Microsoft Windows gives you a notification whenever your wireless network has a weak signal. This is a sign that you should improve your wireless network. When you get this notification, it means that the wireless connection is not as reliable or high-speed as it's supposed to be. In fact, the wireless connection signal may be completely lost in certain areas of the house. If you would like to improve your wireless network signal, you should carry out a few of these tips. These tips will extend the wireless range. They will also improve the overall performance as well as reliability of the wireless network. 

Re-position the wireless router (or wireless access point) to the centre of the house.

Place the router away from walls.

Place the router off the floor.  

Place the router away from metal objects.

Instead of using a standard antenna which you get with the router, use a hi-gain one. If the standard router is placed by an outer wall, part of the wireless signals will be directed outside the house. This will also waste the power of the router. Hi-gain antennas send the wireless signals in a single specific direction which you are able to aim on the path where you need them a large amount.

Replace your laptop or computer's wireless network adapter with a USB network adaptor. It uses an external antenna that improves the range of the signals. (Laptops which have built-in wireless normally contain outstanding antennas. They do not usually require to be upgraded.)
Add a wireless repeater to extend the signal range.

Change the wireless router's channel to increase the strength of its signal. You can do that through the configuration page of the router. The computer will detect the new channel itself.

Reduce wireless interference by avoiding wireless electronics which use the 2.4GHz frequency. You should use cordless phones which use the 900MHz or 5.8GHz frequencies.
Update your firmware updates for your router through the manufacturer's website. Update your network adapter driver through the Windows Update feature of Windows 7 and Vista or visit the website www.update.microsoft.com for Windows XP.
Upgrade 802.11b devices to 802.11g or buy a new 802.11 g equipment.  It is five times faster than an 802.11b device.

The reason we secure a wireless network is to stop people from using the services of our network who don't have permission to utilize them. It is harder to secure a wireless network from hackers as compared to a classic wired network. This is due to the fact that a wireless network can be accessed anywhere inside the range of its antenna.

In order to secure a wireless network from hackers, we should take proper steps to save ourselves against security issues. If you don't secure a wireless network from hackers, you might end up without its service. The consequence might also include the utilization of our network to attack further networks. To secure a wireless network from hackers, you should follow these simple wireless networking tips:

1.       Strategic antenna placement:

     The first thing you have to do is to position the access point's antenna in a place which restricts the range of its signal to go further than the required area. You should not put the antenna close to a window because glass can't obstruct its signals. Place it in a central location of the building. 

2.       Use WEP:

WEP stands for Wireless encryption protocol.  It's a customary technique for encrypting traffic on a wireless network. You should never skip it as that will allow hackers to get instant access to the traffic over a wireless network.

3.       Change the SSID, disable the broadcast of SSID:

SSID stands for service set identifier.  It is the recognition thread utilized by the wireless access point due to which the customers are capable of starting connections. For every wireless access point arranged, select an exclusive as well as unique SSID. Also, if it's attainable, hold back the broadcast of the SSID out over the antenna. It won\t appear in the listing of offered networks, while being able to provide services as usual.

4.       Disable DHCP:

By doing this, the hackers will have to decode the TCP/IP parameters, subnet mask as well as the IP address in order to hack your wireless network.

5.       Disable or modify SNMP settings:

Change the private as well as public community settings of SNMP. You can also just disable it. Otherwise the hackers will be able to utilize SNMP to get significant info regarding your wireless network.

6.       Utilize access lists:

For additional security of your wireless network, and if your access point support this feature, employ an access list. An access list lets us determine precisely which machinery is permitted to attach to an access point. The access points which include the access list can employ trivial file transfer protocol (TFTP) now and then in order to download modernized lists to steer clear of hackers.

 

 

Network Hacking is generally means gathering information about domain by using tools like Telnet, NslookUp, Ping, Tracert, Netstat, etc.
It also includes OS Fingerprinting, Port Scaning and Port Surfing using various tools.

Ping :- Ping is part of ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) which is used to troubleshoot TCP/IP networks. So, Ping is basically a command that allows you to check whether the host is alive or not.
To ping a particular host the syntax is (at command prompt)--

c:/>ping hostname.com

example:- c:/>ping www.google.com

Various attributes used with 'Ping' command and their usage can be viewed by just typing c:/>ping at the command prompt.


Netstat :- It displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP network connections. i.e. local address, remote address, port number, etc.
It's syntax is (at command prompt)--

c:/>netstat -n

Telnet :- Telnet is a program which runs on TCP/IP. Using it we can connect to the remote computer on particular port. When connected it grabs the daemon running on that port.
The basic syntax of Telnet is (at command prompt)--

c:/>telnet hostname.com

By default telnet connects to port 23 of remote computer.
So, the complete syntax is-

c:/>telnet www.hostname.com port

example:- c:/>telnet www.yahoo.com 21 or c:/>telnet 192.168.0.5 21


Tracert :- It is used to trace out the route taken by the certain information i.e. data packets from source to destination.
It's syntax is (at command prompt)--

c:/>tracert www.hostname.com

example:- c:/>tracert www.insecure.in

Here "*    *    *    Request timed out." indicates that firewall installed on that system block the request and hence we can't obtain it's IP address.

various attributes used with tracert command and their usage can be viewed by just typing c:/>tracert at the command prompt.

The information obtained by using tracert command can be further used to find out exact operating system running on target system.