How to Protect Your WiFi Network From Unauthorized Access

Nowadays everyone is using Wireless technology whether it is home or office.WiFi technology has become more and more popular with the introduction of Smartphones. With WiFi technology you can connect to the internet from anywhere (provided you have WiFi signal) without the need for wires or cables. Wireless technology is available only if you have a Router which is a device which receives your data packets and then sends it as radio waves.

A WiFi router costs less than Rs.2000. if you just want to connect to the internet from anywhere in the home.But if you're opting to connect multiple devices and you need more signal strength, then you should buy an advanced one with 2 or more antennae which is costly.

Buying a wireless router is not enough, you need to protect it from outside hackers or from your neighbors.A non-wireless modem doesn't  need any protection as the signals are not broadcasted wirelessly instead they are connected through wires physically which means a person can access your internet only if you give access to them.This is not the case of WiFi modems or routers.The signals are broadcasted through their antennae, so anyone who has a WiFi chip in their PC or laptop or smartphone can get to know about your WiFi and could connect to the internet.

All routers come with a default password according to their model.This makes hackers easier to track down your router name and find the default password with just a GOOGLE search.So the moment you lay hands on your new Router, make sure you dash to the settings panel and change the password of your router.This can be done in most cases only through a PC connected via LAN. To do this open your favorite browser and type 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 in the address bar.You will hopefully be presented with a screen asking for username and password. Type in these values and click [ENTER]. These details can be found in the back or the side of your router.

Now once you're in the settings, look for a section saying Security or Wireless. If you can't find these check your router manual for assistance. Once you enter the security section, type in your password or pass-phrase(5-15 character long). and make sure you set encryption type as WPA/WPA2-PSK. Most routers often call this as WPA-Mixed also. This is the most secure type of encryption available now. This should prevent hackers away from your wireless network.
Whatever you do, never use WEP. Contrary to WPA, this is the easiest protection for hackers to crack. 

If you bought your WiFi router recently,  there should be a Wireless Push Button, often called WPS on the back of your router. While this feature is pretty useful for the owner, this enables a person having physical access to your router from connecting to your WiFi just by pressing a button.So if possible, disable this feature via the settings. 

Moving on to the wireless network visibility, your wireless router automatically broadcasts your SSID which means your WiFi name. The default SSID is your routers name for eg : XPERIO LABS W12, TENDA WIFI etc. You can customize this  to your own favorite name like technowifi or something like that. If you are security freak, you can also disable broadcasting SSID. This makes hackers even harder to get into your network because they not only  have to find your wireless SSID in order to login but also the password. 

For total protection, i recommend you enable MAC ID Filtering in your browser. Every device has a MAC ID. It is this unique code which distinguishes one WiFi device from another.Your router can identify the MAC ID's of the devices(clients) which are connected to your router.So by using MAC ID filtering in your router you can boot of your irritating neighbors even if they got your password somehow. For doing this, just go to settings of your router and go to security section and then select MAC ID Filtering . You can use this setting to either deny certain device's MAC ID's or allow only your device's MAC ID's. The latter seems more secure for me.

Lastly, make sure your routers firmware is up to date. This makes it even more secure from hackers who found a way to exploit your particular model of router. Manufactures often release patches and security updates for your router when a new issue is found, so make sure you install them all. You can do this by going to settings and clicking on the Router management and from there click on Upgrade Firmware. Also make sure your restart your router periodically to know if any firmware's  available. This also helps clear your routers cache memory and speed up your browsing.


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ALSO READ :  GOOGLE WiFi ,THE SMART WIFI ?