One of the most important things you should do when you buy a new wireless router is to make sure that you set up encryption so you keep your network secure. If you leave your network open it is an determined that others will start to use it as they see it as an opportunity to browse the Internet and possibly passage your files and information.
Because of the variety of routers available in the marketplace it's necessary that you have a quick summary of the owners manual. Essentially most routers are very similar in what they do, any way the interface can look slightly distinct so it's impossible to tell you exactly what you need to do in order to make sure that you switch on encryption. Once you have enabled encryption you will then restrict passage to allowed uses only that will use a password or pass phrase that you have selected.
But in the configuration area on your router you will have security settings in this area you need to agree the encryption type you want to use. Many population opt to use Wep encryption, and this is prime you must select a password that is 10 characters long. This password or sometimes referred to as passphrase must consist of letters between A-F and numbers 0-9 it's necessary that you select a strong password and a mixture of letters and numbers will ensure this.
When you have changed the configuration settings on your router you need to save this and will most likely be asked to restart. Once this is done you can no longer connect over open association on your wireless network you would therefore need to "view available networks" on your laptop and you come connects on your WiFi network. You should then be asked for a password, which is to 10 digit passwords you selected. Once this is done you will be securely associated to your encrypted WiFi network.
There are a whole of other security settings that you can do it and you can consult your by hand will in order to do this. It's necessary on all home-based or even firm based wireless networks that encryption is enabled. Other areas like using Mac addresses can ensure that you have a higher level of security.
Encryption on Your Wireless Router
