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WiFi security

peter10
Grafter
Posts: 231
Registered: ‎04-03-2009

WiFi security

I've only used an ethernet connection before so I am new to setting up WiFi connections. I want to make my connection as secure as possible so I would be grateful for some advice
.
1) I've changed the SSID but should I hide it or not?
2) It is set for WPA PSK. Should I change the password from the one printed on the router? I'm assuming that it is unique for each router.
3) I'm using Windows 7. Is it better to have the network set as Home or Public? I don't need to share anything with my ethernet wired computer.
4) I just had a disconnection (which is very rare) and when I tried to reconnect the networks available showed the original default SSID name and said network unprotected. A few seconds later it had changed back to the name I called it and was secure again. There was also a gateway change. Is this normal?
Thanks for any help.
2 REPLIES 2
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: WiFi security

1) Hiding it is a bit more secure, but does seem to cause problems for Android based devices when connecting (I've had to unhide mine since getting an Android phone or it won't connect to my wifi).
2) The one on the router is fine (it's the product code I believe so is different for each router) but it may not be the easiest to remember. If you do change it best to include a mix of lower and upper case letters, numbers and symbols if possible as that makes it much much harder to brute force.
3) Home, I'd say, as it will be a home network Smiley I think it just changes what Windows allows to be seen/shared by other computers on the network. If you're planning on sharing files from it that will be a lot easier if it's set to Home.
4) Not sure about that one to be honest. What do you mean by gateway change? Did this happen after you changed any settings in the router, or could someone else have been changing things at the time?
Hope that helps,
peter10
Grafter
Posts: 231
Registered: ‎04-03-2009

Re: WiFi security

Thanks for the help Matt.
Just found out the disconnection mentioned in (4) was due to a very short power cut. Laptop was running from battery so didn't notice.
Peter