How to Secure Your Home Network

Posted on July 13th, 2009 by Marck

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If you have two or more computers at home, connecting them to a network or a single Internet connection can be very convenient. The problem is that some people may indiscriminately use network resources, like piggybacking on your wi-fi connection or, in some instances, even leach files from your hard drives. It’s very important for you to secure your home network to preserve file integrity and conserve bandwidth.

Use a Physical Network

The best way to secure your home network from unauthorized access is to use a physical network instead of a wireless network. There are very few chances that a passer-by or a neighbor can leach network resources from you if you use cables to instead of wi-fi access. Make sure that wireless adapters and other wireless network devices (like Bluetooth or infra-red) are turned off.

Securing Network Access

Wireless networks (or 802.11) are prone to leaching or piggybacking. Unauthorized users can easily access wireless networks if you do not take the necessary measures and precautions to secure wireless networks. All of these methods can be performed through the options utility of your wireless network tool:

Turn off SSID. SSID stands for Service Set Identifier. The SSID is the name of your wireless network; by default, the SSID is broadcast to the effective range of your wireless network transmitter. To minimize the possibility of people detecting a wireless network, disable the SSID.
WEP. WEP stands for Wired Equivalency Privacy, and is an early form of protection and privacy for wireless networks. Over the years many people have figured out a way to break through the security protocols of WEP, but many older wireless devices could only accept WEP as a security protocol. If you do need to use WEP, make sure that the WEP key is as secure as you can make it.
WPA. WPA stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access. WPA is a better way to secure your wireless network access. Most new wireless devices can accept the WPA security standard.