One of the most useful things you can do to increase the security of your home Wi-Fi network is to hide it from prying eyes. This will make it much more difficult for a user to take advantage of your internet access for free, and it will greatly decrease the chances of a hacker breaking into your system to steal sensitive information. Considering how to increase the security of your Wi-Fi network is very important, especially if you live in a large condominium.
Steps
Step 1. Understand how other people can locate your wireless network
All Wi-Fi networks are identified by a Service Set Identifier (SSID). The SSID is an alphanumeric sequence, which can be up to 32 characters long, whose job is to uniquely identify a wireless network. Think of this as the name of your network. By default, most wireless routers send this data in clear text to all devices in the area to make discovering and accessing the network much easier. However, this behavior setting allows all malicious users to gain access to your network.
- The SSID is the data that you will hide once you have completed the procedure described in this tutorial.
- Whenever you have accessed the Wi-Fi network of a restaurant, a club or a hotel, you have used the SSID of that infrastructure. In this type of establishment, the SSID of the Wi-Fi network often corresponds to the name of the room.
Step 2. Enter the IP address of your router in the address bar of the internet browser
If you've never tried to log into your router before, you'll first need to find its IP address. By default, most systems use the following IP address: "192.168.1.1". In order to access your router, enter this data in the address bar of the internet browser once you are connected to the Wi-Fi network.
- The IP address in question does not lead you to a web page where you can enter your username and password; consult your router's instruction manual to find out the correct address. Try to consult the labels on the bottom of the router which usually indicate the password for accessing the Wi-Fi network, the SSID and the type of data encryption algorithm used for security.
- To get the default IP addresses of the most popular routers, you can use this web page. One of the addresses present, once entered in the address bar of the browser, will most likely give you access to the page to log in to your wireless router.
Step 3. Enter the information to log into the router control panel
Once you have entered the correct IP address, you will immediately be prompted to enter your name, username and password to log in. A very important thing to increase the security of your network is to change the default login credentials, customizing them. In case you haven't done so yet, consult your router manual to get the default username and password from the manufacturer.
If you haven't changed your login credentials, your username will most likely be "admin" and your password will be left blank. Be sure to change this information immediately to greatly increase the security of your wireless network
Step 4. Now that you have accessed the router's configuration web page, select the menu option "Home Network / Wireless Network / WLAN" or an option with a similar name
This is the section of the control panel from where you can change some of the default settings of your network.
Press the button to be able to modify the existing configuration. It is usually labeled "Configure", "Modify" or a similar label
Step 5. Uncheck any option with a name similar to "Broadcast Network Name" or "Broadcast SSID"
Sometimes, the name of the setting may be "Hide SSID" (in this case select its check button). This change will prevent the router from sending the wireless network SSID in clear text to all W-Fi devices in the area. However, be aware that from now on anyone who legitimately wants to access your Wi-Fi network will have to know and manually enter the relevant SSID within their devices.
Step 6. To further increase security, consider adopting the following additional options
If you are trying to make your Wi-Fi network invisible, you are most likely doing it because you have detected prohibited access and this worries you. Hiding the SSID is not enough to protect your data. Hackers can intercept the radio waves that are constantly being sent by your router and still have access to your network. Using the same section of the router's control panel where you hid the SSID from, make the following changes:
- Enable MAC address filtering. MAC (Media Access Control) addresses uniquely identify any device that can access a network (Wi-Fi or Ethernet). By enabling the MAC address filter, you will need to manually enter the list of addresses for the devices authorized to access your wireless network. To find the MAC address of your device, see the following article.
-
Enable the use of the WPA2 data encryption algorithm. This is one of the best ways to increase the security of your wireless network. To do this, access the security section of the router's control panel. Choose the "WPA2" option from its drop-down menu. You will be asked to enter your Pre-shared key (PSK). This data represents the password that you will need to enter on any device that connects to your network to have full access. Keep this information in a safe place and try to use as long a PSK key as possible.
Note that older routers (built before 2007) cannot adopt the WPA2 security protocol
Step 7. Finally, hit the "Apply" or "OK" button
This way the changes to the network configuration will be saved and applied.
