Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi or Wifi) technology is truly a user-friendly mode for internet connection since you can stay online no matter where you are but at the same time, it can also be a problem.
Its convenience is owing to its wireless nature, but the same makes it vulnerable to hacking! Anyone can access not only your internet connection but can also access your browsed pages.
This is why wired networks are still having an edge over WiFi. However, as there is a key to every lock, a solution to every problem, you can also make your wireless network highly secured from external cyber attacks. In the below text,
We have given a few ways by which you can protect your WiFi from others.
1: Set up a Strong Password
Whichever network you are using, you can encrypt access to its WiFi. Just log on the home page of your router (by typing its I.P. as web link; sometimes the homepage is loaded automatically as soon as your internet connection is on).
The login credentials will be provided to you by your network providers. After logging in the system, you can find all network related settings over there.
2: Set up A Unique SSID Name for Your Network
After logging in, the next step is to change the name of your WiFi. By default, the service provider’s firm name appears as the SSID for most cases.
To be on the safe side, this needs to be changed since it will appear on all other devices (cell phones, laptops, etc.) that use WiFi.
As every network provider has the same default user Id and password, any one of the intruders can easily access your WiFi by entering default login credentials.
Therefore, assign a new SSID for your network, along with a new password. This will prevent others accessing your network connection.
3: Insert Your Desired Device’s MAC Addresses Into Your WiFi
Every device that can connect to the internet has an exclusive MAC address for it. It is a typical ID number that is assigned to all cell phones, laptops, and other network adapter hardware and is used whenever an internet connection is to be made.
To protect your WiFi from others, while still wanting to use it on your own devices, simply enter the MAC address of all your devices in the WiFi settings.
You can include as many devices as the network allows to support (e.g., 5 or 10). Then, only those devices will be connected to your WiFi whose MAC addresses are recognized by your wireless network.
This greatly helps prevent intruders from accessing your network even if they somehow manage to decode your password.
- Enable Wireless Network Encryption
There are several methods by which you can include password encryption to your network. WiFi encryption mode is one of them.
The first attempt in this connection was WEP encryption (i.e., Wired Equivalent Privacy), but since it was still vulnerable to hackers, a more advanced method, WPA encryption was introduced.
The attempts to decrypt WPA then resulted in the development of highly secured WPA2 method, which is highly protective against all intruders and supports all wireless devices.
You may select any mode of encryption easily by entering the setting of your network and changing the encryption mode.
WEP and WPA are also offered in almost all networks. Just set up a password for decryption, and your network is protected!
5: Lowering WiFi Signal Radius
Another method which will greatly help you make your wireless internet secured is to lower down the signal strength.
All wireless signals being generated from your device are able to work for a specific radius. Reducing this radius will make it unable to be connected by faraway devices.
This can easily be done by adjusting the frequencies. Presently, 802.11 has three different frequency ranges, i.e., 2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, and 4.9/5.0 GHz bands, named as 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11 n.
Thus, after entering your network settings, you can select either 802.11n or 802.11b to lower down the signal strength.
Alternatively, you can simply put your router in a closed room; this will automatically create hindrance in the signal radius.
Thus following these simple techniques, you can you can continue to enjoy your own wireless network without any worries since it is now protected from all hackers!
Author Bio
Kaitlin Liam Patrick has a specialty in computing and networking fields with years of experience. She works as a networking consultant for ENOSITE which is a free website builder. As a freelance blogger, she also has hundreds of published articles and blogs covering networking in particular and technology in general.