These days we often hear that a terrorist organization or a person has sent an email or hate containing threats to police or government officials. Who could be the culprit; most times innocent people end up suffering through a police investigation. This is due to the lack of appropriate security measures taken when accessing the email account via Wi-Fi.
Although a traditional wired internet connection can also be hacked, Wi-Fi has become a softer target due to people’s negligence in securing their Wi-Fi zones. In this article, we will tell you how to effectively secure a Wi-Fi connection through some basic steps.
The first and most important fact that should be known to all who use Wi-Fi connection, Wi-Fi signals are not blocked by the wall and thus everyone, let it be your neighbor, a person standing outside your home, can connect to the internet using your bandwidth.
How to Secure a Wi-Fi Connection
Therefore, if your Wi-Fi connection is not secured, it is likely that you will get a lower internet speed due to sharing bandwidth with other intruders; it will increase your account if you are on a payment plan and last but not least, you can become a fake victim of such threatening emails.
Let’s now see how to provide a Wi-Fi connection in simple steps.
1. Create a unique password for your router:
- For this you will need to access the settings of your router. This is usually done by entering your IP address in the browser tab. Eg. 192.168.1.1
- This step may vary from brand to brand. You can find steps to access the router setup in its manual.
- For your convenience, here are websites of famous companies that help you with all kinds of questions about your product: Linksys, Cisco, Netgear, Apple AirPort, D-Link, SMC, TP-Link, Belkin, 3Com.
- Once you reach these settings, change the default password. This will prevent unauthorized access to the router.
2. Change your SSID: Thenext step is to change the SSID of your network (Name). All Ad-hoc networks have a predefined SSID that is easy to guess. This way, change it so that everyone knows which network they are connecting to. This setting will allow you to connect to your network, although there are several networks that transmit their signals simultaneously.
3. Enabling Network Encryption:Probablythe most important step, it helps you prevent unauthorized intruders from accessing your signals. There are several encryption methods such as WEP, WPA and WPA2.
The latter is the most secure network, while the former is compatible with a wide range of devices, but not as secure. To do this, go to the router setup page and open the wireless network page.
Choose a method of your choice and then enter a phrase with a password that should be difficult to guess. It can be anything, alphabets, a combination of numbers and alphabets or special characters, etc.
4. Filter MAC addresses: Any device that wants to connect to the Internet has a hard-coded MAC address. Therefore, it is possible to add another layer of security by enabling MAC address filtering, which may have access to the Internet through your router.
To do this, prepare a list of all the MAC addresses of the devices you are using and add them to the router’s MAC address filtering function. This feature can be found on the administrative page of the router.
5. Reduce the range of signals:Try to reduce the range of your signals so that the signals do not travel far from your location. This can be done by changing the router mode to 802.11g or by using a different channel.
As a note, we advise you to use a WPA2 connection as it is the most secure. You can also use various software available in the market to check all devices that are connected to your network. Keep checking your provider’s website for a firmware update.