Laptop and wireless network help please

[midgetwaiter]

The way the MAC filter works is by only accepting traffic from MACs on the allowed list, others would be ignored. It's easy to bypass because MACs can't be encrypted so all somebody has to do is listen in to the traffic for a while and pick an allowed MAC to assign to their device. So it's more of a hurdle than a fence if you get my meaning.

WEP and WPA can both be broken quickly once somebody has listened in long enough to get a sample of your traffic. That can take a while depending on how much the wireless link is used. WPA2 is secure for now but somebody will get it eventually.

Ultimately I don't think it matters much for the home user. Your biggest problem is the potential for somebody to use your access point without your permission. The idea of anyone spending the time it takes to breach your network is kind of absurd. What do you really have that makes it worth while?

WEP is probably good enough.