I have a wired netgear ADSL router where two desktops are wired from different rooms. I have recently purchased a laptop and a BT voyager 1500 wireless router to act as an access point for my laptop. I have connected this voyager to the netgear.

However, when I set up the internet options on my laptop, I am unable to access the internet when I select wpa encryption, so I have to often select a method which enables me to connect to the internet even though the connection doesnt seem secure to me.

I am also able to view a totally alien router viz. linksys. I presume this belongs to a neighbour. As I am able to view that an alien router is available in the vicinity, can others too view my router and connect to it? Does this mean my browsing is insecure?

I have norton firewall and internet security enabled in the 2 desktops and the laptop. there is no fiile sharing necessary between these 3 computers. all i want is to access from my laptop the same ISP as the 2 desktops.

Since I am connected to the netgear, I am able to only access netgear's gateway page and not the BT voyager's.

Is my laptop connection secure? if not, how can I make it secure? what am i doing wrong?