How to Secure your Home Wi-Fi Router

Securing your home wi-fi router is not an option but a necessity. It is so because, once a hacker gets access to the DNS servers that are connected to your router, it will become an easy platform for the hackers for all illegal and offensive deeds like spreading malware infection or doing identity theft through phishing. As rightly pointed out by an expert of the reputed Bravo Telecom internet provider in Montreal, these kinds of attacks doesn’t only exploit the browser vulnerability, but also use the router maliciously, irrespective of the brand or model it is.

According to him, still there is scope from the user’s end to secure his home Wi-Fi Router if some solid steps are taken in the right direction.

Ditchthe Administrative Password

Your router will come with a default SSID name and password at the time of installation. The first thing you need to do, once it is installed is, change the password immediately, even before you start using it. From there you should keep changing this SSID password, at least once in a month or two, to cut down on the chance for the hackers to trace down your personal information.

Turn off the Broadcast from SSID

Broadcasting all that comes from your router’s SSID willopen a broad way of connecting new wireless devices to the existing network. But it will at the same time start displaying the name of your network to anyone who is using a Wi-fi nearby. This will instigate the hackers to take their next steps. By turning off this feature, though won’t be able to hide the presence of your network altogether but will be visible only to fewer people, which will reduce the amount of risk.

Reduce the Power of Wireless Radio Mode

If you have a router that allows you to turn down the wireless radio power setting, do not hesitate to use it. This will help keep the signal stay confined within the area of your home. This is to minimize the amount of signal strength that reaches out to the street or beyond the compound walls of your home.

Turn Off the Ping Response

This is yet another way to strengthen the safety walls of your Wi-Fi router. If you go to the setting of the router interface you can find the how your router respondsto the ping commands that are issued from the Internet. Though by default it is usually turned off, but before using the router, it is better to verify if it is really turned off.This is because sometimes, the ping response can betray the existence of the network you use to the potential hackers, encouraging them to pursue their motives.

Do Not Use the Remote ManagementFeature

To add more user friendliness, most of the recent day manufactured routers come with a remote management feature, thatasks you to log in from your mobile device and allows you to manage the device from wherever you are located. But this feature won’t do much help to you but will extend a longer helping hand to the hackers. If you for some reason need to have a remote access to your wi-fi router, use it after changing the default port number to something that will be difficult to guess.