To connect a laptop, phone, tablet, or other wireless device to a WPS-enabled system, simply enter the short PIN when prompted on the wireless device. The PIN serves as an alternate, low-security password separate from the router’s normal passphrase, which can be letters and numbers and up to 63 characters long. A short (just six to eight digits) PIN is either printed on a sticker somewhere on the router or is displayed in the router’s configuration software. The PIN (Personal Identification Number) method is supported by Wi-Fi CERTIFIED routers.
Instead of a laborious, manual setup, WPS offers four simple methods for connecting wireless devices to WPS-enabled routers. Without a doubt, WPS does make it very easy to add wireless devices to a network. More than 200 products have been Wi-Fi CERTIFIED for Wi-Fi Protected Setup since the program was launched in January 2007.” “Wi-Fi Protected Setup enables typical users who possess little understanding of traditional Wi-Fi configuration and security settings to automatically configure new wireless networks, add new devices, and enable security. According to an article on the Wi-Fi Alliance (a consortium of Wi-Fi vendors) site, Launched in 2007, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is a technology standard that’s intended to make setting up a Wi-Fi network less of a hassle.
Here’s how to protect your network - and even hack your own router to see whether it’s vulnerable. Simple hacker tools can easily sniff out Wi-Fi passwords from routers that have Wi-Fi Protected Setup enabled - quite possibly yours included. TOP STORY Routers using WPS are intrinsically unsafe