One of my relatives have internet at home and she has a single desktop computer. Sometimes when family members visit her it would be convenient if their laptop could be attached to the internet and used from anywhere in the house easily. I'm planning to install a wifi router, plug the desktop computer into one of the ports and configure secure wifi access (WPA2) for the visitors.
But I wonder if it's a good idea to have wifi turned on all the time for the occasional visitors if she uses only her own desktop computer most of the time. Is it possible someone can crack this open access point regardless of the security settings? Or it's not probable so I shouldn't worry about it?
It would certainly be convenient to have a permanent wifi access, so visitors can easily connect to the home network. I'm just wondering if keeping the access point constantly open is a wise idea. What do you think? Can it be a problem or is it perfectly all right if wifi access is configured with proper security and encryption?
Best Answer
If protected by WPA2 with a strong password (e.g. not "password" or "house" but "P45Sw0rd" and "h0U53") there's no reason why you shouldn't leave it on but the power use. Ask yourself this: Who on earth would be interested in going through all the effort of cracking your WiFi network key? Are you in a government's top secret department?
If you also protect the router's configuration panel with a password, it's all pretty secure...
Read this part, and the rest of my blog post about WiFi security here: http://blog.superuser.com/2011/03/28/iron-cladding-your-wi-fi-network/
Happy reading!