Keeping Your Network Secure

Your network is protected by the password you assign to it. However, you can take additional steps to help keep your network secure.

Networks managed by Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) may be vulnerable to denial-of-service attacks. Similarly, if you configure your wireless device over the WAN port, it may be possible for unauthorized users to change network settings. When remote configuration is enabled, the device’s Bonjour information (the device name and IP address) is published over the WAN port. Turning off remote configuration may provide additional security.

To help protect your network and wireless device:

1Open AirPort Utility, select your device, and choose Base Station > Manual Setup, or double-click the device icon to open its configuration in a separate window. Enter the password if necessary.

2Click the Advanced button, and then click Logging & SNMP.

3Make sure the Allow SNMP Access and “Allow SNMP over WAN” checkboxes are not selected.

Using Wi-Fi Protected Access

AirPort Extreme supports WPA and WPA2 security standard for wireless networks. Using Mac OS X v10.3 or later or Windows XP with Service Pack 2, and 802.1X authentication capabilities, WPA security delivers more sophisticated data encryption than WEP, and also provides user authentication, which was virtually unavailable with WEP. If your computer has an AirPort Extreme wireless card installed, you can take advantage of the security updates in WPA2, including AES-CCMP encryption.

AirPort Extreme supports two modes of WPA and WPA2: Enterprise mode, which uses an authentication server for user authentication, and Personal mode, which relies on the capabilities of TKIP for WPA and AES-CCMP for WPA2, without requiring an authentication server.

Enterprise mode is designed for a larger network in which an IT professional is most likely setting up and managing the network. In order to set up a WPA or WPA2 Enterprise network, an 802.1X connection must be set up first in Network preferences on a Mac. To set up an 802.1x connection on a Windows computer, see the documentation that came with your computer. The 802.1X connection requires an authentication protocol, like TTLS, LEAP, or PEAP.

Setting up a WPA or WPA2 Enterprise network requires setting up an authentication server, such as a RADIUS server, to manage and validate network users’ credentials, such as user names, passwords, and user certificates. See the documentation that came with the server to set it up.

Apple AirPort Networks manual Keeping Your Network Secure, Using Wi-Fi Protected Access