is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
eeegeek
Enthusiast - Level 1

I have REV I of actiontec router that is connected to WAN through ethernet cable. I am just using factory supplied SSID and WPA2 key - are these unique to each router or the same for all the routers? I haven't see any un-authorized access so far.

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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

These keys are unique, yes. You can change the key if you wish, though. There are plenty of online sites that can make a random key for you, or you can make up a passphrase that is both easy for you to remember, but hard to crack or guess. As long as you only use WPA2-AES encryption and avoid the use of WPS you should have very little to worry about.

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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
anonFios
Contributor - Level 2
I don't know. Post it here and we'll let you know.

(kidding)
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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

These keys are unique, yes. You can change the key if you wish, though. There are plenty of online sites that can make a random key for you, or you can make up a passphrase that is both easy for you to remember, but hard to crack or guess. As long as you only use WPA2-AES encryption and avoid the use of WPS you should have very little to worry about.

Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
Anti-Phish1
Master - Level 1

@Smith6612 wrote:

and avoid the use of WPS you should have very little to worry about. 


Think you meant to say "Avoid the use of WEP".  Wifi Protected Setup (WPS) is supported on the Actiontec.

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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
VUser50
Contributor - Level 2

I think they are, but since you never know, why not change it?

I might actually be slightly more concerned about the SSID. They tend to be unique but in a standard 4 letter format and suggest that the user hasn't done a ton/ have the know how to protect themselves. Since I'm pretty sure the password is unique, this is no where near as bad as user who used to kept their Linksys at default settings, but nonetheless I think it makes you ever so slightly more of a target. 

As said above, making sure you use WPA2- AES and avoid WPS (which I don't think works anyway) is the major issue. 

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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
anonFios
Contributor - Level 2
No, he/she most likely meant WPS. There are security flaws with WPS.

"A major security flaw was revealed in December 2011 that affects wireless routers with the WPS feature, which most recent models have enabled by default. The flaw allows a remote attacker to recover the WPS PIN in a few hours with a brute-force attack and, with the WPS PIN, the network's WPA/WPA2 pre-shared key. Users have been urged to turn off the WPS feature, although this may not be possible on some router models."
Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
eeegeek
Enthusiast - Level 1

WPS is facotory disabled on my router.

I only see WEP and WPA2 and WPA2 is enabled.

What is WPA2-AES?

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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
VUser50
Contributor - Level 2

@eeegeek wrote:

WPS is facotory disabled on my router.

I only see WEP and WPA2 and WPA2 is enabled.

What is WPA2-AES?


Should be somewhere somewhere in advanced WiFi settings. It is a subset of WPA2 that is more secure than its alternatives (TKIP or TKIP +AES) . It maybe where you can change the password. 

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Re: is the factory supplied WPA2 key unique
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

WPA2 technically is always CCMP (AES).  For backward compatibility (AND NOT RECOMMENDED)many routers allow you to set it to allow WPA-aes and worse WPA-tkip as well.

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