Lock down your Wi-Fi network
YOU’LL NEED THIS
ROUTER
With installation media and open source firmware
(both optional).
AT THE OUTBREAK
of World War 1 in August 1914, a British cable ship severed Germany’s undersea telegraph cables. This offered excellent intelligence opportunities by forcing the enemy to communicate over radio waves, which were much easier to intercept and decode.
Over a century later, the same holds true for wireless networks, which rely on radio waves to communicate with internet-enabled devices. Wi-Fi poses serious privacy and legal concerns.
Germany’s Störerhaftung (Breach of Duty of Care) law can hold Wi-Fi providers responsible for any unlawful activity by connected users; the law was amended in 2017 to exempt Wi-Fi owners who’d taken reasonable precautions. Even if a your neighbor just “borrows” your Wi-Fi for lawful activities, this could seriously impede your download and upload speeds. In this guide, we explore ways to protect your Wi-Fi network from unauthorized use.
–NATE DRAKE
A
B
1 FLASH YOUR FIRMWARE
The main issue with Wi-Fi security is that most people use the router supplied by their ISP. Many ship with default passwords, which admins never change.