Five Tips for Securing Home Wireless Networks

Home wireless networks require more security than wired varieties. If you use a wireless network in your home, there are a few things you should know about securing it properly. This article will give you a few tips for securing home wireless networks.

Strength

Most home wireless networks allow you to set the strength of their signal. You should always limit their strength as much as possible. This will limit the ability of the signal to bypass the walls of your home. Therefore, outsiders will not be able to detect the existence of your home wireless networks as easily.

SSID

Many home wireless networks use SSID, or Service Set Identifier broadcasting. SSID sends code attached to packets that identify them to the network. You should avoid using SSID with home wireless networks as much as possible. Outsiders will not be able to detect a network as easily when SSID is disabled.

MAC addresses

You should also make sure to use MAC addresses with home wireless networks. Every network card, wireless or not, has a unique MAC address. Therefore, you should setup home wireless networks to allow access only to the MAC addresses of the network cards in your home. This will dramatically increase the security of the network.

Encryption

When setting up home wireless networks, you will have the choice between two methods of encryption. These include WPA and WEP encryption. Wi-Fi Protected Access, or WPA, is the best choice to use. WEP, or wireless encryption protocol, can easily be decrypted using special software. also, you should change the encryption keys used by home wireless networks on a regular basis.

Passwords

Passwords are not enough to protect home wireless networks. However, you should always make sure that you use complex passwords. Most home wireless networks come with a default password that you should always change during setup. You should also make sure to change the password on a regular basis. This will help prevent would-be intruders from cracking your password.