How to secure your home Wi-Fi network and router

Make sure what happens on your network stays private on your network.

- ALAINA YEE

Your home network’s security is only as good as the configuration of your router or gateway. Leave it open or vulnerable, and you might end up with freeloaders that hog your bandwidth, in the best-case scenario. At worst, a snoop might take the opportunity to examine your internal traffic, hoping to discover sensitive information about you that can be exploited.

To ensure that only approved devices are connected to your network, you can take a few simple steps to strengthen its security, which we explain below. If you can’t access some of these settings in your gateway (the combination modem/router provided by your internet service provider), consider switching off the router part of it and using a dedicated router instead, of either the traditional or mesh variety.

CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS

Depending on your router’s age, you may need to change both the administrator password (which gives access to the management interface) and the Wi-Fi password.

Older routers usually default to ultra-simple passwords for the administrator account —think “admin” and “password”—and they’re easily found online. You may have also chosen a simple, crackable password when turning on encryption for your network. For both scenarios, choose a new, stronger replacement. The best way to do this is a built-in password generator in a password manager (go. pcworld.com/ bpmr)—they’ll be truly random and thus more secure, and the manager will ensure you don’t forget it. (Good free password managers [go.pcworld.com/fpmr] exist, so solid online security doesn’t have to cost you a thing.)