Many people have home wireless systems setup to browse the web, watch movies, listen to music, and do all sorts of things wirelessly. The problem is that most people don’t know the first thing about making their home network secure. Fortunately, securing your home network can be done very easily if you just follow the following few tips.
Change Default Passwords
Routers and modems generally have web access that allows users to modify settings and manage the equipment. This is great unless someone you don’t want to access the admin panel gets access. The default passwords are easily guessed by other people so it is always a good idea to change the default logins.
Turn on Encryption
Encryption is a vital part of any wireless network. Encryption scrambles the signal that is transmitted between your computer and the wireless access point. This is good because it makes sure that other people aren’t able to “listen in” on your internet activity. A similar example is using websites that utilize TLS or SSL secure encryption.
Change the Default Network Name
Routers and wireless access points usually come from the factory pre configured with a default network name, or SSID. An example of this is the network name “linksys” which is what Linksys uses for all of their products. You can tell if your wireless router is a Linksys by looking at the barcode. If someone doesn’t know what your SSID is, they can’t access your network. Change your default SSID and disable the broadcasting of your SSID and your network will be as good as hidden.
Enable Firewalls
Firewalls can prevent unauthorized access to your computer and your wireless access point. It is important to make sure they are enabled.
Image source: ww2.cox.com
