You can hardly find a place in a town or even a village which is not covered with a wireless signal. The wireless internet is available everywhere and because of this the number of hacking attempts and illegal activities began to increase. There are many tools which can help anyone steal your wireless password and use your internet connection and even access your private data. In order to avoid this here are some steps you can take and make your wireless router and network much more secure.
1. Choose the right wireless encryption
Selecting WEP encryption is not so good because this type of protection can be easily cracked and your network exposed to risks. Therefore, we highly recommend you to change it to WPA2 encryption. If you are using an older router, maybe you won’t have an option to choose between these two so you can either try to upgrade it or buy a new one. Take a closer look at your user’s manual to see how to properly change your WP encryption to WPA2.
2. Change your network name (SSID)
The network name or otherwise known as SSID has to be changed. By default the network name is the same as the router manufacturing company, so keeping the name like Linksys or TP-Link can help hackers identify the router type and make it easier for them to hack your network.
3. Check whether your router firewall is active
Most wireless routers today come with a built-in firewall. Turning on your router firewall will make your wireless network more secure and less visible to unwanted persons. The function of the firewall is to prevent unauthorized access from various sources.
4. Consider using a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Although having a VPN earlier was too expensive and not many people could afford it, the situation is quite different today. VPN services are available for everyone today and they are quite affordable. If you want to use VPN to secure your network hackers will find it hard to determine your network location. Please check whether your router supports VPN services since it is a proven way to protect yourself from hackers.
5. Admin via wireless. A big NO-NO
In simple terms, this feature allows anyone to connect to your network wirelessly and act like an admin in your network and change your network settings. In order to avoid this, it is recommended to turn this feature off. With this option disabled, you can only access the admin page if you connect the router and the PC with an Ethernet cable. This is a simple way to make it impossible for hackers to access your router settings and ruin all your hard work.
As you can see, you can actually do something to keep your network save and secured from hackers and others who want to use your bandwidth or access your network. If you are new to wireless networks then you can easily perform all these tasks. It will definitely make you worry less and save the time and money you have invested in creating your personal wireless network. Manu new users ignore this and keep their router to default settings. These can be easily fond online and then you are in trouble. So, always make sure to have a top-notch secured wireless network.
However, even if you have completed all the steps we have to mention that the number of hackers and hacking methods is increasing day by day and therefore no network is completely secured. However, many of them don’t even know about the advanced hacking methods and applying just a few of the steps presented here will keep a huge number of them away from your network.
Guest article written by: Hi, I am Masha Winget, a technology writer & blogger by profession. I love to write articles for many online communities, blogs, & websites related to computer tips & new technologies.