Routers are used for sharing internet connections through WAN and LAN. It is a technology that forwards data packages along networks. There are many types of routers that are available in the market and these routers come with different features. These features are there so that they can protect your internet connection from getting stolen. Most people do not care about these features simply don't know what the uses are. That is why it is really important that you know the features of your router. You can prevent many crimes and other people and devices from using your internet connection. In this content we will try to figure out the top 5 ways through which you can easily secure your Wireless Router and also we will try to find out the implications of other people stealing your internet connection.
We all know how important routers are, especially when you use it for your business and other important works. In other cases too, routers are important such as in schools, colleges and many other places. But there are many people who miss use the advantages of technology. These things can give you many headaches when someone is stealing your bandwidth. It is not easy to spot it, but you will face a whole lot of problems such as slow internet connection, uploading issues and many more such issues. We pay for the bandwidth so that we can download our favorite movies, songs and videos and also play games online, but when our bandwidth is slow and messy, that is when we suffer. There are many ways through which you can actually prevent these issues. If you do not want to share your internet pipe you need to take few things very seriously and implement those.
Now we have just discussed about the internet connection getting slow but do you know it can also cause you certain legal problems. Let me share an incident that occurred a few months back. A Few months back an incident made news when a man was charged with child pornography, but the interesting thing was he was innocent. Later it was found that there was another group who was using the internet connection of that innocent man to download those illegal contents. This is a very extreme case, but there are many such cases that are happening all over the world. Terrorists are using the bandwidth of unknown people to hide themselves. Also the security risk is high in such cases. These cases are increasing every day. That is why it is very important that we know how to prevent these occurrences. Now let's find out the top 5 ways to keep your internet connection safe from leaking.
- Network Monitoring Application - There are many apps that are available these days that can help you to detect any other users using your internet connection. One such application is Fing. Fing enables your computer to scan out your network and find out if there is anyone trying to use your internet connection or actively using your internet connection. These apps scan your network and finds out the following information's:
- Host names
- IP addresses
- MAC addresses etc.
In case you get any users or devices that are using your internet connection, then you can take necessary steps to prevent that or you can go to the concerned authority and get a complaint lodged. There are many laws these days that prevents IT crimes.
- Encrypt Password - Most people know about the password encryption, while using a wireless router. It is very important that you do not leave your router open without any password. Although you have trusted members near you it is very important that you save your password so that other users and devices cannot connect to your internet connection.
- Turn the broadcasting off: When you use a router there are many features in a router and one of them is the broadcasting name. The name of the wireless is also known as SSID. It is the name of your network, for example "Sandy's Wi-Fi". But one thing you need to understand that other people not necessarily knows the name of your SSID. There is an option in almost every router to turn off the broadcasting name. When you go to the setting page you will get something like "Enable SSID". You need to uncheck that one. It is different in different routers from different companies. When you do not turn on the broadcasting name then other people in your area won't get it. The other devices cannot scan your connection. This is one good way of preventing other users and devices to connect to your internet connection.
- MAC Filtering: This feature is also very popular among the people and is found in most of the routers. There is a MAC address that you can add to the device or to those devices that you want to provide your connections. In case any other users or devices try to connect your network they would be blocked from accessing your network.
- Guest networks should be disabled - Now a days there are many types of routers that actually come with an extra configuration that enables guests to use the router. A guest network provides access to other users to use the internet connection, but does not allow the shared files to get access. There are many business houses and companies that use these features so that other employees can use the internet connections. But in the case of home users it is very much advisable to turn off that feature so that other devices cannot use your bandwidth posting as guests. In these routers there are passwords that are set as default and these passwords are very easy to get. Anyone can look up in Google and get the password. That is why it is very important that you disable the guest option in your router.
These are some of the ways by which you can stop others from stealing your internet connection. When you have an unlimited plan, you generally tend to get easier about your connection being used by others, but you need to remember the above points. When other users use your internet connection your internet connection becomes very slow. This is when you cannot download movies, songs and games faster. The videos won't get streamed faster and many more such things. Apart from these there are many legal implications. Someone using your internet connection for illegal purpose might lead you to face the law. Why to become bait when you have options? There are also many gangs that use other people's internet connections for extortions and other crimes. Terrorists are using the same strategies to fulfill their deeds. That is why it is very important that you know the implications and also at the same time you know how to prevent these thefts.
So when you buy your router make sure you have the above features and also the most important thing you use those features and security measures. This will help you to browse and download with any hazel and at the same time and you are secure from any illegal activities that might be occurring unknowingly through your internet connection.
