Quick Router Q

On my wireless LinkSys router, it has 4 keys for wireless access when you make use of a protection method (WEP in my case).

Now, is there a point for there being 4? In other words, if I wanted to connect multiple devices, would each one be assigned its own key (meaning 4 devices connected wirelessly max), or are the keys basically just for setting independent access rules or something?

It's just something I've been wondering for awhile and never really bothered testing since I never used more than one wireless device at a time, but that's changed now since I got my MacBook, and just wanted to make sure.

Forget about WEP, it's the weakest of the security schemes you can use. Go with WPA (Personal?) instead. Easier to set-up too.

I use my DS online often, and it's an unfortunate fact that the bloody thing only supports WEP encryption.

Besides, I got SSID broadcasting turned off, and I MAC filter everything so only devices I explicitly setup can even access the thing.........unless someone wants to go about brute-forcing all 3 security means together, as to which I'll wish them luck then.

Most likely, the 4 keys are there so that you can rotate them. With WEP being so weak, it's not really worth the effort. Plus, something dumb (from a networking standpoint) like a DS probably wouldn't handle key rotation gracefully anyway.

Shutting off SSID broadcasting causes more trouble than it is worth. All it does is turn off the beacon/broadcast packets, but it is still broadcasted with normal traffic. Personally, I would allow the broadcast to take place.

MAC filtering is trivial to bypass. All a person has to do is watch a few packets, look for a valid MAC, and spoof it. Since you're probably not adding and removing devices frequently, administrative overhead isn't a concern so you might as well turn it on, since it doesn't hurt anything.

With all that said, if I were forced to use WEP, I'd put a firewall between the access point and the rest of my network, blocking traffic to my other PCs. That way, the DS would still have an internet connection, as would anyone who decided to crack your WEP key, but at least they couldn't get on your PC.

Already behind two firewalls here, the one of my PC, and the one the college network has here, so I don't really have much worry about people hacking in, and even then, there's nothing worthwhile on this PC to mess about, especially when I can handle any virus/worms/trojans with ease.
(or reverse any changes)

Speakin' of protection methods, it's scary how many people in this residence I'm living in have unprotected networks, I had fun during my first week placing little .txt files on people's PCs stating that they're wide-open to access; fun times.

Anyhow, thanks for clarifying the key situation, just didn't want any of my devices disconnecting each other because I assigned them the same key and all.


Regarding the SSID broadcasting, I've had no trouble with it being off here, was still able to setup all my devices easily without it.

Anyhow, off to have fun getting my MacBook to communicate with my PC here, never setup a cross-platform network before, this ought to be interesting.