Unfortunately, though, I think I’ll leave my network encrypted (with a secret password) because of my new venture after quitting IBM – it’s just safer not to let anyone in instead of trying to enforce security with firewall rules like I used to.

One thing I don’t understand is why WiFi network encryption is related to the network password. I mean – it should have been possible to enable encryption without requiring a password. Or am I missing something?

Thanks!

I do have two warnings though: 1. I’m not at all sure about this. Somebody will have to actually read the WPA specs to make sure it’s true, and I’m certainly not going to do this now. 2. One of the most common security best practices is not to open anything you don’t need, so you did make the right choice in this regard anyway (unless you want to use public-access as a defense for some illegal on-line activities. The “Somebody else did it” excuse seems to work well in some countries).