How To Increase The Security Of Your Wireless Router?

The security of your Wireless Router matters a lot and you should do everything that you can in order to increase the security of your wireless router because your wireless router contains all the data that is shared across the network and also the entry to your network. Therefore, you should take measures and steps to increase the security of your wireless router. Here are some steps by which you can increase the security of your wireless router:

Changing router passwords

The first that you should do is change both the router and the wireless network password. This can be easily done through the router firmware. On the router firmware page, you get the separate options to change both the admin password or router password and wireless network or WiFi Network password. The router IP address may vary based on the internet service provider and router you are using. For example, TP-Link router’s default gateway IP is http://192.168.0.1/ so make sure to check your configuration before proceeding.

When changing the password, make sure that you select one that is a strong one, consisting of letters, digits, and special characters along with upper and lower case letters. Such passwords are very hard to be cracked and they secure both your router and wireless network.

Keep router firmware updated

Keeping the router’s firmware or software up to date is another thing that you should do in order to increase the security of your wireless router. Older firmwares have some flaws, bugs, and vulnerabilities that can easily be exploited by the attackers and in this way, they can gain access to your network without you even knowing about it.

Manufacturers release firmware updates on a regular basis with the bugs and vulnerabilities patched. You should regularly check for firmware updates for your router and as soon as there is a new update available you should update your router.

Turn on the firewall

Turning on the firewall is another security measure that you can take to increase the security of your router. Nowadays, almost 90% of the routers come with firewalls pre-installed and all you have to do is turn on the firewall.

Firewalls are meant to protect your computers and network from unauthorized intrusions. It monitors incoming and outgoing traffic and prevents unauthorized intrusions into the network.

If your wireless router does not have a firewall then you should enable the firewall on your computer to watch out for unauthorized access attempts to your network.

Enable MAC Filtering

MAC Filtering is a feature that filters out the device on the basis of their MAC Address. MAC Address or Physical Address is the hardware identifications address that every device has.

When you turn on the MAC Filtering feature then you will have to either Whitelist or Blacklist devices on the basis of their MAC Addresses.

When you blacklist a device then it will be blocked from connecting to the network even if the owner of the device knows the correct WiFi password.

When you whitelist a device then only the whitelisted devices will be allowed to join and access the network while other devices will be prevented from accessing the networking even when they enter the correct WiFi password.

Turn off SSID broadcasting

If you’re using a wireless router at home and all the devices are connected to the network then you should disable SSID or network name broadcasting. When you turn off this feature then you will have to manually enter the SSID and join the network, otherwise, the SSID of the network will not be shown and no one will be able to connect to the network if they don’t know the SSID of the network.