Am I adequately protected?

Hello all,

I set up our first wireless notebook net connection today with a Linksys WRT54GS. I'm just wondering if I am protected as best I can be as I'm very security concious. I'm obviosly keen to prevent others (neighbours, etc.) using my broadband and to prevent hackers, etc. from exploiting the connection.

After the network was up an running on the notebook I changed the name of the wireless network to "HJLinksysHJ". I also, in some menu though I cannot remember how, changed the name of wireless option to which I connect to "HJHJ". Therefore, when I pick up the connection it connects to the wireless network "HJHJ" which has the network name "HJLinksysHJ". (I hope this makes sense - as mentioned, this is the first time I've ried this and wasn't 100% sure what I was doing )

I also did something to hide the SSID. When I now check the network connections available I get both "HJHJ" and "<SSID not broadcast>". Does this mean I have two seperate connections, or does it mean that other users not see "HJHJ". Both of the options say "This network has security enabled".

If I select the "<SSID not broadcast>" it appears not to authenticate and bounces me back to highlighting my "HJHJ" connection.

In addition, I setup the router to only allow access from machines with specified MAC addresses. The only one I have entered is that for my notebook. Otherwise, all optiions are on default, and I am running ZoneAlarm free firewall.

Am I adequately protected or is there anything else I should consider? Does the possible two connections I have listed pose any difficulties or security concerns?

Any help much appreciated!

 

Did you set your wireless security? WPA? WEP? That'd add another layer of protection.

And it does sound like the blank network you connected to was somebody else's. You can see your SSID network name because your laptop's been configured for it; to anyone else, it'd be blank too.