Macworld.com has an important article (by Glenn Fleishman) for all home network users, especially wireless network users.
Password Protect with WPA
The first thing to do is password protect a wireless network, using WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) security. This is standard on 802.1g and n devices, but older 802.1b devices are more difficult to upgrade to WPA. They are slow to begin with, and will be even slower using WPA. It’s a great time to upgrade to 802.11n, for better security and fast wireless connection.
WPA2 is the latest standard, and most newer hardware can use it. It uses stronger encryption than WPA Personal.
If you have an Airport Extreme from 2003 or newer you can use WPA2Personal. Even so, WPA Personal is sufficient for most home networks.
Network Address Translation
Implementing NAT is a great way to keep outsiders out of your network. NAS provides private IP addresses for devices on your network. These are protected from connection outside the local network… the router opens a relay when you access the Internet, but your machine(s) cannot be connected from outside the LAN.
For more info, read the article… Glen does a great job of describing a fairly complex subject.
Remote Access
OK, you’ve locked your network down, but then you need to have your tech (someone like me) to be able to remote in to your machine, or you need to access files from your hotel on Maui… How do you do that?
Glenn explains several methods for accessing files, by turning on File Sharing in System Preferences (Sharing pane) and choosing folders and volumes you want to be accessible, and setting up users and privileges in the Shared Folders and Users list.
An alternative is to put the files on a NAS drive (network attached storage) and using SFTP (secure FTP) to connect. This involves setting up a router port to access the drive, and giving it a fixed IP address.
Time Capsules or Airport Extreme Base Stations (from 2007 on) can do this without having to do the port mapping. Read the article or the instructions for step-by-step instructions.
You can use an iDisk to access files as well, and DropBox. iDisk provides up to 20GB of storage and requires a MobileMe account ($99/year), DropBox allows 2GB storage free, 50GB for $99/year.
Glenn does NOT address the issue of a tech being able to remote in to your machine for troubleshooting or maintenance. The easiest way to do this is to use LogMeIn. Get a free account, inputting a username and password, and provide that info to your tech. It’s easy as that.
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