Protect Your Home Network with a Router

A router should be your first line of defense between your network and the Internet at large. It acts as a gatekeeper, letting you surf and send e-mail, but keeping unrequested traffic off your system.

Router devices, such as those from D-Link and Linksys, are popular ways to create a wireless home network, so you may already have a router working for you. If you haven’t created a home network yet, pick up a wireless broadband router. Not only do they let you share an online connection wirelessly through your home, but they’re ridiculously cheap.

Simply having a router in place will stop most unwanted attention, but to protect yourself from more sophisticated attacks, you’ll need to turn on some security features.

Router Security

Your router will likely come with a few types of security encryption systems available, although they will probably be turned off by default. To activate them, navigate to your router’s control page through your Web browser. The manual that came with your router can tell you how to do this.

The two encryption systems available are WPA (WiFi Protected Access) and WEP (Wired Equivalent Protection), and there are varieties of each. If your router offers it, use WPA2, which is the newest and most secure currently available. Failing that, choose WPA, 128-bit WEP, or 64-bit WEP (in that order). These encrypt the data that passes over your network, and it would take a dedicated hacker to break through them. It can be done, but the ones mentioned first are more difficult.

When you’ve activated a security system, you’ll get an access code, or key, that you’ll need for the other computers on your network. Write it down in a safe place. When you select your home network on a different computer, you’ll be asked to type in that key.

The Name Game

Your router will assign a default name (called an SSID) to your home network, such as “linksys” for a Linksys router, but you can and should change this. Keeping the default name is an open invitation to hackers who might be looking for easy targets. Change the name to something unique.

The router will also broadcast the network name, so that people within wireless range can easily detect and use it. Unfortunately, broadcasting the name also makes you a potential target. Select the option to turn off SSID broadcasting. People can’t attack what they can’t see. Now, when you select a wireless network for one of your home computers, you won’t see your own on the list. Instead, choose the option for “other,” then enter your network name, the encryption type (if asked), and the encryption key. You’ll be able to log on and use the network with no problems.

Troy Dreier is a freelance tech writer based in the New York City area.