One way to make sure you're safe online is to add a password for your wireless internet connection that encrypts the data that travels from connected devices to your Wi-Fi router. The most common types of encryption used are WEP (Wireless Equivalent Privacy), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2. Here is a guide on how to set a password for your wireless connection and thus gain security.
Steps
Step 1. Log in to the wireless router
Theoretically this can be done with the installation disc, but the router is usually also designed to be accessible remotely over the Internet.
You should connect the computer to the router via an ethernet cable plugged into an open port. Most routers have four ports. After that, you can access any router by going to the IP address homepage. In your browser, type 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 in the address bar. This should take you to a window where you can enter your login and password. The default password for most routers is "admin" and you must type in both fields. If this doesn't work, try leaving one field blank and write admin in the other. If that doesn't work, consult any guide available for the specific router manufacturer
Step 2. Choose "Security Settings" or "Advanced Settings" in your router's online setup system
There should be the option of choice for the type of network encryption.
Step 3. Select WPA2 (which may also appear as WPA2-PSK), if your router offers this choice
Some older routers don't have this option.
Step 4. Choose AES algorithms for WPA2-Personal
AES stands for Advanced Encryption Standard and is the best group of wireless encryption algorithms. The other common choice, TKIP or Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, is an old and reliable set of algorithms, but not as secure as AES. Some argue that TKIP uses more bandwidth for encryption
Step 5. Enter your new login and password credentials
Any device that attempts to use your wireless connection will need to have them entered in order to gain access.
The password must be a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. The simpler the password protection is, the easier it is for someone to guess it or find it with a "brute force" process, as hackers say. There are online password generators that allow you to create "strong" security passwords, that is, impossible or, at least, unlikely to be found
Step 6. Save the new settings and update your router
To update it, turn it off and count to ten. Then restart it and let it complete its power cycle - it is fully active when all the front lights are flashing.
Make sure you add the new login and password credentials to all devices that regularly access your wireless Internet connection. For added Wi-Fi security, you can change the password protection every six months or so
Advice
- Make sure you write down your password in a safe place, in case you still need it.
- Another good way to add security to your Wi-Fi network is to change its name or SSID. Each wireless router has a default SSID name. Someone, trying to steal the connection, can easily trace the type of router from the code that identifies the name of the connection. After that, it can force the password. You can turn off the display of your SSID so that no one can see that you have a Wi-Fi connection.
- If your router doesn't offer WPA2, select WPA rather than WEP. WPA2 is currently the most secure encryption method for wireless Internet connections. If you can only select between WEP and WPA, choose WPA. WEP encryption is very old and easily overtaken by modern technology.
- Make sure you turn on the firewall. On some routers it is turned off by default, but it is an added layer of Wi-Fi security.
