How To Secure Your WiFi Network (Easy Tutorial) - FOCSoft

Hello guys, In this tutorial we'll be discussing how to secure your WiFi from Intruders, Crackers etc. Here's a list of stuff that we are going to discuss in this tutorial:

- Router Features
- Strong Encryption
- Low WiFi Strength and Proximity
- MAC Filtering
- Strong Password
- Hiding WiFi SSID
- Upgrading Your Firmware

- Router Features

The first most step towards security is to see whether your device has the appropriate features to make itself secure. As for Routers especially the one's with WiFi. Security features are a must to avoid intruders to break in and take pleasure of your shit :P

Always choose a Router which has most of the Security Features, Some of the importatnt one's I'll list below:

1) Firewall - This is totally essential, as you can assign rules that can prevent certain users to find out local computers on your Lan even if the intruder has penetrated your network but will be unable to extract data.

2) MAC Filtering - ?I don't consider this as a useful feature as it can be easily tackled by spoofing your MAC with the one the Original Owner has but still this can come in handy.

3) Strong WiFi Encryption - If you want to make sure your wifi is secure enough, then always have a router that offers the latest Encryption which is the WPA2-PSK (WEP is totally weak and is very easy to crack so watch out)

4) Advance Wireless Options - Advance Wireless options are must, because they too offer some options that can be crucial sometimes if you are trying to secure your network

- Strong Encryption For WiFi Password

The most popular and strong encryption method available on WiFi is the WPA2-PSK, Here's a little intro about WPA2-PSK:

Encryption scrambles messages so that an opponent or attacker cannot intercept them. Most encryption is based on encryption keys, which are merely secret codes used to scramble and unscramble the message. Strong encryption requires strong keys.

WPA2-PSK (Preshared Key) is the strongest and most practical form of WPA for most home users. WPA2 is more secure than WPA because it uses the much stronger AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) protocol for encrypting packets.

Unlike WEP, WPA2-PSK is a hard one to crack due to it's strong encryption. I would recommend never using WEP as it's totally easy to crack using Backtrack or Kali.

- Low WiFi Strength and Proximity

One more way to secure your WiFi is to decrease your signal broadcast, so that it's only available in a small area surrounding your router (E.g Your room). I find this method usually efficient because you can access the network in a certain proximity. This is easy to do and the option to do this is available in the "Advance Wireless" settings in most routers. Here's how I set it up:

Image has been scaled down 13% (605x79). Click this bar to view original image (693x90). Click image to open in new window.

Hence this can be a useful trick to have personal security and to make sure that your WiFi is available to the user at your home only

- MAC Filtering

In MAC Filtering, you can assign certain MAC Address of computers on a network whether they can access the network or not. Using MAC Filtering you can assign your network user's MAC address to the filter so that the MAC listed in the filter is only allowed to access the Network/Internet.

To do this, there must be an option in your new router which states "MAC Filter" go to that section and set it up. Here's how I did it in my Router:

Image has been scaled down 13% (605x259). Click this bar to view original image (695x297). Click image to open in new window.

- Strong Password

Having a strong encryption doesn't mean your password is safe and secure from being cracked or brute forced. Common and weak passwords are easily cracked hence you need to assure that the password you assign to your network is pretty complex and won't get cracked easily.

For Example:

8%jN,M3IJP\BzboScT$\!Ia\SF3fAi-IcigZ%isD,nPxE3ErV6jKO9DrNFLYxKr

This 504 bits password is a badass one, hard to crack

superman123

On the other hand this password is easy to crack because of 1 thing:

The Word Superman is in the dictionary and the attacker can launch a dictionary attack and might get successful

You can generate strong random passwords from this website: Click Here

- Hiding WiFi SSID

SSID is the name of your WiFi like "Dlink" which appears in the list of WiFi Connections available when user searches for one. Here's an option under the same "Advance Wireless" section of my Router:

After doing this, my WiFi network will not be visible to the client and if he/she wants to connect then the SSID and the password have to be entered manually

- Upgrading Your Firmware

Routers have default Firmware installed which don't offer much options and flexibility, Although there are custom firmwares available for Routers that provide thousands of robust and security features. One of those firmware is DD-WRT, It's the most popular of all.

Get the most latest DD-WRT firmware for your router here Click Here

Note: Before installing the firmware, make 100% sure that the current DD-WRT version is supported by your router, by checking out their router database

Here are some of it's features:




Adjust Transmission Power
Dynamic DNS (More Hosts Supported)
Virtual LAN
Wireless Distribution System
RADIUS Auth (More powerful Encryption for WiFi )
VPN Access
SSH Access
USB Support
Virtual Server
Advance Routing
Quality OF Service
Afterburner (Enhanced WiFi Signal for more coverage )

I hope This tutorial help you,

If You Need Any Kind Help (Related This Post), Reply Here

Please Share This Post With Your Frinds :) FOCSoft

SOCIALIZE IT →

Tweet

FOLLOW US →

SHARE IT →