Increasing Security for WiFi Networks

Now we understand how to secure a WiFi network connection with proper encryption, let’s see what other options exist to make these convenient networks even more private and secure.

Hide the network from others by suppressing your station identifier – by disabling SSID broadcast in the router, you can make the network invisible to regular searches for available wireless networks. Anyone wanting to connect to the network under these circumstances would need to supply its exact name instead of choosing from a list. While this measure alone won’t prevent determined attempts to hook up to your network, it will help keep the majority of strangers away.

MAC filtering enables people who want to limit access to the wireless network to only permitted MAC addresses unique to individual computers.

Disable ad-hoc networking – some laptops may try to connect to other nearby computers to form a so-called ad-hoc network. You should ensure that ad-hoc mode is not enabled and instead select infrastructure-only mode, in which a client is allowed to connect to a hotspot (authorized gateway) only.

Disable file and printer sharing for your wireless network. This will make your computer’s resources unavailable to others.

Remember, wireless networks are a great convenience as long as they are protected and encrypted, but the information sent through them is easier to intercept than data sent over traditional wired networks, so you should refrain from connecting to any unknown/suspicious hotspots. You can read more about WiFi security here.