Despite the numerous benefits that WiFi gives us, security concerns remain as real as ever. Unfortunately, hackers specialize in targeting the weak points created by the small mistakes most of us make.
They make it their life mission to analyze our behavior until they spot these mistakes, and that’s where they hack into our WiFis and breach our security and privacy.
In order to ensure that nobody can spy their way into your WiFi, it’s important to know just what these mistakes are and how to avoid them.
That being said, here are seven tips to enhance the security of your WiFi.
Use Strong and Unique Passwords
You’ll always hear this kind of advice whenever it’s the security we’re talking about: use strong and unique passwords, for goodness sake. The same holds true for your WiFi security, as choosing a weak and common password is just as bad as choosing no password at all.
For instance, choosing “Admin” as the username and “password” as, you guessed it, the password is a humorless joke; it wouldn’t take a hacker 20 seconds to find your password and have full access to your WiFi, giving themselves the same degree of authority as yourself.
Read:- [5 Hacks] How to Find WiFi Password On Windows 10
Filter Your PNL
PNL stands for Preferred Network List, and that’s the list of WiFi networks you’ve enabled your device to connect to automatically as soon as they’re in range. The issue with this is that your device will automatically connect to the network’s name as soon as it recognizes it, even if it’s another network using the same name.
There’s nothing easier for hackers to create like a list of random names and make these networks public, waiting for your device to connect to it and then breaching its security.
Once the security is breached, it’s even easier for them to access your list of networks, which includes your very own WiFi.
Disable Auto-Connection to Networks
Once you remove all unnecessary networks from your PNL, you may be required to reenter the password manually every time you connect to the network of your choice.
To minimize the hassle, just disable the auto-connection option from your devices and then choose a network to connect to whenever you need WiFi. While you’ll have to take an extra step, that will save you a ton of potential trouble.
Read:- 3 Easy Methods To Find Your Wifi Password
Encrypt Local Traffic Using VPN
Once again, neglecting the security of the devices you use while connected to the internet will eventually reflect on the security of your WiFi. In cases where you absolutely have to connect to the internet via public WiFi, make sure to activate a VPN beforehand.
As the web security experts at https://alrigh.com explain, VPNs allow you to encrypt the data leaving, and being received by your device. So even if a hacker was able to access the information, they’d have no way of deciphering them.
This will keep your personal, financial, and other private information all secure, and that includes your list of networks.
Restrict Guest Users
No one really thinks twice before giving their passwords to their guests, but can you really be sure your guests practice good security protocols on their devices? Even worse is the case with WiFi on business premises where you don’t even know the customers personally.
What you should do is to restrict each user to their own subnets, which ensures they have restricted communication with the router only and not to the other devices connected to it.
Disable Remote Administration
While remote administration can give you, or your service provider, quick access to solve issues quickly, it also leaves an opening for hackers. To disable remote administration, you’ll access your router’s setting and click on the “Remote Administration” subheading.
Check Connected Gadgets
While you’re checking your router’s setting, it’s worthwhile to take a tour and check for all connected and registered gadgets. It’s understandable how long the list can be, especially if you connect all your devices and smart gadgets to your WiFi.
However, you may stumble across a foreign ID, and that should alert you to leechers or hackers. You can check the connected gadgets under the “Attached Devices” or “DHCP Client List” subheadings. You’ll have access to the IP addresses, MAC address, or device name, after which you’ll disconnect the ones belonging to you until you’re left with the culprit.
This digital age has opened the door to limitless possibilities. Unfortunately, that includes hacking privileges as well. That doesn’t mean you can’t be one step ahead of malicious attempts, though; you can effectively ensure the security of your networks and WiFi by taking a few steps and avoiding common mistakes.