{"id":13371,"date":"2016-11-02T11:43:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T15:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/?p=13371"},"modified":"2019-11-15T22:47:49","modified_gmt":"2019-11-15T11:47:49","slug":"secure-home-wifi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/13371\/","title":{"rendered":"7 steps to secure home Wi-Fi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Setting up a home Wi-Fi router used to be a complicated task that was typically confusing and difficult for the average computer user. Responding to that issue, ISPs and router manufacturers implemented some buttons<\/a> and defaults that made connecting about as easy as possible \u2014 and in the security business, we know e-a-s-y spells trouble.<\/p>\n

Protect your home Wi-Fi router from intruders with these seven tips:<\/p>\n

1. Avoid EZ setup.<\/b> Some Wi-Fi routers promise an essentially brainless setup \u2014 just press the button to get connected. But when you don\u2019t know your own credentials, you\u2019re not the master of your domain.<\/p>\n

2. Rename the Wi-Fi router\u2019s network.<\/b> Strictly speaking, this step doesn\u2019t make your network more secure, but it makes the entire network situation better. When you sign in or help a guest sign in, you won\u2019t have to remember whether you\u2019re NETGEAR58843 or Linksys-u8i9o. Instead, you can choose a name that\u2019s easy to remember \u2014 or fun, or funny.<\/p>\n

3. Change the Wi-Fi router login credentials.<\/b> Wi-Fi router manufacturers often reuse default admin names and passwords<\/a>. You can look them up on the Internet \u2014 for example, some manufacturers, depending on the model, use either admin or (blank) for the admin name, and either admin or (blank) for the password. These aren\u2019t state secrets. But your real admin name and password should be super-secret, so choose new ones. You can make sure you\u2019ve chosen a strong password with Kaspersky Lab\u2019s password checker<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Make sure your router\u2019s login page is not accessible from the Internet.<\/b> Modern routers usually have feature allowing settings to be changed remotely, over the Internet. That can be useful in some circumstances, but it\u2019s also an insecurity, so if you don\u2019t need it, disable it. The option name varies depending on manufacturer, but look through your router\u2019s settings for something like \u201cRemote Management\u201d and make sure it is turned off.<\/p>\n

Most important: Secure your Wi-Fi with reliable WPA2 encryption and a strong password<\/div>\n

5. Secure with a reliable encryption protocol and<\/em> a strong network password.<\/b> This is the most important part. In step 3, we changed the Wi-Fi router login, which secures the router\u2019s options. Now you\u2019re going to choose a network password. That\u2019s what you type in to your PC, Mac, smartphone, tablet, or other connected device to give it Wi-Fi Internet access. You don\u2019t want your neighbors or passing strangers to be able to hop onto your Wi-Fi<\/a>. I personally advise choosing WPA2 Personal encryption for the password. You can also use a passphrase, which may be easier to remember than a complex password, but it should also be harder to crack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

6. Secure all<\/em> of your Wi-Fi networks.<\/b> I personally do not have a guest network because my regular network is locked down pretty tight. But if your router supports a guest network and you want to create one, go for it. Call it something like \u201cMyAwesomeNetwork \u2013 GUEST,\u201d and give it a strong password and encryption as well<\/em>. Then you don\u2019t have to give anyone else your private network password.<\/p>\n

7. Secure all devices.<\/b>Whether you\u2019re using a computer, a tablet, a smartphone, a Kindle, or any other connected device, secure it with a strong password. Don\u2019t give anyone your password. Use security software (we like Kaspersky Total Security<\/a>) on every device \u2014 and always keep all of the software up to date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Router manufacturers and ISPs are trying to make Wi-Fi set up as easy as possible \u2014 and in the security business, we know e-a-s-y spells trouble.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1913,"featured_media":13372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1852,1853,473,97,835,174,84,1866],"class_list":{"0":"post-13371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tips","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-tips","10":"tag-routers","11":"tag-security-2","12":"tag-settings","13":"tag-wi-fi","14":"tag-wifi","15":"tag-wireless-networks"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"en-au","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/13371\/"},{"hreflang":"en-gb","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.uk\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/7904\/"},{"hreflang":"es-mx","url":"https:\/\/latam.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/7921\/"},{"hreflang":"es","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.es\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/9467\/"},{"hreflang":"it","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.it\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/9282\/"},{"hreflang":"ru","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.ru\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/13525\/"},{"hreflang":"tr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.tr\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/2645\/"},{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/13371\/"},{"hreflang":"fr","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.fr\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/6362\/"},{"hreflang":"pt-br","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.br\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/6750\/"},{"hreflang":"pl","url":"https:\/\/plblog.kaspersky.com\/secure-home-wifi\/5617\/"},{"hreflang":"de","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.de\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/9147\/"},{"hreflang":"ja","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.co.jp\/secure-home-wifi\/13127\/"},{"hreflang":"ru-kz","url":"https:\/\/blog.kaspersky.kz\/secure-home-wifi\/13525\/"},{"hreflang":"en-za","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.co.za\/blog\/secure-home-wifi\/13371\/"}],"acf":[],"banners":"","maintag":{"url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/tag\/tips-2\/","name":"tips"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1913"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13371"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13371\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24388,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13371\/revisions\/24388"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}