadband, you won't need a firewall on any machine. However, you'd need virus protection on each PC. As for your adware problem, a virus solution won't really fix that. You're going to need another adware montioring solution to keep your adware in check. Good news is, if you use Windows XP, the upcoming Service Pack 2 will have new features preventing you from inadvertantly installing adware.

[mavskunk]

cool, i've been very very bad about getting windows updates in the past..i have learnt my lesson ;)

[bentkey]

And if you don't want your neighbors using your Internet connection and browsing your network, you will need to change the router group name from it's default (say Linksys for instance) to something else and then stop the router from broadcasting it (a setting). Then when you setup your PCs you'll have to know the name and type it in. If you want to be really careful, you'll need to setup a WEP key for encryption.

[mavskunk]

And if you don't want your neighbors using your Internet connection and browsing your network, you will need to change the router group name from it's default (say Linksys for instance) to something else and then stop the router from broadcasting it (a setting). Then when you setup your PCs you'll have to know the name and type it in. If you want to be really careful, you'll need to setup a WEP key for encryption.

cheers..got a book on this now so hopefully i can actually do it!! :)