Secure your Wifi borders

The router does what its name suggests and routes signals between the internet and any computers attached to the router (either by physical cables or wirelessly).

It also routes signals and files from computer to computer, so with all communication being handled through the router there is no need for any computer to be directly connected to any other.

A similar system can be used with ADSL broadband delivered via phone line, but most users these days opt for a router that has a modem built into it, thus minimising the number of devices, power supplies and cables required. Some routers don't have built-in wireless facilities, so it may be necessary to plug a separate box called a wireless access point into the router.

Typically a router can handle up to four computers or devices connected by cable, and many more connected wirelessly.

In a typical home network, only one computer will be connected to the router by cable and all the others will use the wireless connection.

A network-ready printer can be plugged directly into the router so that any computer can use it, but because many home printers have only USB connectors, it’s more usual to connect the printer to the PC that is hard-cabled to the router and let Windows handle any printing requests that come from other computers on the network.

Basic network security
Moving a wireless router as far away from outside walls as possible, and thereby reducing its broadcasting range, is the only physical security measure you can take and it isn’t worthwhile. All other security measures are implemented by making changes to the router’s internal configuration program.

This can be usually done through Internet Explorer or any other web browser by typing the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your router into the address panel at the top of the web browser. The IP address of a router can be found in its printed or online manual.

The address typically consists of four numbers separated by dots. Although the layout and names of the configuration menus varies from router to router, the facilities offered are more or less common to all.
You’ll be asked to log in with a username and a password, which you’ll find in your router’s manual. If no password is supplied, try leaving the password field blank or typing in ‘password’.

That should give you an idea of why it’s so important to set up security. Once you’ve been granted access to the configuration screens the first thing to do is change the password. After all, you don’t want everybody who uses your network to be able to look up the default password and change the router’s security settings.

Once into the configuration program, find where the password settings are and change them to something that’s impossible to guess but simple for you to remember, preferably using a mixture of letters and numbers that would not be found in a dictionary.

Most configuration programs require you to explicitly save any changes before moving on, and if you fail to do so the changes will be lost. Do not forget the password to your network – write it down somewhere safe.

In what is likely to be called the System section of the configuration program you should find a remote management option. When this is enabled, the security settings of the router can be changed by a computer elsewhere on the internet and not part of your home network. Always play safe and disable remote management.