Network security with MAC address filtering

Pt. 6 of 10 | 2:55 |

Understanding your Home Network Router

Monday July 20, 2009

Every network adapter and network interface card comes with a unique identifier. This identifier is called the

MAC address

and "MAC" stands for

media access control

. By telling your router which device MAC addresses can connect to your network, you add another layer of

powerful security to your wireless home network

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Show Notes

- The MAC address is a unique identifier found on network cards and adapters.

- In your router setup look for MAC addresses under Wireless Security.

- In most routers MAC address filtering is off by default.

- Click on Enable and you get a couple of options.

- One option is to

block the MAC addresses of specific computers

.

- The problem with this option is that you have to know and/or find out the MAC address you want to block.

- The other option is to

allow only specific MAC addresses

.

- Select this option and click Edit MAC Address Filter List.

- You should find a button or tab that gives you a list of MAC addresses for machines connected to your network.

- Click on this to see the list.

- Enable any computers that you want to have access your network.

- With

MAC address filtering

in place only the device with those specific MAC addresses will be able to gain access.

- It won't matter if the user knows the SSID or Shared Key, if their MAC address is not on the allowed list they can't gain access.

- Save your settings.

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