Secure Your Wi-Fi Network From Hackers With These 10 Steps

Wi-Fi enables all of your devices to be connected to the internet without any physical connection. However, this convenience also comes with security risks. Unlike the physical cables, Wireless Internet connections are easy to hack. Why Secure your Wi-Fi Network? Well, if someone hacks your Wi-Fi network, they will not only leech on your Internet bandwidth (leading to slower speeds and more data consumption). But the scary part is, someone with the right tools can also see what you are browsing on the internet, steal passwords, control your activity and even send fake emails from your connection that could lead to law forces acting against you. Overall, Wi-Fi security is crucial and in this article, we will take you through all the necessary steps you can take to secure your Wi-Fi. So, let’s get started, shall we? Secure Your Wi-Fi Network - Related: 5 Ways To Kick People Off Your WiFi Network Before we begin? Note: Each router has a different interface with options located in different areas, so I cannot provide any universal instructions that may work for all the routers. Although I will try my best to give you the right pointers, that should work for most routers. Also, in most routers, when you make the following changes to the Router settings; your Router might restart, resulting in no internet access for few seconds. So make sure you don’t do this if someone at your home is doing important work online. How to Secure Your Wi-Fi Network Step 1: Access Your Router’s Settings There is no way to control your Wi-Fi settings from any desktop or mobile software. All of the steps we will be taking to secure the Wi-Fi will be from the settings page of your router. So, open up your web browser, and type in the router’s IP address (usually 192.168.1.1) in the Omnibox and hit enter. If you don’t know what your router’s IP address or default gateway is, check out this post on finding router IP address on different platforms. Now, when you enter router’s IP address, you will be asked for the username and password. Here enter username as “Admin,” and password as “password.” If this password doesn’t work then try, “admin,” “12345” or may be the name of the router’s company. If nothing works, then call the router company or the person who has set up your network and ask for the login credentials. You can also call your ISP if they have provided you the router. login-to-your-router Step 2: Change Your Encryption to WPA2 The most popular way to hack Wi-Fi is by guessing the password from a public database or trying the combination of every English character. Software like Aircrack-Ng and Reaver can crack WEP and WPA-PSK passwords in few hours. So, if you are still stuck with WEP, WPA security- or worst of all have an open Wi-Fi connection, then the first thing you need to do is enable the WPA2 encryption. Encryption is the only sure-shot method to stop the hackers from gaining access to your router. To enable WPA2 encryption, go into your router settings and look for “Wireless security” option. If you find the option of “Wireless” instead, then look for “Security” option somewhere inside it. Here you should see a drop-down menu next to an option like “Network Authentication” or “Encryption.” Click on it, and you should see a list of encryptions you can use, select “WPA2”. And while you are at it, also consider changing your Wi-Fi password to something that people can not guess. For instance – I don’t suggest using a complex password like these ^55[@5(W^GR