The Internet has become the need of the hour. For every small or big need, we rely on the internet. Right from ordering the food to finding information, banking, bill payments, business, gaming, and whatnot. With the increased need and dependency on the internet, comes the need for security of the internet connection. Although, most of the wifi service providers take measures to secure our personal broadband connection. However, there is always some risk of getting the connection hacked.
Securing your internet connection is as important as locking your home while going out. An insecure connection may lead to the assault of your personal data such as banking passwords.
Here are some of the simple measures, you can take at your end to ensure the safety of your internet connection.
1.) Change Your Router’s password regularly
Usually, the password for the wifi service is kept the same by the service provider. In order to ensure the safety of your own connection, it is advisable to change the password every 1-2 months. Here are the steps to change the password: Go to http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1 or http://192.168.2.1 (The IP address will depend on your router and is documented in the user manual) Go to “security tab” in the admin panel of the router and change the password Assign a strong Wi-Fi Password, which a mix of alphabets, numbers and special characters.
2.) Make sure that Port Forwarding is disabled
Port Forwarding is used to redirect a communication request from one system and port number combination to another. Mostly, routers have “Port Forwarding disabled” by default for home internet. But it is important to cross-check your router for port forwarding. To check it, log in to your router’s admin panel (as described in step 1) and disable this function.
3.) MAC-ID Filtering
MAC ID is sole for every device, which is capable of connecting to Wi-Fi. MAC ID is easy to get, as these are sent over the air with each packet going to and from the device. This function is extremely useful, particularly when the wifi service is connected with a known number of devices. Visit the admin panel of the router and allow connectivity to the known devices. This will restrict other devices from connecting with your internet, without your permission.
4.) Disable WPS and UPnP
UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) lets any device to connect to the network without needing to configure. WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) is a network security standard that aims at making the connections between a router and wireless devices faster and easier. Disable both of these to avoid any unauthorized access to your network.
5.) Change the Name (SSID) of the network
Most often the network name is the name of the router’s brand or model number, by default. Changing the name of the network or SSID to something different can be helpful in reducing the chances of the network to get hacked. In addition, you can also hide the SSID from the router’s control panel. To connect to the Wi-Fi service, users need both the SSID and the password. When you hide it is SSID, it won’t appear in the list of nearby networks in any device. Therefore, it will enhance the security of the network.
6.) Change the Network Encryption to WPA2
WPA2 is a kind of encryption used to secure the majority of Wi-Fi networks. WPA2 with AES is much more secure than WEP or WPA. Go to the router’s admin panel and change the Network Encryption to WPA2 for enhanced security.
Bonus Point
Do not open fraudulent or phishing emails and messages. These could be potent frauds and can steal your sensitive data and passwords.
Bottom line
Undoubtedly, the internet has become an inevitable part of our lives. It eases our lives in many ways by being our obedient virtual assistant. However, it is extremely important to ensure our wifi service. By following the above-mentioned safety steps, you can ensure the security of your personal internet connection.
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