Many of our Leacroft neighbors have wireless networks, but how many of us are sure that they are secure? Unsecured wireless networks can be vulnerable to hackers or even unknowing neighbors accidentally stealing your bandwidth. Some tips for securing your home network:
1) Change the administrative password on your router. The factory default is the same on all routers of the same brand, so it isn’t rocket science for someone to guess if you haven’t changed it from the default.
2) Turn off SSID broadcast. You know when your computer searches for available wireless networks and a handful other than your own are found? Well, turning off the SSID broadcast prevents this and requires you to know the SSID to be able to connect to that network.
3) Use some kind of encrypted password to connect to your wireless network. WPA is suggested over WEP, but either is better than leaving your network wide open.
4) Turn on MAC filtering. Your computer’s MAC address is like your cars VIN. If you make it where only registered MAC addresses are allowed on your wireless network, it ensures only your household computers can get access.
5) Change the default channel. Like cordless phones, many routers have different channel frequencies. By changing the channel, it makes it less likely to interfere with your neighbor’s network and sometimes even your own cordless phones.
If you need specific instructions for your wireless router, you can always Google for the brand of router that you have in your home. For example, “Linksys securing your wireless router.” For more information on how to secure your wireless home network, go to: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm
