How to Secure Your Home Router

Encryption scrambles what travels over your Wi-Fi.

The FTC advises setting the router to WPA3 Personal or WPA2 Personal. WPA3 is the newer and better option, but both scramble your traffic so others nearby cannot see what you are doing. Older routers that offer only WPA or WEP are using outdated, insecure methods: update the router software and check again, and if WPA2 or WPA3 still does not appear, the FTC suggests replacing the router.

The Wi-Fi password and the admin password are different things.

The Wi-Fi network password is what devices use to join. The router admin password protects the settings page, where anyone who logs in can change everything else, including the Wi-Fi password. The FTC says to change the default admin username, admin password, and network name to something unique, avoiding your name, address, or the router brand, and to log out of the admin page when you are done.

Router software gets security fixes like any other software.

Before setting up a new router, and periodically after, check the manufacturer website for newer software. The FTC suggests registering the router with the manufacturer so you hear about updates, and, if the router came from your internet provider, asking the provider whether it installs updates automatically.

Remote management, WPS, and UPnP trade security for convenience.

The FTC recommends turning off remote management, which lets the router be controlled over the internet; Wi-Fi Protected Setup, which lets a device join at the push of a button instead of with the password; and Universal Plug and Play, which lets devices find each other on the network. Each makes setup easier and the network less secure.

Separate visitors from your own devices.

Many routers can run a guest network with its own name and password. The FTC notes two benefits: fewer people have your main password, and malware on a visitor phone cannot reach your own devices. Check that the router built-in firewall is on. Then look at who is actually connected: the FTC suggests opening the router web interface and finding the list of connected devices, sometimes labeled wireless clients or DHCP clients, and securing each device on it, because an unsecured device is another way onto the network. The guide to slow Wi-Fi covers the performance side of the same router.