Wireless LAN Security Questions

[Hokie]

I am running a wireless LAN at home and I am using WEP, 40 bit key and shared authentication. I have some questions:

1. What is the difference between "Open" and "Shared" WEP?
2. Which one is more secure? (This says that Open is actually more secure (Down the page a bit) but almost every other site I read says the opposite.
3. Does using a 128 bit WEP slow down the network? I read somewhere that it does.

If you are not running some sort of security on a wireless network you are asking for it. My neighbor has a Linksys router running open and is using the default network name and admin password. I could log in as an admin and really hose his network.

[Florida_Geek]

1. IN This Geeks Humble Opinion

Any WEP you use is GREAT.

IMHO the nature of WiFi is it short range, so unless you have a NSA hacker living next door even 40bit is good enough.

Also it you are doing anything the Feds would be "interested" in, then you are crazy in the first place to use WiFi.

:)

[ixion]

2. I agree

I use WEP and would recommend it over an open config.

I don't seen any speed loss using a 128bit key. :-)

[Hokie]

3. I should clarify OPEN

My question is what does Open WEP do? I do not mean completely open with no WEP. I think it still encrypts the packets using the WEP key so no one could connect to your LAN/WAN without the key.