Securing Your Home Wireless Router – Considerations for a Secure Network

Browsing the Internet is always risky. No matter whether you do it for work or just for fun. Every phone or computer stores plenty of personal information. Using Wi-Fi is the most popular way to browse content nowadays. All corporations and businesses use it for work, their employees process and transmit tons of data daily using wireless networks.

However, when being at home, we also tend to use Wi-Fi connections. Your home router transmits a bunch of information to different servers. In most cases, this data is vulnerable and can be easily accessed by intruders. You need to take care of your wireless router security if you want to keep enjoying safe Internet use. Below, you will learn how exactly you can do it effectively.

1.   Use a VPN for router

A good VPN provider is what you need when it comes to security. Yes, you may not simply use this tool in your browser or phone but install a VPN on your home router to secure every device and all members of your family. A VPN for router will allow you to set up the necessary settings just once. After that, each time your home router is on, the VPN is also on and protecting your network.

Thanks to this software, you do not need to enable a VPN each time when opening your browser. It will allow you to use any device absolutely securely. A VPN changes your IP address and protects any of your data from third parties’ access. Keep your security in mind when using Wi-Fi connections, no matter for what purposes you are doing it. Moreover, it will allow you to unblock the content not available in your location.

2.   Connect to a guest network

Some routers have a feature of guest network and if yours has it, do not neglect it. This is one of the network security essentials you should use. It means that you can grant your guests access to Wi-Fi without accessing the rest of your network such as your folders on PC or laptop, Sonos, printer, etc.

No worries, it doesn’t mean your friends or family want to harm your computer and steal your data. However, when they use your network, they can access the files you want to keep anonymous or by accident, change the home network security settings that will grant access to your data to someone else.

Moreover, intruders who want to get access to your network and ruin your home wifi security will not be able to do it when using your router in guest mode. Their path to your router or other folders is closed. Ideally, your router must be able to hide the SSID of your main network. Your visitors won’t see your Wi-Fi network and just won’t be able to connect to it. However, you will be able to connect their devices to that network.

3.   Create a complicated password

Go to router settings and change your password if you believe it is too simple. A lot of intruders can hack quite weak passwords easily. If yours contains something like your birth date or a part of your name, surname, etc., changing it will be a good idea.

A strong password should contain a complicated combination of letters, numbers, and symbols. A Wi-Fi password should be 12-20 characters long. Do not create such passwords as 777777 or mmm8888, etc. They are very easy to hack. Use a complicated combination of different symbols.

4.   Disable Remote Access, UPnP, and WPS

Many routers grant remote access from outside. You’d better turn these features off if you want to boost your home’s wifi security. You may need such access on the admin level for work. However, if this is not your case, better disable those features. Moreover, these options are not necessary for the smooth operation of remote apps.

Universal Plug and Play is another feature to turn off. It is created from the seamless work of game consoles and smart TVs since they need constant access to Wi-Fi. UPnP can be easily used by malware software. If you want to be safe, these features should not be on all the time. Enable them only when you really need them.

WPS or Wi-Fi Protected Setup should also be disabled. Although it has good purposes of connecting new devices with just a button push or pin code, it will allow unauthorized devices to harm your home network security. Pin codes are much easier to be hacked than complicated passwords, so you’d better turn this feature off unless you need it specifically.

5.   Change the name of your network

Router producers have very typical names for their networks and they create quite similar passwords. It would be good for you to change the name of your network after installing the router. Intruders can easily guess the password by the network’s name and thus, access your home network. SSID often contains the name of the network and it makes it really vulnerable.

The above-mentioned options will allow you to take care of the security of your home Wi-Fi and protect your private network from being hacked by intruders. Keep in mind that you should use all of the methods in combination. It will boost their efficiency in this digital era of malware and hacks.