Securing it should be an easy menu-based setup option for your AP and your wireless card(s). WEP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wired_Equivalent_Privacy) can be brute-force hacked in an avg of 5.5M packets. WPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access) should be entirely secure. Of course you can do it yourself.
A suggestion on picking your WPA-PSK passphrase: Grab the nearest book, turn to a random passage, and use a sentence from it, being sure to write it down somewhere safe. The only real risk with WPA-PSK is if a hacker can guess your passphrase; using a random one is much more secure than using one that might have meaning to you and thus be guessable. (It's just like picking passwords.)
Fear not the hackers. WPA security should be all the magic you need. Though really, important stuff like bank acounts has other layers of security on it. And they will try to clean out your bank account not through hacking your wireless (which requires hanging out near your house for hours/days and probably wouldn't work anyway) but through sending you suspicious faked emails allegedly from your bank ("phishing scams"), which you are clearly too smart to fall for.
You should secure it, if only to protect your bandwidth from other people using it.
What kind of router do you have? Some of the manufacturer's websites have clear information as to how to set it up. WPA is your best bet without getting too fanatical.
Just to be different: you might want to leave it unsecured if you download a lot of stuff. Randoms may steal bandwidth (not that likely), but you will have a good legal save. About a year ago some geeks were being sued for "pirating" mp3s and movies. Meaning downloading, not selling. Their argument was that they had an unsecured wireless, so anyone could have been dl'ing from their account. They won.
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-14 04:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-14 07:46 pm (UTC)Grab the nearest book, turn to a random passage, and use a sentence from it, being sure to write it down somewhere safe. The only real risk with WPA-PSK is if a hacker can guess your passphrase; using a random one is much more secure than using one that might have meaning to you and thus be guessable. (It's just like picking passwords.)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-14 11:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 12:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 02:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 02:45 am (UTC)Is yours secured?
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 06:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-15 11:40 am (UTC)What kind of router do you have? Some of the manufacturer's websites have clear information as to how to set it up. WPA is your best bet without getting too fanatical.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-27 08:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-10-30 11:38 am (UTC)