How To Improve The Security Of Home Routers?

Undoubtedly one of the issues that are gaining more and more strength within the technology sector is cybercrime and how to deal with it.

While many specialists choose to recommend the use of VPNs, private networks, and browsers with robust security, other experts point to much simpler and more practical solutions that are within reach of any ordinary user.

In this last aspect, the home router is the gateway to our home that is increasingly connected to the outside world and ensures that its security is sufficiently adequate to prevent intrusions by third parties.

This article gives you a series of practical tips to improve your router’s security practically and straightforwardly.

With these steps, implementing security related to internet access in our own home will be much easier, and we will avoid unpleasant surprises.

Filter by MAC addresses

Another effective way is to filter which MAC addresses can be connected to our router. The MACs are a kind of unique identity document that each device has, so knowing the identities of the devices on our network, we can decide which of them have access and block the rest; in this way, no device connected with a MAC does not desire to be able to access our network.

Enable port firewalls

As its name indicates, the access ports to our computer are “portals” that provide access to our equipment; the best way to avoid unauthorized entries is to close most ports, except those that use the programs we need for work or leisure.

Through our operating system (macOS, Windows, or Linux), we can decide which ports we have open and which ports we want to use for each program. This configuration will have to match one router to avoid connection problems.

Change the network name and default password

Telecommunications companies always work with specific router models. These bring access to the predefined administrator that, if not changed, poses a serious risk to anyone within the range of our WIFI.

To make this change from your computer connected to the said router, type 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 in the browser. Once in the administrator panel, the username is usually Admin, and the password is Admin or similar.

Cybercriminals know the models and their predefined usernames and passwords, and it is the first thing they try to attack. Modify these values ​​from the router’s administration system.

Disable the remote access option

Most home routers have the remote access option enabled by default, and users are unaware of it.

This function allows the telephone company to operate with our router in failure or maintenance. Cybercriminals are aware of this hole and will use it to try and exploit this weakness. Disable this option from the router’s control panel

Apart from these slightly more technical tips, we must remember that tasks as simple as changing the default password of the WIFI network for a secure one of our choice, not providing a said password to anyone, or connecting to trusted networks with our devices are straightforward to implement and very effective.

Digital security begins without a doubt in our own homes. Reinforcing the protection of the home router guarantees us certain guarantees of peace of mind to start using the Internet in a much calmer way and without the risk of data theft or violation of our privacy. Put into practice the advice we have given you in this article, and forget about these problems.