Wi-Fi networks are always the target of unwanted intruders. Everything will depend on the security of the router that we have in our homes or work areas. And, although it should be clear that they are something totally private to which only we and those we have authorized should have access, at one point or another it could be the case that someone is stealing our connection.
Believe it or not, there are many people who use this regularly. Fortunately, we will be able to block these possible intrusions from any phone, be it Android or iPhone. So we will not need to have a computer on hand to achieve our goal: to prevent Wi-Fi from being stolen . In addition, this is entirely due to the fact that wireless networks are visible just by activating this function on a device, leaving the door open to different users.
Therefore, if you suspect that Wi-Fi may be being stolen from your home, this is how you can make your router more secure against thieves.
Can they steal your Wi-Fi?
You won’t quite believe it, but, yes, today there are many people who can connect to your Wi-Fi network without your permission . Not only because they get the key to your router through specific apps, but they could be ‘hackers’ who have different skills to get it.
Therefore, in the event that your home connection is not encrypted, any user of a device with a Wi-Fi connection will be able to connect quickly. And, once they have connected, they will not only be slowing it down, but even if they are cybercriminals, they could spy on your messages by accessing the private files of devices connected to the network. Although it is not the worst of all, it could infect your connected devices with malware.
That is why we will explain how you have to access the router and configure it so that, practically, nobody can easily enter it.
Access your router
The best way to prevent your Wi-Fi from being stolen is to properly configure your home or work network. But, for this, you must enter its panel or menu in which all its settings are found. Each router has its own panel, in addition to which we will need to know the IP address of the device. However, this IP address is usually standard, with the following address being the most used by commercial routers: 192.168.1.1 .
Therefore, to enter the menu that the router manages, we must be connected to that network that we want to configure, access the browser on our phone and write that IP address in the URL . That is, in the address bar that will appear at the top of your web browser.
As soon as we write it, click on search. At that moment the access menu will open with the username and password fields. In the case that you have never accessed, the most likely is that the user is ‘ admin ‘ and the password is ‘1234’. However, the user may come by default and you only have to enter the password. In other cases, we must look at the label of our router to see the access data. Finally, enter the data, and you will be within its configuration.
Prevent your signal from being stolen
To prevent Wi-Fi from being stolen, we will only have to carry out a series of security measures that will be easy to carry out. In addition, the difficult thing is already done, since we have managed to access the device configuration by typing the IP address. Once inside, we can move on to the councils.
Change password
Within the section of our network, we would have to find the option to change the password of the wireless connection . However, avoid creating a key type that is simple, such as simple combinations or personal dates and data. It is best to enter a password that includes different combinations of numbers, letters, and symbols. So that, in this way, it is almost impossible for someone to guess or know the key to our Wi-Fi.
Disable WPS
Many users may not know it yet, but the WPS function allows us to connect to our network quite easily. All we have to do is press a button on the router (WPS) and enter a PIN on the device we want to connect. And all this, without the need to enter the password. The danger is that we are dealing with a mechanism with a security system that is too weak. Basically, because it is not difficult to find out the PIN and establish a connection to the router.
To disable it, simply go to the Wi-Fi network section of your router device’s configuration, and disable the box called WPS.
Hide the network name
Each manufacturer has its own configuration website, so we will give you a series of general points that should be enough for you to find the setting that allows you to change the name of our connection, or even hide it.
You just have to navigate through its menus until you find the section Network or Wi-Fi name (SSID) , which is the name with which your wireless connection will appear when you try to connect to it. Once in this section, we will have to put the name we want, so we will prevent someone from knowing if we belong to one operator or another, since there are people who have the algorithms of that operator, so it will be easier for them to enter our connection.
In addition, we can have an option to hide the name of the Wi-Fi right in the same box that allows us to change its name, or within this same section.
Activate the MAC filter
To block people who are stealing your Wi-Fi we must start using the famous MAC Filtering . This option will help us to prevent access to those devices that we do not know whose they are. In addition, all routers include the ability to enable MAC filtering.
We will only have to enter the Wi-Fi section, look for the MAC Filtering option and activate it. Then, we will have to enter the MAC addresses of the devices that we want to block or admit in our home network.
To see this address, one of the best options that we recommend is Fing , which can be downloaded for free from Google Play:
Once installed, it will tell us which devices are connected to our Wi-Fi. In addition, it will show us the MAC address, which we will need to later block this supposed intruder.