Security settings on wifi

Содержание

How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network
Using General Practices
Accessing Your Router’s Page
Changing the Password
Turning Off Wi-Fi Protected Setup
Enabling WPA2 Encryption
Enabling Your Router’s Firewall
Community Q&A
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How to Secure Your Wireless Home Network

This article was written by Stan Kats and by wikiHow staff writer, Jack Lloyd. Stan Kats is the COO and Chief Technologist for The STG IT Consulting Group in West Hollywood, California. Stan provides comprehensive technology & cybersecurity solutions to businesses through managed IT services, and for individuals through his consumer service business, Stan’s Tech Garage. Stan has over 7 years of cybersecurity experience, holding senior positions in information security at General Motors, AIG, and Aramark over his career. Stan received a BA in International Relations from The University of Southern California.

The wikiHow Tech Team also followed the article’s instructions and verified that they work.

This article has been viewed 1,170,988 times.

This wikiHow teaches you how to prevent unauthorized access to your wireless home network by securing your router. You can do this by editing your network’s settings from the router’s page. Keep in mind that router pages are often unique to the specific brand (and even model) of router that you use, meaning that you’ll most likely have to poke around your router’s page to find the settings that you need to change.

Using General Practices

Refrain from giving out the network password. As paranoid as it may make you seem, refusing to give out your network’s password lowers the chances of people who you don’t trust finding out your network’s password. Instead of giving out the password, offer to sign in friends and family when they visit rather than allowing them to sign into the Wi-Fi themselves.

Your home’s size and layout may make this impossible; if so, just try to keep your router well-away from windows and external doorways.

Even if you’re going to be gone for a standard 8- or 9-hour work day, disconnecting your router will prevent any chances of your network being compromised while you’re gone.

For example, using the router’s manufacturer and its number (e.g., «Belkin-3030») as the name will make the network stand out less than if its name is «Bill Wi the Science Fi» or something similar.

Use a VPN. Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, direct your network traffic through one or more abnormal servers, hiding your network’s activity in the process. VPNs don’t necessarily secure your network so much as they hide it, but that’s usually enough to prevent attacks as well as reduce the likelihood of future attacks. [5] X Research source

Replace your router when it becomes obsolete. As with any technology, routers lose their value after a few years, especially in the security department. Since online threats are constantly updating and evolving, a brand-new router will be much better equipped for security than will a three- or four-year-old one.

Accessing Your Router’s Page

Open a browser. In order to go to your router’s page, you’ll have to enter your router’s numbered address into a browser’s URL bar.

Click the address bar. It’s at the top of the browser window. This will highlight the current site’s address.

Type in your router’s address. This is the numbered address (e.g., 192.168.1.1 ) that you found in your computer’s settings.

It may take your computer a few seconds to connect to the router’s page, especially if this is your first time doing so.

If your router’s page doesn’t have a login requirement, you’ll want to add one. Most routers will allow you to add a login password from the Settings section of the page.

Changing the Password

If you can’t find a «Settings» option, look for a gear-shaped icon or a triangle-shaped icon in one of the corners of the page. Clicking such an icon will usually prompt a drop-down menu with options such as Settings.
You may first have to click a Wireless tab or section.

Click the Settings option. Doing so will take you to your router’s Settings page, which is where you’ll make all of the changes needed to secure your wireless home network.

Look for your network’s name and password. You’ll usually find them on the main Settings page, but if your router’s Settings page has different categories listed by tabs, you may have to click on the Security or Password tab first.

You don’t have to change the network name if you’re using the default network name with which the router was programmed.

Your password should include both upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols. Avoid using any personal information (e.g., a pet’s name) for the password.
You may first have to enter the current password.
Changing your password prevents people from accessing your network with the router’s default password.

You may have to scroll down to see this option.
If your router signs your computer out of your network at this point, connect to your network with the new password before proceeding.

Turning Off Wi-Fi Protected Setup

WPS is a huge security risk simply because literally anyone (e.g., friends, family, contractors, home intruders, etc.) can connect to your router within a few seconds by pushing a button.

Re-open the Settings page if necessary. If your router signed you out or took you back to the main dashboard after you changed your password, go back to the Settings page before proceeding.

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Look for a «Wi-Fi Protected Setup» or «WPS» section. This is usually a tab somewhere on the Settings page, though you might find it in the Security section if applicable to your router.

In some cases, you may have to confirm this decision or enter a password to complete the process.

Save your changes. Click the Save button (or similar) to do so. This will prevent people from being able to sign into your Wi-Fi network without entering the password.

Enabling WPA2 Encryption

Re-open the Settings page if necessary. If your router signed you out or took you back to the main dashboard after you changed your password, go back to the Settings page before proceeding.

Find the «Security Type» section. You’ll usually find this in the same general area of the Settings page as you found the password section, though your router may have a specific Encryption tab or section.

Select «WPA2» or «WPA2 Personal» as your security. In most cases, you’ll click the «Security Type» (or similar) drop-down box and then click WPA2 or WPA2 Personal in the resulting menu, but your options may vary.

Select «AES» as the algorithm if possible. If given a choice for the encryption algorithm, select the AES option if possible, making sure to avoid any TKIP options.

Save your changes. Click the Save button (or similar) to do so. This will encrypt your router, making it significantly more difficult for someone who doesn’t have the password to hack into your network.

Enabling Your Router’s Firewall

For some routers, you may find the «Firewall» section on the Settings page.
Your router may not have a firewall included. If you can’t find a «Firewall» section, check your router’s manual or online documentation to determine whether or not there is a firewall feature, and where it is if so.

Save your changes. Click the Save button (or similar) to do so. This will add firewall protection to your router, making it more difficult for viruses and intruders to access your network.

Exit the router’s page. Now that your router is secured, you shouldn’t have to worry about intruders on your home network.

Community Q&A

Only for corporation networks. Third party software and hardware is needed in order to secure the network. For a home network, the configurations from the router is just fine if made correctly.

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Set up a strong password, ideally greater than 8 characters. Be sure to include lower and uppercase letters, symbols, and numbers. Also, try to set the security to WPA2 (never WEP). Lastly, do not hide your SSID (the name of your router) as hackers are usually interested in hidden WiFis.

Some networks will require you to sign back into them after changing the password, network name, and/or other settings. If so, you’ll need to sign back into the network on each item (e.g., computers, phones, tablets, consoles, and so on).

Not all router pages look alike. If you can’t find on your router’s page an option referenced in this article, don’t panic; just look up the router’s model name, number, and whatever it is that you’re looking for (e.g., «firewall»).