by Jordan Cropper

Created on: March 14, 2010   Last Updated: March 15, 2010

Wireless networks are fantastic things. They allow you to share the power of the internet with everyone in your home, liberate your computer from the wires that chain it to the desk, and allow the multitude of other internet connected devices to connect from anywhere in the house. However, the fact that a wireless network is broadcasting information can also be a very bad thing; indeed, it can be almost as bad as simply standing on the roof of your house and shouting all your credit card details. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to secure a wireless network in a way that will throw off more or less all attackers, and keep your information safe. There are three main parts to securing the network; encryption, firewall and anti-virus.

The encryption stage is the first stage, and we will be altering the settings on the actual router, the piece of kit that does the actual broadcasting of the signal. Many internet providers send you a router of their own when you sign up to their service, and there are so many I cannot give anything more than general directions here.

Firstly, log onto a computer connected to the wireless network. Open an internet browser, and type in the ip address of the router; it will probably be 192.168.1.254, 192.168.0.1 or similar. Simply type this number into the address bar of the internet browser and hit enter, and you will arrive at the homepage contained inside the router. Click on the admin or advanced section; don’t worry about any warnings, nothing we do will be damaging to the router or network. The router will now ask you for a username and password; you should have been provided with this, but the information can usually be found written on a sticker on the bottom or with a quick Google search.

Once you are inside the control panel, navigate to the section concerned with the wireless network. Make sure the encryption is set to WPA or WPA-PSK. This is the most secure way of encrypting the data sent over your wireless network; encoding it to make it unreadable from the outside. All computers will support WPA, though there are some devices that only work with WEP protection, which is less secure; again, a quick search will reveal if your device can use WPA, though most newer internet capable devices can. If no, then use WEP -  it is still better than none at all.

Once this is done, find out how to change the username and/or password of the administrator account on the router, and change it to something very different, and

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