3 Easy Steps to Home Wireless Security
Wireless networks in the home and business are great because they give you the freedom to move around. However, wireless networks are vulnerable to hackers and data theft if not secured. If you have a wireless network in your home or business you need to take the following steps to secure your wireless network.
Step 1
Change the admin password to access your wireless router. The default passwords on most wireless routers are “admin” or “password.” Hackers know these are the default passwords to access the majority of routers and that is why you need to change the password. The password should be complex and contain a number, capital letter and special character.
Good Passwords Bad Password
1nternet$afetyCenter house
Pa$w@rd! smithhouse
Step 2
Change the SSID name of your wireless network and turn off broadcasting. The SSID is the name of your wireless network. This doesn’t need to complex or anything because it is only a name.
You should also turn off SSID broadcasting. If you are broadcasting your SSID everybody can see the name of network. You should turn off broadcasting so no one else can see the name of your wireless network.
Step 3
Encrypt your wireless network with WEP or WPA. WPA is old technology that has several flaws and should not be used. WEP is the new standard and all wireless networks should have WEP running. WEP will encrypt your wireless network and require a password to access your wireless network. You have two versions of WEP to select from AES and TKIP. AES is what we recommend using because if offers 128 bit encryption and is used by governments to protect data. AES is not only secure but is also very fast and you shouldn’t notice any performance issues. The password you create for access your network should be complex and over 10 characters. The network password should have a capital letter, number and special character.
Additional Security Options
Another security option wireless routers come with is MAC filtering. All network cards and wireless cards have a unique 12 digit address. This address is hard coded on the hardware and can’t be changed. Unfortunately, new software has allowed hackers to take the MAC address of your machine and use it on their machine tricking your router into giving them access.
Turn off your router when not in use. Don’t give people anything to access.
If you wireless network goes down the first step is to simple turn off your wireless router and cable/DSL modem. Remove the power cord from both the wireless router and cable/DSL modem and let them sit powered off for 2 minutes. First plug in your cable/DSL modem wait 15 seconds and then plug in your wireless router. Wait about 30 seconds and try to access the internet.
After you complete those two steps and you still can’t access the internet, remove the cable from your wireless router and plug it directly into your desktop or laptop. You might have to power off your cable modem again but only for 30 seconds. If you still can’t access the internet check with your Internet Service Provider to see if service is down in your area.
If you network is running slow or at sometimes you are losing the signal change your broadcast channel. Wireless routers will generally have 12 or so channels to select from. The default channel generally is 6 and if your router is set on that channel just changes the channel over to say 3 or 9. Changing the broadcast channel won’t remove your security setting or anything. Your router should function normally.