Your router silently works hard day in and day out with little thanks or attention. But it does need more care and attention than it’s been getting to keep you and your family safer online. Your router passes along all the data you send and receive; do you want that information compromised? If you haven’t thought about securing your router or your network and don’t know how; don’t worry! Here’s everything you need to know to get started securing your network internet today.
Put A Password On Your Wi-Fi
The easiest way to secure your router and your Wi-Fi network is to put a password on it if you don’t have one on it already. While it sounds inconvenient to have to remember another password, think of it this way: you wouldn’t leave your home, car or even your garden shed unlocked, so why would you keep your Wi-Fi unlocked and easily accessible to everyone in your neighborhood?
Change Your Login Credentials
Putting a password on your wireless network won’t do you any good if you’re using the same default logins that the manufacturer of your router has preset for everyone who purchases their router. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take a criminal genius to figure out what the default logins are and leaving them unchanged puts your whole network at risk.
Update Your Router’s Firmware
Your router works hard to bring you your high-speed internet wirelessly and like all of your other internet enabled devices, your router too needs to be updated every once in a while. The router’s manufacturer will put out firmware updates every once in a while, to patch bugs, beef up security and close exploits that cybercriminals are known to take advantage of.
Don’t leave your router’s firmware stuck on factory settings and update it periodically. Luckily most modern routers update their firmware automatically, however it’s a good idea to check to make sure. Check to see if it is up to date and if so also check that these updates are automatic, so you never have to worry about them with this router ever again.
Set Up A Guest Wi-Fi Network
Roll out the welcome mat for your guests the safe way for both you and them by setting up a guest Wi-Fi network. Setting up a guest Wi-Fi network is free, easy and takes only a few minutes of your time. It has its own network name and password, so you don’t have to give out your main network’s credentials. You might be asking yourself why would you go through such lengths to set up a guest Wi-Fi network. When you do and your guests use it, it isolates any potentially dangerous downloads, malware, and viruses on your guest network keeping your main network and all of its connected devices safe.
Keep All Household Devices Up To Date
This sounds like a no brainer, but this is a good time to remind you to keep all of your household’s internet enabled devices up to date. This includes laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, gaming systems, smart TVs, printers, smart home devices and even streaming devices. Anything that uses an internet connection needs to be updated regularly to stay secure. Just like your router, these software updates and patches close loopholes that leave your devices vulnerable to hackers, cybercriminals and other people that have bad intentions.