While most people concern themselves with the advantages of a wireless network and the benefits they receive from having an Internet connection, very rarely do they give enough thought towards securing their network. A wireless network, despite the several advantages it boasts of, is dangerously prone to outside threats in the forms of hackers, malware, viruses which can harm the network in a big way.
Network technicians can talk on lengths about the different ways in which one can secure his network. However, there’s a specific step by step procedure that one needs to follow to ensure that the system is protected and secured against outside and unauthorized access.
Instructions to keep your Wireless Network secure
The step by step procedure begins by keeping the instruction manual with you despite all odds and proceeding further with the following instructions.
Step 1: The first step involves getting into the control panel of your router, which can be done by opening the web browser and typing ‘192.168.1.1’ in the address window at the top. Note that this is only the default IP Address which can otherwise vary according to the manufacturer. Read your instruction manual for the exact IP Address or contact the manufacturer if you do not have the manual.
Step 2: After entering the IP Address and hitting Enter, you will be taken to the Login page where you are required to enter a Login name and a Password, the information which is present in the manual as well. In majority of the cases, the Login name and Password are entered as ‘admin’ or the password field is left blank, while users continue with ‘admin’ as the Login name. Once you have managed to enter the correct information, it is recommended to change the default information because the hackers usually are aware of it.
Step 3: When you enter the configuration page, you need to turn on the encryption where you can either use WPA or use a 128-bit WEP. Choose a password of your choice which you can remember however don’t choose something that can be too obvious to the hackers.
Step 4: The default SSID or the network name is a common target for third parties to access the network. It needs to be changed immediately to ensure a powerfully protected and secure network.
Step 5: MAC Filtering is an option in which you can enable only those computers to access the network that you know about and want to share the network connection with. For the purpose, you need to obtain the MAC Addresses of all those computers and enter them into a configuration screen of the router or the wireless access point. Then the filtering option needs to be switched on to end the procedure.
Apart from the above instructions users may follow, they also need to purchase and install any of the famous Antivirus software, examples of which are the Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Avast, AVG and Kaspersky. These help to keep the system safe from viruses, worms and Trojans which find their way into the system through open ports and damage the disk drives.
