Everyone loves the benefits of a home wireless network but many people plug them in without taking the time to do a proper setup. Due to the large number of router manufacturers, this will only cover basic setup terms – please refer to the documentation for your specific router or consult Google for further assistance.
Your wireless network name is the same as the company the makes your router.
When you connect to your network, is it called “Linksys” or “Belkin” ? This is the default name that comes loaded on all new routers and this is one of the things you change when you do a proper setup. You can name your wireless network anything you want and you should change it as one of your first steps. When I see a wifi network with the company name, I’m pretty sure it’s also a wide open connection.
You have never accessed the setup panel for your router.
Did you know that your wireless router has a built in configuration panel? You can access it either by using included software or by opening a web browser and going to its default IP address. For example, on Linksys routers, the default is 192.168.1.1, all you need to do is type that into your web browser (without the http://) and you will be asked to login.
You have never set a new administrative password for your router.
All new routers from the same company come preloaded with the exact same administrative account and password. For Linksys routers it’s actually just “admin” and “admin” so anyone can access your router if you’ve never changed the password. Someone could log into your router, make changes and actually lock you out of your own wireless network if you don’t change this. Changing the password is an option in the configuration panel mentioned above.
Your wireless network does not require a password to connect.
One measure to prevent unwanted access to your wireless network is to require a password to connect. This can easily be set up in your router’s configuration panel and you can use one of the available protocols, I tend to use WPA2 but any of your router’s options will work. Once this is set, when you go to connect, a box appears requesting the password or access is denied. This is only a deterrent on a minimal level because someone could crack your password, which is why the last step is also important.
You are not using MAC or Hardware address filtering.
The MAC (media access control) or Hardware address is a special number assigned to all network cards, such as the wireless card in your computer. This is used so that each system has unique communication with the network and prevents problems with duplicate machines. Finding you MAC or Hardware address is easy but beyond the scope of this post so I’m referring you to the help guides created for University of Nebraska-Lincoln students.
MAC or Hardware address filtering is an option available on your router that allows you to specify that only machines with specific MAC or Hardware addresses may access your network. This adds a little bit of time to connecting new machines but it’s worth knowing that your connection and data is secure. You can also specify that certain MAC or Hardware addresses are blocked from your network, should you need to do that.
