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The vast majority of us use wireless router technology at home making internet access and interconnectivity between our PCs/Macs quicker and easier. Unlike a cabled connection WiFi does not have the inherent security of a physical connection since the walls of the house do not act as an absolute barrier to your WiFi coverage. It is this leakage we see when you do a WiFi search from your lounge/office and see coverage from routers other than yours.

It is important we secure our WiFi  systems to limit the possibility of others using our coverage to download content. Such downloads, at best, will limit our available bandwidth and at  worst it may result in accusations of excessive use or even illegal downloading. The reality is that securing our WiFi is relatively simple. If you use a router provided by your service provider it is likely this may come pre-configured with secure connectivity. You can check this either by looking at the label somewhere on the router (generally the rear or bottom) and confirm if it includes a WEP/WAP key which will be a combination of letters and numbers. This is used to pair the PC/laptop to the router. If your router is not already secured then you should act as soon as possible to secure it.

Below we outline simple steps to secure your network:

1   Change the default User Name and Password on the router to prevent unauthorized accesss. Many routers are supplied with default passwords such as ‘admin’ and ‘password’ which third parties can use to gain access to your router to enable them to alter or change the routers settings. Use a user name and password that is meaningful to you but not obvious to others based on your location or address. So don’t use a username that references your address and a password tied to your name, dogs name etc.

2   Your wireless router broadcasts an identifier (the Service Set Identifier – SSID), this is the name seen when you search for WiFi coverage and get a list of possible access points. Select a unique SSID which again, is something you will know but others will not be able to link the WiFi coverage to a specific location/address. Whilst this may not seem to be a particularly important area, it means that people may not be able to tie a particular SSID to a given person or family. By being able to do this they may then be able to extrapolate user names and passwords more easily.

4      Activate encryption on your router. There are two major generic encryption standards used in routers, these are WEP and WAP, within each of these there are a number of varients available. WAP is the more secure of these options. Within WAP there are WAP WAP and WAP2 options, here again WAP2 is the more secure option. Something to keep in mind when setting your router up is the age of the accessing computers, laptops or USB wireless dongle. If you set the router up with the latest encryption standard and accessing laptops or dongles are old they may not support this standard. Start with the most secure option and then regress to earlier standards IF you experience issues.

If you have any questions feel free to email use with your questions using the Contact tab above.