# Make your Airport BaseStation Invisible



## plume (Sep 18, 2006)

Make Your AirPort Basestation Invisible



The only way to be one hundred percent sure that no one can hack into your network's wireless access point, or basestation, is to pull out the power cord. Since that isn't really practical, there are some other things you can do to keep unwanted people out of your wireless network.

The obvious security measure is to add a password to your Basestation, but you can also make the wireless part of your network invisible to most bad guys. If you are using an Apple AirPort Basestation, here's what you do:

* Launch AirPort Admin Utility. It's in Applications/Utilities/AirPort Admin Utility.
* Select your Basestation.
* Click Configure.
* Click the AirPort tab.
* Check Create a closed network.

AirPort's closed network option hides your basestation from most everyone.
* You'll get a warning that says your network won't appear in any computer's network list. Since that's exactly what we're going for, click OK.

Apple wants to make sure you know your basestation will become invisible.
* Click Update.

Most wireless access points have an option to hide them just like Apple's AirPort Basestation. The instructions that came with your access point should show how to enable this feature.

To connect to a closed AirPort network, do this:

* Choose Other from the AirPort menu icon.

Choose Other from the Airport menu to join hidden networks.
* Enter the name of the network you are joining in the Network Name field.
* Choose the Basestation's password type from the Wireless Security pop-up menu.
* Enter the Basestation's network password in the Password field.
* Click OK.


Enter the name of the hidden network you want to join.

Remember, there is no sure fire way to ensure that no one can ever gain access to your private network without your permission. But the more you do to protect your network, chances that some one will hack in are much lower.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

Nothing is for sure, and this is definitly not the best defence. It isn't hard to detect a hidden network - it only serves to ward off the casual war driver, but not the determined one:
http://www.winplanet.com/article/3122-.htm
http://www.cotsjournalonline.com/home/printthis.php?id=100045

WPA and WPA2 still remain the best security methods, along with MAC filtering (Which can still be spoofed).


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## gridtalker (Mar 23, 2006)

plume said:


> Make Your AirPort Basestation Invisible
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks


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## duosonic (Jan 7, 2004)

Plume - good aritcle, only you should credit it. It was verbatim from The Mac Observer website "Quick Tip" column, written by Jeff Gamet.


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## Garry (Jan 27, 2002)

Thanks for the info!

I've been using airport for my iMac for quite a while, but lately paranoia has kicked in for some reason  

I'll try it tonight


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## Ohenri (Nov 7, 2002)

There are so many networks out and about these days, I don't find that hackers are chasing the closed ones as much. I was @ a business around the Richmond and Spadina area in Toronto recently and *counted somewhere around 20-30 networks! *_Surprisingly_ however I do see that there are _still_ some totally unsecured networks floating aroud - thank goodness! One open network near my house - but mind you very slow one - kept me compos mentis whilst I waited for Rogers ppl to come set me up with my hardware. I'm not that paranoid to not have my network's SSID broadcasted. A passwork and mac filtering usually does it to ward off most lurkers who like to sniff around, what I would equate to like say, an eBarbedwire Fence.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

> I was @ a business around the Richmond and Spadina area in Toronto recently and *counted somewhere around 20-30 networks! *_Surprisingly_ however I do see that there are _still_ some totally unsecured networks floating aroud


I am always surprised when I encounter a friend's wireless network that has been left totally unsecured after being set up by some supposed IT professional friend of theirs. A couple of stories come to mind:

Late last year, I'm tutoring a friend of mine in iTunes on her Mac Mini (one of my Windows switchers). One of her tenants -- a technician with the CBC -- had set up a wireless router so her cable modem could be accessed by himself and her other tenant, _a guy who works in IT for the CIBC._ Well, lo and behold all of a sudden some person's shared iTunes library pops up in iTune's source list! I COULD NOT believe that access to her wireless broadband had been left unsecured by these guys!!  So, I locked it down.

Then -- just this weekend -- I'm at the family home of one of my son's bandmates. This kid's dad works in Toronto's financial district and they live in a rather lovely home in a very lovely neighbourhood in Oakville. I'm there dumping some concert video footage into my MBP and happened to boot Entourage to get some information. Some time later, I was surprised to notice that Entourage was downloading my email as per its automatic schedule! I had connected to THEIR network! Now, aside from the surprise that my Airport card connected without the "None of your trusted connections are available. Would you like to connect via blah-blah's network?" dialogue, but the bigger surprises were that #1 the husband seemed unphased by this as he said that their actual computer accounts were locked down, _but #2 the bigger suprise was that -- again -- their router was set up by his work's "IT professional"!_

_WTF?!_ 

Am I missing something, or being overly paranoid in thinking that this is VERY WRONG? I told them about wardriving, and it seems to me that this is a dangerous thing to leave open.


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