Broadband Guide

How to secure your wireless router

As many as seven million homes and small businesses could be at risk of hijacking and piggybacking because their wireless broadband is not properly secured.

More than four million people have admitted to using someone else’s wifi connection in the last year, and research by TalkTalk Broadband (www.TalkTalk.co.uk) in 2009 found that 5% of connections had no security at all. 36% used the easily hackable Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption, 56% used the more secure Wifi Protected Access (WPA) security, and only 3% used the latest WPA2 form of protection.

Am I protected?

To find out whether or not your wireless broadband is secure, scan for available wireless networks on your computer. Your own network should appear in the list, which is often identified by a name and number - for example, SKY5678 - or a name you chose when you set up your wireless, such as My Broadband.

You should be able to tell which network you're connected to, but if you are unsure which one is yours, look for a label on your router or contact your ISP. If your network is secure, there will be a padlock next to its name on the screen. If there is no padlock, you need to take action.

Secure your wireless internet and speed up your connection

Setting up wireless security

If your wireless network is not secured, then you will need to set up passwords to encrypt data before transmission and prevent outside users from accessing your broadband connection.

At the very least, you should have WEP protection on your network. However, Windows doesn’t recommend using WEP because WPA and WPA2 are far more difficult to hack.

To change your WEP or WPA passkey, you need to go into your router settings using the IP address listed in your router’s manual.

This local address usually starts with 192.168 and is followed by either a 0 or 1 and a number between 1 and 255. Enter this number into your web browser to access your router settings and look for Wireless Options, and then Security Options.

When you have found the password option, simply type - or copy and paste - your new chosen access key into it. Once you have changed the access key, you will need to make sure you enter it on each machine on your network, so that you can connect wirelessly. You should also make a note of your passkey in case you want to connect any other devices at a later date.

Read more about internet security.

Wireless Key Generator

Many people create a simple, easy to remember password and keep it for months or even years. However, using a more complex WEP or WPA key and changing it more frequently, will make it much harder for hackers to access your network.

Use our Wireless Key Generator to create the most complex access key for your type of encryption. Simply visit the generator, click refresh or press F5 on your keyboard and you will be presented with a list of 64, 128 and 256bit WEP keys as well as 64, 128, 256 and even 504bit WPA keys. Each key is unique and the same one will never be generated twice so you can change it as often as you like.

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