A router is a device which enables data to be shared or circulated across multiple devices. With a router, multiple devices could be able to run on a single data connection at once. A router when connected to the internet via the modem generates and hosts a Wi-Fi network which can be shared by multiple devices for browsing or accessing the internet.

Reasons why you would want to secure your wireless router

Here are the possible reasons why you would want to secure your home or office wireless router:

Unauthorized users may interfere with your privacy by hacking into your system and accessing personal information you wouldn’t want anyone to know about. In some cases getting you into trouble with it.
Excess traffic might slow down the speed at which you connect and access the internet through your router. I bet you don’t like this happening.
Unknown persons might land you into trouble if they access illegal materials or perform illegal activities with the data connection generated through your router which of course would be traced to your IP address (if you understand what I mean).
Finally, you end up paying for the data you did not make use of. How sad!


So just in case you are tired of unauthorized persons making use of your data connection or IP address as the case may be, because of the aforementioned reasons, below are few ways to keep those parasites away.

Generate your own password: if you don’t have any password or passphrase set up for your router, or you are still making use of a default password which can be guessed easily by someone, you can set up a password for yourself by going to your routers set up area. Select the security method you want to make use of, enter a password you can always remember. After this set up, anybody that would want to make use of your data connection would be prompted to enter a password to get connected. If the person doesn’t have the password, he can’t connect to your router.
Secure your router with a Wi-Fi Protected Access: the WPA and WPA2 are improved security versions of the WEP hence offers more security. It is possible to find all three security versions in one router. In that case, it is advisable that you go for WPA2 because it’s more secure than the WPA and WEP. If your router only makes use of WEP, then for security sake make use of it.
Turn off guest networks: a guest network is a separate option available to allow guests make use of data connection without gaining access into your personal information which is somehow accessible through your individual network. You could as well turn this off if you don’t want your data connection shared with anybody.
Secure your router with a MAC address filter: MAC is an acronym for Medium Access Control. It is the address given to each computer or network device by its manufacturer. A MAC address looks like this, 00:10:B5:C3:99:7A. No two computers can have the same MAC address. Hence you can secure your router from ‘Wi-Fi trackers’ by copying the MAC address of the computers you wish to be able to access your data connection into the MAC filter list if your router has this feature. This way, only the computers or network devices whose MAC address have been entered into your routers MAC filter list can be able to make use of the data connection generated by the router.
Set the range of your wireless signal: you could set the range of your wireless signal depending on where you want to be accessing the signal, be it a small room or a whole compound. You can do this by switching through different router modes and selecting the particular mode that suits you.
Change your original SSID name: the SSID is an acronym for Service Set Identifier. It is the name that can be used to identify your router which is usually the brand or company name of that particular router. For security reasons, it’s advisable to change your router SSID name because a hacker knows the best action or steps to take to hack into your router and make use of your data or access personal information if your router is identified.
Hide SSID broadcast: you don’t want anybody to see your router SSID right? Because nobody will try to connect to your router if he/she doesn’t even know it exists. You can hide your router by simply disabling SSID broadcast. This way, nobody will be able to see your router’s SSID and log it to it if it’s not protected with a password. However, your data connection can still be logged into if anybody knows you have a router and knows your SSID name beforehand. In this situation, your best bet would be to set a password for your router.
Make use of a network monitor: a network monitor is software which scans your router from time to time and makes sure you have no leeches on your internet connection by constantly feeding you with the IP addresses and MAC addresses of these unwanted users each time a routine scan is conducted. You can do a number of things with this information from muting the addresses to tracing them to know where it’s really coming from and catch the thieves who have been accessing your data connection all the while.
Turn off remote administration: disabling remote administration prevents anyone from tampering or connecting with your router when you aren’t making use of it.
Make use of your router firewall feature: nowadays, it’s hard to come by a router which doesn’t possess a firewall feature. It’s advisable to enable this feature in order to help secure your wireless router.
Make use of a Wi-Fi blocking paint: there exists a special kind of paint containing chemicals that absorb radio signals. You can apply this paint in an entire room when you don’t want any signal to escape the room.

Apply any of the above tactics and you are safe! Do u know of any other measure that can help keep the’ Wi-Fi trackers’ away? Feel free to add yours….

SOURCE : http://techblogtips.com/how-to-secure-my-wireless-router/

cc lalasticlala lordZOUGA, Javanian, kodewrita

Despite all these, monitor mac and ip addresses from time to time, as some of ur workers can reveal ur password and ip, u can kick them out.