Is a MAC address filter the ultimate wifi protection?

Question

is it better than WPA ?
is WEP+MAC filter better than WPA?

Answer 1

Your question is somewhat opinionated. I wouldn't consider it the "ultimate" wifi protection, but I believe that given enough time pretty much anything can be reverse engineered. And MAC addresses can be spoofed.



Just because someone is "blocked" from getting on the network doesn't mean that they can't analyze the packets being broadcasted.



WEP has already been cracked, and so has WPA. However, WEP is known as the (very) weaker standard.



If I had such sensitive information that I couldn't trust MAC filtering and WPA(2) encryption, I'd just use a standard hard line; with software and hardware filters, firewalls, and other secuirty software.

Answer 2

If you limit the router to only allow certain mac addresses then it can be. But usually the limitations are only for internet use and network access and such. Someone can still log into the router if they can get the password and change those settings so make sure you use a good password to log into the router. It does not protect wifi though. The signal can still be intercepted and someone can get your info. WPA, WEP, and other encryption standards are still needed to encode the data sent to and from your desktop/laptop to the router. mac filtering is usually better for wired connections, but can still assist in security.

Answer 3

No single method is best.



Use WPA/AES, MAC-address filtering and disable SSID broadcast after changing the SSID to something that won't identify you or the type of router. Enable logging (if your router logs) and review the log every day.)



WEP, BTW, can be broken in about 60 seconds, and MAC addresses can be cloned. AES cab be broken, but not by script-kiddies, and not cheaply. Unless your computer holds the combination to the vault in Fort Knox, no one is going to bother.

Answer 4

No. MAC filtering is not an effective security feature on a wireless network, WPA2 TKIP is the most effective.