I get several e-zines about PCs, but I’d become very lax about reading most, as most of the news was irrelevant to my old system, running Win 98 with a dial-up; my inbox just piles ‘em up unread. I have kept up with TNPC, however, probably because most are brief and to the point, and many are of general application (I’ve been a TNPC subscriber since back in the days of “Truth by the Naked, Gleaming Truckload,” and that it’s always been). Well, this one was right on point for this Internet ingenue. I hope I never have occasion to find out just how good a tip it was.

Thanks, Dan.

Thanks for your suggestion on securing my home wireless router; it’s something I had avoided for a long time, and your article scared me into doing something about it.

I’m sure you’re very busy, but if you have a minute, I have a couple of questions about this.

1)Your article talks about a “Router/Firewall”, and I’m not really sure what the distinction is. I have a wireless router (Linksys BEFW1154); is that the same thing as having a firewall, or is there a specific piece of hardware I need? I also noticed that Windows XP has what looks like a software firewall in the Control Panel, but I’m using the default settings. Do you know if this is an effective firewall? Can you point me to some websites or documents for checking my settings?

2) In addition to changing the default password, I activated the WEP protocol, with 128 bit encryption (my router apparently does not have the more recent protocols, which I understand are more effective). But the WEP is making it difficult for my Mac to access the internet (I have to enter a 31 character password each time I connect to my home wireless), and impossible (so far) for my PCs to access it. In your opinion, is WEP worth the hassle? If so, do you know of any good sources of info on setting up my computers so they can access the internet more easily with this protocol in place?

Thanks for any light you can shed on these questions, and thanks again for a great newsletter!