Guest Networks and Network Security
We know that visiting suspicious websites on your home internet can leave you exposed to malware and viruses, but did you know that letting guests on your network also leaves you exposed?
Leaving your home network exposed also leaves room for hackers to access devices on your networks, like cameras, doorbells, smart thermostats, TVs, Alexa, and any device that is connected to your wifi. The ‘smarter’ your home is, the more important it is to protect your network.
There are several strategies to keep your home network protected. You can set network strong network passwords, create guest networks, or start at the source with your internet provider.
Network Passwords
The number one way to keep your network protected is to create a strong password. Everyone who comes to your house will ask for your wifi password, but be careful. Once you give someone your password, they can tell it to their mom, their sister, their dentist, or just strangers on the street. We’ve talked about passwords before, but we’ll go over the basics:
For network passwords, the longer the better! You want it to be something you’ll remember, but your friends won’t. A series of letters and numbers will be the best way to protect your network.
Don’t give your password out to just anyone. This one is pretty obvious, but limiting the number of people who know your wifi password will limit the potential risks to your network.
Change your password often. Create a system for yourself. Every 5 people you give your password to, change it up! Find a system that works for you, and stick to it.
Guest Networks
If you have a lot of people in your home for parties, holidays, or just have people over often, you may want to create a guest network.
There are two different kinds of guest networks – a temporary network and an endless network.
A temporary network has a start and end date. These are the most useful for events, so your guests can have wifi access while at your home, but the network will timeout when the event is over. You can set a guest password or leave it available. Either way, it keeps people off of your personal network.
Let’s say your buddies are coming over for a Super Bowl party. Everyone’s going to be live-tweeting, checking stats, and googling the latest commercial. You don’t know where those searches will take them on the wide web, so you set up a guest network.
The network starts the morning of the party, uses the password TouchDown#1, and expires at midnight when all of your guests have hopefully gone home. Now whatever your friends are searching will stay on that protected guest network, and the password for your personal password stays private.
The second type of guest network is an endless network. These networks don’t have an expiration date, so you can keep up all the time. These are the most helpful if you often have guests in your home.
Network Security with Wisper Home
And finally, one of the simplest ways to protect your devices and your network is to start right at the source. Services like Wisper Home App and the Wisper Care plan block any negative invaders before they even get into the house.
Wisper Home and other similar services run in the background 24/7 and alert you anytime something tries to get onto your network. It works by protecting all devices on your network, preventing any outside access to those devices, and blocking data from suspicious sites.
As we mentioned before, some devices don’t have built-in antivirus capabilities like your phone or computer. Your smart TV or video doorbell has access to a lot of your information but isn’t inherently protected. Protecting them at the source keeps your information safe and private.
Network security is important to protect your data, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep your password strong and private, set up a guest network when you need it, and keep all of your devices protected from invaders with Wisper Home.