Securing WiFi Connection – Basic Things

The benefits of the Internet are well known and people are now owning more than a single computer connected to the internet in their houses. This allows the entire family to stay online at the same time using laptops and desktops, but there are certain risks involved as well. The WiFi connection has to be secured from the very moment you set it up, otherwise people could hack into it and there are several detrimental effects associated with this situation.

1. Analyzing The Problem First

The problem is that when you first purchase the router you will be tempted to rush through the installation process and you could commit several errors. Even if the connection works smoothly for you, in the absence of certain security measures, the WiFi connection will be easy to hack even by people who don’t have an advanced knowledge in this field. It is important to know that securing your connection is a very easy operation if you follow some simple steps and you shouldn’t let the lack of experience have a deterring effect.

An unsecured connection will lead to extra charges and a decrease in speed, so the few minutes spent securing the connections are worthwhile. The first thing that you should do is to change the default name and password, because these are known by those people who would try to break into your WiFi connection. It is the first line of defense and one of the most effective ones for the little effort it requires.

2. Secure your WiFi connection

Modern routers are fitted with their own firewall which should always be activated to increase security and even used in conjunction to the ones available on your computer. These two actions are going to make the hackers’ mission increasingly difficult and it won’t take a lot of effort on your part. If your modem allows the WPA/WEP encryption don’t hesitate to make full use of it and the stronger the encryption you choose, the better secured the WiFi connection will be.

MAC addresses are the physical address of the computer and it pays off to activate the MAC address filter if you are using the same computers to connect to the WiFi. The MAC address is static and it can’t be changed, and as a result the router will only connect to the computers whose MAC addresses match. In this way, nobody else but the home devices will be able to connect to it which greatly increases the safety of the WiFi connection.

3. Other WiFi Connection Security Tips

Beside these rather technical safety measures, there are a few other ways to keep your connection secured and one of these is a smart positioning of the router. By placing it in the middle of the house rather than close to a window, the amount of signal that is lost to the outdoors is considerably less.

This has a two pronged effect, one being a faster connection thanks to the improved WiFi signal and the second is that you greatly reduce signal leakage to the outside.
Just as important and simple to apply is shutting down the network during the time you are not using it, which also translates in less energy consumption. Beside the cheaper bill, this action will give hackers considerably less time to attack your connection, which is pretty much a win-win situation.

This article is written by Loretta F. Austin. She writes also for slow-computer-solutions.org. If you wish to write for us, kindly check this.