How to secure your broadband internet connection – Hathway

Whether you are using your smartphone, tablet, laptop or even smart TV, an internet connection is vital. Did you know that your Broadband WiFi connection signals are not only limited to the walls of our homes and offices? WiFi signals are broadcasted out into the streets and cyber criminals are in a constant lookout to access a free broadband internet connection.

It is always better to secure broadband connection and to stay safe from the illegal and fraudulent activities that take place over the internet connection.

Follow these few easy steps to stay safe and maintain a secure WiFi connection:

• Encrypt your WiFi connection:

  For a stable internet connection, you should encrypt your WiFi connection access points, so that only designated people can use your internet connection. There are a few standard types of protection in-built in a WiFi router including WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), which is rudimentary encryption and is least secure, WPA (WiFi Protected Access) and WPA2. WPA is the most used encryption, suitable for homes and office spaces where the residents or the employees can have access to the network through a shared password key.

• Pay attention to your password:

  While setting up a secure WiFi connection, do not forget to enter a long password which is random and hard to guess. Also, please change the default username and password of the new WiFi router as soon as you start using it to reduce the risk of being hacked and maintain a secure broadband connection.

• Hide your SSID:

  You can further maintain a secure broadband connection by restricting its visibility to your family members or employees. The Service Set Identifier (SSID) also referred to as the network name, can be set to ‘hidden’ so that strangers cannot trace it, and only those who know the name of the network can get connected to it.

• Set up MAC authentication:

  Just like every laptop and mobile device has a specific IP address, they also have a unique MAC address. To secure internet connection, you should add the MAC addresses of all your devices to WiFi router’s settings. This way, only those devices whose MAC address you have added to the router can access your broadband Wifi connection.

• Limit the range of the wireless signal:

  If you are using your WiFi connection for a smaller area, whether at your residence or office, you can limit the scope of the WiFi signal by switching the router from 802.11b or 802.11n to 802.11g. Another way to physically secure WiFi router signals is by painting your room with WiFi blocking paint. The paint contains chemicals that absorb WiFi signals, thereby not allowing them to penetrate beyond the walls.

These simple internet safety tips can help add layers of protection to your broadband internet connection. They can also help you control the access for your broadband connection so that hackers do not abuse your internet connection and you get the best deal out of your internet package.