1. Change Wireless Network Devices Default Usernames and Passwords

An Access Point Or, A Router, a core device in a wireless home network has factory default usernames and passwords which are straightforward and known to hackers. Hence change their login usernames and passwords that are used to configure and store the settings and so on. Keep complicated usernames and passwords and keep their records private.

2. Turn On Encryption That’s Compatible

All Wi-Fi devices support some kind of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks in order that they can’t be simply read by humans. Use the most powerful encryption available for your Wi-Fi network, i.e., WEP, WPA, WPA2, and so on.

3. Change the Default SSID

Access points and routers all utilise a network name called the SSID – Service Set Identifier which is set same by  the wireless device makers.

While SSID does not permit the hackers to make an entry into your home wireless net nevertheless it gives them a fair clue that you’re not serious about the safety of your home Wi-Fi network. Hackers interest after seeing the default factory SSID set by the maker still there on your home wireless network, make your network a likely less complicated target for getting attacked.

Hence you must change the default SSID when configuring your wireless network.

4. Disable SSID Broadcast

In Wi-Fi networking, the wireless access point or router usually broadcasts or sends the network name (SSID ) over the air at frequent intervals by default. This feature is unnecessary, and it increases the possibility that somebody will try and sign in to your home Wi-Fi network. Hence disable SSID broadcast.

5. Never Auto-Connect to Open Wi-Fi Networks

Connecting to an open Wi-Fi network like a free wireless hotspot or your neighbor’s wireless router exposes your PC to security hazards. Though not routinely enabled, most PC’s have a setting available that permit these wireless connections to occur immediately without notifying you. This setting should be disabled except when required in some of the temporary circumstances.

6. Enable MAC Address Filtering

MAC stands for Media Access Control, a unique identifier allotted to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. Every piece of Wi-Fi gear has a physical address or MAC address that is unique to it.

Access points and routers keep an eye on the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. You must physically configure your Wi-Fi network to only permit devices on your network by manually entering their MAC addresses.

7. Manually Assign Static (Non Dynamic) IP (Internet Protocol) Addresses to Wireless Devices

Most home wireless net users have a tendency to use dynamic IP addresses as there is not lots of the work involved; they’re allotted IP’s instantly without any intervention. DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) technology is unquestionably simple to set up. However this convenience is indeed an advantage to network attackers, who can simply know correct and working IP addresses from your network’s DHCP pool (range of IP’s).

Therefore turn off DHCP on the router or access point and set a fixed IP range as an alternative and then configure each connected device to match the given IP pool.

8. Enable Firewall On Each PC and the Router Too

Modern network routers contain in-built firewall capacity and the choice to disable them is also present. Make sure your router’s firewall is set to ON. For additional amount of security on your home Wi-Fi network, install and enable private firewall software on each PC hooked up to the router. Make certain to go thru the Firewall settings to be sure that only the required programs have outgoing access.

Be wary and keep a watch on the Firewall logs too.

9. Position the Router or Access Point At the Middle of Your Home to Extend Safety

Wi-Fi signals usually reach outside a home. A bit of wireless signal seepage outside is not an issue, but the larger this wireless signal reaches, the easier it is for others to recognize it and attack your home wireless net. Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) signals sometimes go to the bordering homes and into streets. Hence when you’re installing your wireless home network or getting it installed, keep this under consideration that the position of the access point or router defines its reach. They should not be at periphery of your home.

Make certain to position these wireless network devices near the centre of the home instead of near windows to reduce the signal seepage.

10. Switch Off the Home Wireless Network During Extended Times of Non-Use

The top safety measure, generally ignored, in wireless security features, is to close your Wi-Fi network when it’s not used for a considerable time (night time when you’re asleep). This wireless network safety tip will definitely stop outside hackers from breaking in to your home wireless network. While it isn’t practical and possible to switch OFF and ON all the wireless devices often, at least turn them off during travel or extended periods when the Wi-Fi network is offline.

Wear and tear is not a concern for wireless devices as they’re pure electronics devices, so switching them ON and OFF multiple times is not a problem and is not going to result in any breakdown.

I’m sure that these ten tips will definitely help you in making your home wireless network security extremely stronger.

Your valuable comments are welcomed!

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Ten Expert Tested Tips to Secure Your Home Wireless Network

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There are many creative uses for home networking, however it’s an ideal situation when upgrading each computer to the same capability is financially out of the question. On a home network, each computer has access to the equipment of the better machine in the group as if that equipment were their own (saving of money).

Connecting computers with either an Ethernet cable (cables needed along with switch/modem/router) or a Wireless connection (no cables but wireless switch/router/modem) can create a home network. The easiest and cheapest method uses an Ethernet connection, which requires a series of network cards, a cable for each computer, and a switch/router/modem.

You’ll want to first, select the computers that will connect to each other and then install the network cards (wired or wireless) inside each of them. Then you’ll connect a cable to each computer that will communicate with the server in case of wired network. These cables won’t connect to the server directly. Instead, they’ll connect to the switch/router ethernet ports/modem ethernet ports. To enable Internet access for each computer, this router will need to connect with a modem of the host machine (server connecting to Internet).

Once the networking hardware is set up correctly (you’ll need to read the relevant manual of your equipment for details), you can then setup the network from Windows on each machine. Within Windows, you can set up a home network similar to the way that you set up an Internet connection. This time, you’ll set up a LAN (Local Area Network) connection for your home network.
 
Windows should walk you through setting up a LAN after starting the computer and once complete, you can begin to connect one of your machines to the network. You can do this through Internet Explorer by typing in the router/switch/modem management address and password required to access the router (the address and password required to access the router will be in the router/relevant device manual).

Connected to the network, each computer can exchange files with each other, open applications on a remote computer, play the music files and videos that are on another computer, and share a single Internet account to browse the web, download files, or chat with someone in an entirely different country. If a single printer is available on only one computer in the network, every PC on the same network can send documents to it and print them out. Kids will happily enjoy the benefit of playing multi-player games and adults will enjoy the ability to blast a single message to everyone at once or maintain a group schedule. These are all the benefits of home networking of your PC’s. Costly resources sharing is one of the biggest benefits of yours computer home network!

Since we’re writing of a home network that will connect to the Internet, you’re strongly advised to install a protective firewall, antispyware, antivirus program to safeguard against hackers, spyware and Internet viruses respectively on each of the PC’s on your home network.
 
If you have confidential files that shouldn’t be shared (bank statements, credit card details, etc.), you can restrict their access in one of several ways. You can put them in a new folder and then remove the "read" permissions for that folder. Or, you can configure who can and who cannot access specific files with a password from within Windows Control Panel.

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How To Network Home Computers and Enjoy Great Benefits

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Internet reach is increasing rapidly in all parts of the world due to its numerous advantages. Choosing the best Internet Service Provider (ISP) that provides real value for your – individual or company money can be a real difficult task if you are the first timer or don’t know the criteria to evaluate the ISP.

The tips in this post (part – 2 ) and the previous one (part -1) at: http://www.pctipstricks.com/tips-for-choosing-the-best-isp-internet-service-provider-in-your-region—part-1/ are attempts to help you in choosing the right all rounder ISP for your personal or business Internet needs.

Summarizing the points covered in the first post, they were (including the sub points slightly hidden in the titles/headlines):

- Professional Reputation of the ISP

- Quality of support, cost and the way to get it

- Ability to provide the volume of Internet access and services needed by you

- Global roaming facility (if you travel frequently)

As promised in the previous post, some more remaining tips for selecting the best ISP are:

Price Of the Internet Connectivity

Check the price of the Internet connection and match it to your budget (if set already). If you can afford a high speed, unlimited Internet  networking connection, go for it as it will save your time and make you more productive. Also check the features that comes with the connection, whether bundled free or paid separately such as email id’s, web space, net telephony, voice calls, roaming access (helps if you travel a lot) etc. as per the connection pack.

Consider an ISP that offers the best prices for the services.

Rates of the broadband varies across the world. It is very costly in India, e.g., I get up to 256Kbps download (up to 32 KBps – no bandwidth guarantee) unlimited pack of 1 month for INR 1300 (presently USD 26) from SIFY (Satyam Infoway) whereas one can easily get unlimited usage 2Mbps download (8 times faster than that of SIFY) connection of 1 month for the same price in US and 50 Mbps unlimited download 50 times faster than Indian SIFY) of one month in China, Japan and Korea.

The Unlimited dialup Internet (excluding the telephone call charges) plans costs in India ranges about INR 7-10 per day (rates depending on the duration – 1, 3, 6 months and one year) – Reference: Tata Indicom unlimited packs. The ISDN (64 Kbps – 128 Kbps) roughly costs double than the dialup Internet, source – Tata Indicom ISDN Internet connection rates.

Leased line connectivity used mostly by the businesses is costly, I checked BSNL current tariff for 2008 for 256Kbps and found it to be INR 2,000,00 (2 lacs) per annum.

Companies must consider the price of the Internet connection compared to the individuals as the cost saving in an year can be huge. Some of the new, lower category ISP may offer Internet connection at low rates to catch the customers but are mostly not able to match the download speeds and the support quality as of the big ISP’s.

Price should be an essential deciding factor while deciding the best ISP but not the only one as there are other important factors in addition to it as discussed earlier. Depending on your needs, you will be the right judge in deciding the services offered versus the price. E.g,: ISP not offering guaranteed – download speed, 24 hours support, > 98% uptime etc. costing less than the other ISP guaranteeing the same.

Starting With The Lowest Priced Internet Connection Matching Your Surfing Needs

Don’t buy the costliest Internet connection from ISP when buying for the first time – Limited or Unlimited connection pack/download of the highest speed. It will be better to start with a pack/bandwidth that is low priced as it’s always better to get a fair idea about the real download speed that you get at your PC and the ISP service standard and the uptime.

Most of the ISP’s give discounts on buying pack of 3 months, 6 months or 1 year etc. When you are starting and little unsure about how the things will turn up from the ISP end, start low and buy a basic low priced pack/bandwidth.

If you are satisfied with the quality of the speed and the uptime etc., then you can always go for higher speed pack/bandwidth without any changes in your Internet hardware at your end (You must consider the no cost scalability factor with your ISP earlier, normally configuration changes at yours or/and ISP end is sufficient provided you bought the hardware to support the higher bandwidth). Even if you want to take an unlimited usage Internet connection, take the lowest priced of sufficient bandwidth (enough for your needs) to get a real feel of the ISP services.

Some of the ISP also offers free demo/test of the connectivity (for sometime) to the prospective customers who will buy large volume of bandwidth at single or multiple locations, try taking the same. Even if you are an individual, consider taking a demo pack from the prospective ISP (if available).

Is The ISP Providing Internet Service Backup And Downtime Compensation?

What happens if a critical hardware (router, switch, RAS, server etc.) or software (DNS, authentication, billing etc.), connectivity (links) or power (UPS, power lines) breaks? Is the ISP having inbuilt mirroring and redundancy etc. so that there is no downtime.

Normally, people buying Internet connection for personal needs tend not to even ask their ISP these questions when buying Internet connectivity for the first time. Even for personal Internet surfing needs, you should definitely consider these checks and go for an ISP that has the most sturdiest System and network design with redundancy to give you maximum uptime.

In India, there have been situations where my Internet connection has been completely down for two weeks or there have been intermittent problems ON and OFF continuing for days. I took compensation for the same from my ISP as I had paid for Truly Unlimited one month pack (24 hours x 30 days) and the ISP had the compensation policy for the downtime.

If you have a critical business that entirely depends on Internet connectivity, then you must visit the prospective ISP data centre and take demo to check if they have the claimed redundancy in the ISP network. The better the redundancy, the better are your business chances of depending on that ISP.

If the ISP is not offering any downtime compensation and doesn’t have any redundancy to avoid downtimes on hardware, software and connectivity failures, then you should not go for that ISP (unless there is no other option left).

Check For Any Dubious, Biased Terms And Hidden Charges Favoring The ISP

Find out the terms of the ISP services and investigate if there are any hidden charges that are not clearly mentioned. Some of the ISP’s may charge for the installation, telephonic support, monthly rental for the networking equipment, service charges etc. separately which might not be mentioned explicitly beforehand. Find these charges and add them to their respective charges to come to the final amount. Don’t forget to read the Terms of the ISP service; if they are very difficult to understand and are biased, don’t go for that ISP. Example – Terminating your service just because you exceeded the monthly download volume instead of charging you, is a real No Go!

Trust An ISP That Provides Written Agreement And Not Verbal Commitments

You must sign a service agreement with your ISP that has all the terms and policies etc. written clearly. For a business, it is vital to check that the signed document is legally valid. The cost, committed Internet connection uptime, download speed, downtime compensation, penalty clause etc. – as per your mutual discussion should all be there in black and white.

Type of Internet Hardware – Proprietary or Non-Proprietary To be Bought By You?

Proprietary hardware are custom designed according to the setup/environment and doesn’t work in all the setups. An ISP insisting the customer to buy proprietary hardware is going to land the customer in deep trouble as the hardware won’t work with hardware of other ISP’s using standardized networking equipment. The tactic of getting the proprietary hardware bought by the customer can easily be used to force the customer to stick with one particular ISP even with bad service and high Internet connectivity cost (because the customer would have to invest separately in new non proprietary hardware compliant to the other ISP’s).

You never know when you might have to switch to another ISP, so never invest money in taking Internet connectivity from an ISP that requires you to buy proprietary hardware to make the connection work. You must enquire from the ISP if they would require you to use any proprietary hardware. Also check the product details of the recommended hardware that it is to be bought for getting Internet connectivity at your end.

Consider A Premier, Top Level Or Top Category ISP

The top level ISP has money to invest and can afford to buy good technology, manpower and infrastructure etc. Due to large volumes of the customers, they can afford to offer lower priced connections and variety of services. On the other hand, the lower level/category ISP normally buy bandwidth from top level ISP’s and thus you would have to pay more even for the less download speed compared to a low cost connection with higher download from a top level ISP.

You must checkout the top level/category ISP in your region when researching for buying the best Internet connection for your need. If your business depends critically on your Internet connection, then my advice would be to take the similar backup connectivity from the other same level ISP.

The type of service, cost, support quality, market reputation (business practices), clarity of terms etc. are the top deciding factors when choosing the best ISP for your personal or business Internet access needs.

An individual, i.e., me cannot have the experience of hundreds of friends reading this post, so please share your experiences of selecting the best ISP. I know that there can be more tips of selecting the best ISP, it’s your turn as I have given a lot of tips from my experience.

Come on! Share them!

I realized that it’s 31st December – the last day of year 2008! So, this is the last post of this year. See you in New year 2009 with more useful PC tips and tricks!

Wishing you all the best for 2009!

Rajesh Mago

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Tips For Choosing the Best ISP (Internet Service Provider) in Your Region – Part – 2

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