È steal your Wi-Fi connection it is not something beautiful. The fact that other people are using your bandwidth implies speed losses in the network and security concerns as the rest of the people connected could access the content stored on your devices.
This is why it is very important maintain a high level of security in our Wi-Fi network. In this guide, we explain everything you need to know for maintain a totally secure Wi-Fi network and safe from strangers.
- Can they enter my WiFi or router without my permission?
- How can I enter the configuration of my router?
- How do I know which devices are connected to my WiFi?
- How to prevent my Wi-Fi from being stolen
You can configure your Wi-Fi router to prevent neighbors from stealing your connection.
Can they enter my WiFi or router without my permission?
Unfortunately, yes, other people can connect to your Wi-Fi network without your permission.
In case your network is not encrypted, any user of a device with a Wi-Fi connection will be able to connect.
Once connected, they will not only occupy a large part of the network width, thus reducing the speed of the connection; They might as well spy on your conversations, access the private files of devices connected to the network or even infect your computers with viruses.
But that's not all: if they log into your network, they may have also access to the router, thus having the possibility to modify the network parameters and other settings of the router itself.
How can I enter the configuration of my router?
Il best way to prevent your WiFi from being stolen is to configure the network correctly, using the different security systems offered by the router.
To do this, you will have to access the configuration panel of which all routers have.
While each router has its own configuration panel with specific settings, the way to access it it will always be the same. To do this it is enough to have a computer or cell phone with a web browser at your fingertips.
When you have the tools you need, the first thing you should do is know the IP address of your router. It's as easy as following these steps:
- On your computer, you need to open a command window (CMD on Windows or Terminal on MacOS and Linux).
- Enter the command "ipconfig" on Windows or "ifconfig" on Linux or MacOS. No quotation in either case.
- Now, make a note of the address that appears accompanied by the title "Default Gateway" or similar.
You already have the IP address with which to access the router configuration. The next step is when entering that address in the browser search bar to access the router configuration page. Once inside, you will see a page similar to the one in the image below these lines:
The configuration page of a ZTE router.
You will see that you need to enter a username and password. If you've never logged in to setup, your credentials are most likely 'admin' and 'admin', '1234' and '1234' or a combination of both for username and password respectively. This information varies depending on the router manufacturer. There are some web pages that contain the credentials most used by the main router manufacturers.
After logging into your router, you can make a multitude of tweaks and adjustments to your Wi-Fi network or the router itself. Something advisable is change the router login password to so that only you know, so that no one who connects to the network can change the parameters of the gateway to the network.
How do I know which devices are connected to my WiFi?
In some cases, when you enter the router configuration page, you will be able to see a list of devices that are connected to the network, along with their IP addresses and the unique MAC address that identifies them.
However, there is an even easier and faster way to see who has connected to our Wi-Fi network.
Just use a mobile app like Fing, which allows you to see a list with each device connected to the network in real time. This app will give us information about each device such as the manufacturer and model, the IP address or the MAC address.
How do I make them?
Now you know who connected to your WiFi network. So now is the time to drive out intruders and bring everything back to normal.
block people who steal Wi-Fi and prevent them from connecting to our network, one of the most useful techniques is the so-called «»MAC Filtering». It consists in preventing access to specific devices in based on their hardware address.
Practically all routers they include among their options the ability to activate MAC filtering. And while it may be a bit of a tedious process, the truth is it's one of the most effective ways to prevent Wi-Fi theft.
To activate and use the MAC Filtering of your router, these are the steps you need to follow:
- Open your router's configuration page in your browser.
- Go to the section «Wi-Fi networks», «Networks» or similar.
- Now look for the option "Access Control List", "Mac Filter", "MAC Filter" or similar.
- Enter the MAC addresses of the devices you want to block or allow - you can find them via an app like Fing - and add them to the blocked devices list.
Therefore, you will have created a "black list" of devices that they will not be able to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network a unless you decide to remove their address from that list.
How to prevent my WiFi from being stolen
The Wi-Fi connection icon on an Android mobile phone.
The above solution is useful when the your Wi-Fi has already been stolen when you log into your network, but it's always better to prevent to intruders to connect.
If you think your connection hasn't been stolen yet, but it could happen sooner or later, here are some things you should do to avoid it.
Use a more secure password
This should be the first step as soon as you set up a new Wi-Fi network: access the Wi-Fi settings and change the default password for a more secure one.
While the default router passwords aren't exactly easy to remember, there are databases that contain them default passwords for some of the more popular routers that other people can use for steal your WiFi.
Keep in mind that if you have one rete Wi-Fi da 2,5 GHz e 5 GHz, you will have to change the password independently for each network. Either way, you can do it within the Wi-Fi networks on the router configuration page.
Then you can change the password of your Wi-Fi router.
Disable WPS
The function WPS o Wifi Protected Setup ci permette to easily connect to our network by pressing a button on the router and entering a PIN on the device to be connected, without having to enter the password.
The problem is that it is a mechanism with a weak security system, as it is not difficult find out the PIN and establish a connection to the network. Therefore, the smartest thing to do is completely disable the WPS function from the router settings.
To do this it is enough go to the Wi-Fi Networks section the router configuration e deactivate that option called WPS.
Hide Network Name (SSID)
Your neighbors won't be able to connect to a network that doesn't exist. So completely hiding your network can be a great way to avoid intruders.
Hiding the SSID –The name of the network–, will not appear in the WiFi network search menus of their cell phones or computers, and therefore they will never know that these networks exist.
Even so, both the people you want to share your WiFi network with and yourself can continue to connect to the network, since you will know their name.
In network connection of router settings, you will see an option called "Hide SSID" or similar. If you activate it, the network will no longer appear in searches and to connect you will have to enter his exact name.
If you hide your network's SSID, your neighbors won't know it exists.
If you've made it this far, you probably already have one Intrusion-proof WiFi network. As you can see, setting up your network securely won't take you long, but it will eliminate the headaches it can lead to unwanted neighbors occupying bandwidth and have access to your private information.
