Up to about 4 months ago the green light only came on when I was on the net and turned to red when I logged off. Now the green shows all the time whether I am on the net or not; is somebody breaking into my setup and can they access my PC? The only way I can solve this at the moment is to disconnect the router when I am not using the net.
Has anybody any answers for me please? Do routers come with a password already set into it or do you have to insert one? Everything was working ok for years but now it's messing me about.

ChickF, December 2013

"The Wi-Fi Protected set-up (WPS) is disabled, should I enable it?"

ABSOLUTELY !


"The Block ICMP Ping is ticked and I keep getting a 'intranet settings are turned off' message, should this be turned on? What are the intranet settings?"

"Block ICMP ping" should stay ticked. It effectively enable the "stealth" mode. It makes your computer invisible from the internet: Only the sites with whitch you are conducting a transaction can be aware that your computer is even connected to the internet.

Intranet, or LAN, settings are a set of rules governing how various devices can connect, what kind of application can communicate, and how... This is not crutial, but it's often preferable to enable and set it.
Once enabled, go through every screen, check every option.
If unsure about an item, check your documentation/help or ask here if it's not clear enough.


"I have a Belkin.72C6 router with a WPA/WPA2 security type and was always under the impression that this was a good security set-up. Could it be that the router has developed a fault in the warning light connections?"

Having WPA/WPA2 is not enough, it must be enabled.

WPA2 is the level you should use. Properly used, it's the best level that you can use. But, if there is no wi-fi password, or a very weak one, your network becomes open to anyone.
WPA is OK but dated.
WEP should NEVER be used. It's obsolete with only a 2 seconds crack time, or less.

The green light is not a warning but an activity indicator. It actualy flicker, but the flickering can be to fast to notice and appears solid.
It's unlikely that it have devloped a fault. The most probable cause is that someone else is "sharing" your connection over an open network. The network been open due to WPA2 not been enabled or is enabled but without a strong password.

Electro, January 2014

Hi Electro,
This is slowly driving me up the wall now. Have been through most of the details on the home page and its info sheets to find that the Wi-Fi Protected set-up (WPS) is disabled, should I enable it? The Block ICMP Ping is ticked and I keep getting a 'intranet settings are turned off' message, should this be turned on? What are the intranet settings?
I have a Belkin.72C6 router with a WPA/WPA2 security type and was always under the impression that this was a good security set-up. Could it be that the router has developed a fault in the warning light connections?

ChickF, December 2013

You must have the correct MAIN password. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to get in the config page and attempt to change the password.

It's probably the wi-fi password that you attempted to change.
The message "Incorrect password" mean that the default password have been changed, or that there is actualy NO password set.
Often, there is NO default wi-fi password set. At least, on my wi-fi capable router, there was no default wi-fi password.
Try using an empty password as the current password.

If using an empty password works, your wi-fi network is whide open and anybody in range can freely connect.

Electro, December 2013

Hi Electro,
Thanks for your reply. I got into the config page, put in the password I received with the router and changed it, and was told it was the incorrect password. What am I doing wrong? Tried it a couple of times, in case I typed it in wrong, but got the same instruction; incorrect password.
I'm beginning to give up now.

ChickF, December 2013

Someone connecting to your local network: Very likely.
Someone breaking into your computer: Prety unlikely.

Your local network is probably NOT secure, making it open to anyone.

The only content on your computer that can be accessed is that contained in any explicitely shared folder. An explicitely shared folder is one that YOU have set as a shared folder, like my music to be able to play some music from another device on your network.

All routers come with a factory set default password. That default password MUST be changed at the first oportunity!

Enter your router's configuration page. You can try connecting to http://192.168.0.1/ (a very common local router address) or the address provided by the user documentation.
That documentation also contain the default password that you'll need to use.
If you used the provided setup application/wizard, you probably had been invited to enter a new network name and main password.

EXTREMELY important!
CHANGE the main password from the default one.
It's also an idea to change the local network name.

If the person connecting is just connecting and not hostile, he probably did not bother changing the main password.

If you don't need wireless and use only cabled connection, you should disable wireless (wi-fi).

If you use wireless:
Set a good passphrase. At least two "words" using lower and uper case letters, numbers and any available special characters.

You can go to https://passfault.appspot.com/password_strength.html#menu to test your passwords or passphrases. You need a "Time to crack" longer than a century using those options:
$180000 password attacker and Microsoft Windows system.

Enable the strongest encryption and autentification possible.

Without that, anybody in the area can connect wirelessly to your network.

If you have any device that don't support strong autentification and encryption, those must be restricted to cabled connection ONLY. Otherwise, they prevent the use of strong autentification and encryption for ALL devices.

NEVER EVER use beacon suppressing!
It forces your computer to anounce itself, including the network name, it's identity and PASSWORD in clear.
The call looks like (very similar to an e-mail address)
"computer_name.password AT network_name".
The call is sent every 20 seconds.
It alow someone to masquarade itself as your computer when you are not connected. It also allow anyone to imitate your network and trick your computer to connect to that fake network.

Electro, December 2013