Today’s wireless networking products don’t always help the situation as configuring their security features can be time-consuming and non-intuitive. The tips below go over the steps you should take to improve the security of your home wireless network.

• Change the default wireless  settings
  

You can read about changing default setting (username, password ans SSID) here :
http://www.security4wireless.com/always-change-your-wireless-default-settings/

• Enable WPA / WEP encryption

All wireless equipment supports some form of encryption. Encryption technology scrambles messages sent over wireless networks so that they cannot be easily read by humans.

Many encryption technologies exist for Wifi. Of course you will want to pick the strongest encryption that works with your network. However, the way these technologies work, all Wifi devices on your network must share the the same encryption settings. Consequently you may need to find a “lowest common demoninator” setting.

• Disable SSID broadcast

The wireless access point or router typically broadcasts the network name (Service Set IDentifier) at regular intervals. This element was designed for businesses and mobile hotspots where clients may roam in and out of range.

In the home network, this roaming characteristic is needless, and it increases the probability someone will try to login to your home network. Luckily, most wireless access points allow the SSID broadcast feature to be disabled by the network manager.

• Enable physical MAC address filtering

Every part of wireless gear possesses a unique identifier called MAC address. Access points & routers keep track of the MAC addresses of all devices that connect to them. Lots of such products offer the owner an option to key in the MAC addresses of their home equipment that restricts the network to only permit connections from those devices.

Make this, but also know that the feature is not so powerful as it may seem. Hackers & their program programs can fake MAC addresses easily.

• Turn off auto-connect

Connecting to an open wireless network such as a public wireless hotspot or your neighbor’s router exposes your computer to security risks. Although not normally enabled, most computers have a setting available allowing these connections to happen automatically without notifying you (the user). This setting should not be enabled except in temporary situations.

• Make firewalls on computers and router

Most network routers contain built-in firewall capability, but the option also exists to disable them. Make sure that your router’s firewall is turned on. For extra protection, consider installing and running personal firewall software on each computer connected to the router.

• Assign static IP to Wifi devices

Most home networks drop toward using dynamic IP addresses. DHCP technology is indeed easy to set up. However, this convenience also works to the benefit of network hackers who can easily obtain valid IP addresses from your network’s DHCP pool.

Disable DHCP on the router or access point, set a fixed IP address range instead, then configure each connected device to match. Use a private IP address range (like 10.0.0.x) to prevent computers from being directly reached from the Internet.

• Turn off the wifi network when you don’t use it

Shutting down your network will most certainly prevent outside hackers from breaking in! While impractical to turn off and on the devices frequently, at least think about doing so during travel or extended periods offline.

Computer disk drives have been known to suffer from power cycle wear-and-tear, but this is a secondary concern for broadband modems and routers.

If you own a wireless router but are only using it wired connections, you may turn off Wifi on a broadband router without powering down the entire network.

• Position the access point safely

Wireless signals normally reach to the exterior of a home. A small amount of signal leakage outdoors isn’t a problem, but the more this signal reaches, the easier it is for attackers to detect and exploit. Wifi signals frequently reach through neighboring homes.

When installing a Wifi home network, the position of router and access point determines its reach. Try to position these devices near the center of your home rather than near windows.

Change your default username and password :

Most of wireless access points & routers permit an admin to manage their WiFi network through a special admini account. This root account provides complete superuser access to the device’s configuration settings with a special username and password.

Manufacturers set both the account user/pass at the factory. The username is often basically the word admin or administrator. The password is typically empty (blank), the words “admin,” “1234,” or “password,” or some other simple password.

To improve the security of a wireless network, you ought to change the administrative password on your wireless access point or router immediately when installing the unit.

The default passwords for popular models of wireless network gear are well-known to hackers & often posted on the Net. Most devices do not permit the administrative username to be changed, but if yours does, you have to change this name too.

Finally, to maintain home network security in the future, continue changing this root password regularly, not three times. Lots of experts recommend changing passwords every 30 days. Use words that would be impossible for others to guess.

Change the default Service Set IDentifier (SSID) :

SSID is a name that identifies a wireless LAN. A client device receives broadcast messages from all access points within range promotion their SSIDs. As the SSID displays to users, it normally consists of human-readable characters. But the standard does not require this.

The SSID is defined as a sequence of 1–32 octets each of which may take any character.
The SSID can be accessed from within these products’ Web-based or Windows-based configuration utilities.

Common examples of pre-defined SSIDs are simple names like “network,” “wireless,” “1234,” or “default.” An SSID can be changed at any time, as long as the alter is also made on all wireless clients in the network.
To increase the security of your home wireless network, modify the SSID to a strong name.

How to make strong password and SSID :

You can generate a strong password using some tools and online generating strong passwords. However, here are some recommended tips to make a strong password (and SSID) based on security practices :

• At least 10 characters in length.
• Does not contain your user name, real name, organization name, family member’s names or names of your pets.
• Does not contain your birth date.
• Does not contain a complete dictionary word.
• Is significantly different from your previous password.

Should contain three (3) of the following character types :

• Lowercase Alphabetical (a, b, c, etc.)
• Uppercase Alphabetical (A, B, C, etc.)
• Numerics (0, 1, 2, etc.)
• Special Characters (@, %, !, etc.)