Don’t Let Attackers Hack Your WiFi: These Are Our Top WiFi Security Tips

1. Change Your Router Admin Credentials

Do you remember the time when your router arrived, and you went through the initial setup procedure? If so, you probably also remember that you had to input an admin login and password, right? Let us guess: the login name was “admin”, and the password was also “admin”, correct? We thought so.

You see, most routers have the same default admin login name and password, which means that just about anyone could walk right up to your router, connect to it using an ordinary Ethernet cable and mess with the settings. While this is less likely to happen to regular home users, it’s something business owners can’t afford to take lightly. As soon as you can, change the default login credentials for something more secure.

2. Set Up Strong Encryption

Wi-Fi encryption is your main defense against hackers looking for a quick and convenient way how to hack Wi-Fi passwords. Unencrypted wireless communication can be captured, analyzed, and abused. The basic level of WiFi protection is WEP encryption.

While better than nothing, there are many easy-to-follow online tutorials out there that can teach virtually anyone how to hack a WiFi password on a WEP-encrypted network. You should always use at least WPA+TKIP encryption. Ideally, configure your router to use WPA2+AES or WPA3 encryption for a bulletproof security.

3. Verify Connected Devices with NetSpot for iOS

Locking down your network with WPA2 or WPA3 is only half the battle — anyone who slipped in beforehand can stay connected until you boot them out. Grab your iPhone, open NetSpot (a lightning-fast device discovery tool for iPhone) and tap Device Discovery. Within seconds you’ll see a live list of every client, complete with IP, MAC, manufacturer, and device class.

Anything you don’t recognize — an unfamiliar phone, laptop, or smart gadget — deserves the boot: copy its MAC address, drop it into your router’s Access-Control table, and run a fresh scan to confirm the intruder is gone.

4. Keep Your Router Updated

Your router has a complex operating system which isn’t immune to software bugs. A particularly nasty software bug could even allow a hacker from the other side of the world to remotely infiltrate your network and steal your personal information. While most routers these days update automatically, some require you to manually trigger the update process. It’s a good idea to set a reminder on your smartphone to check for available updates at least once a month.

5. Hide Your WiFi Network

The name of your WiFi network is actually called SSID, or Service Set Identifier. You can connect to a WiFi network even if it doesn’t broadcast any SSID, but you’ll need to know the network’s address. As such, hiding your WiFi network by not broadcasting any SSID is an effective way how to prevent the neighborhood kids from using your home WiFi network to hone their hacking skills.

6. Reduce Your WiFi Range

We understand that most people would rather extend the range of their WiFi network than reduce it, but, sometimes, it makes sense to limit the range to a small area. If you’re, for example, living in a small apartment, there’s no reason to broadcast your WiFi across the entire block, giving more people than necessary the opportunity to hack it.

A WiFi analysis tool such as NetSpot can help you determine the current range of your network, and you can then turn down the Transmit Power Control on your router to adjust it.

7. Enable MAC Filtering

Every WiFi-enabled device has a unique identifier called the physical address or Media Access Control (MAC) address. You can set your router to only communicate with certain MAC addresses, preventing everyone else from connecting to your network. Just keep in mind that MAC filtering isn’t bulletproof because it’s easy to change the MAC address on most devices, making them appear as other devices.

8. Avoid Open Public Networks

As convenient as public WiFi networks are, you should be very cautious when connecting to one. Not all public WiFi networks respect the privacy and security of their users, and some public networks may even be set up by hackers who want to lure in unsuspecting victims to steal their passwords and bank accounts. Only connect to verified, trustworthy public networks and always disable automatic WiFi connecting.