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Our home network security best practices checklist would bulletproof and secure your home network in 9 steps. In todays environment, the internet is infested with various types of malware and other threats. If your home network is not secured, it could become an easy point for hackers to infiltrate and exploit your network.

Ensure that you implement these steps to secure your home network and prevent it from being exploited by hackers.

1. Home Device Security

Emsure that all devices on the home network have internet security / antivirus software on them. This would include mobile devices, laptops, tablets , desktops. All devices belong to one network. If one of them is compromised, your entire home network would be vulnerable to attacks.

Check out Kaspersky Total Security for protecting your devices.

Also ensure that the operating system on these devices are updated to the latest version.

2. Smart home device security

Home networks would have a lot of smart home devices. The protection for these devices is by ensuring that the firmware is updated on a periodic basis.

3. Home Wifi Security

Ensure that you have secured your wifi router using appropriate security protocols. The highest level of security protocol should be used. For example, WPA2 or WPA3 protocol should be used for secure configuration. Protocols like WEP should not be used as they increase the risk of your home network security to be compromised.

4. Change the default credentials for wireless router

This is considered one of the highest security risk. The default username and password which is used to log into the wireless router should be changed. This information can easily be found out by a simple google search for a specific vendor.

Also when a wireless router is first used, the wireless authentication type would be open. This implies that anyone can connect to the router without any credentials. This has to be changed immediately and secured with appropirate protocols like WPA 2/ WPA 3.

5. Use mac-filering feature on the wireless router

Mac-filtering is a feature which is available on the router which can limit the number of mac-addresses allowed on the router. This would ensure that only known devices are allowed to connect to the router. If any unauthorized devices attempt to connect , they would not be allowed.

6. Install a firewall on the home network

By having a firewall on the network you are blocking the threats originating from the internet on your network. There are two ways of doing this. You can either buy a wireless router with firewall inbuilt or have a home network firewall.

A wireless router with firewall has inbuilt antivirus engine in it. The router would act as a firewall and the antivirus engine in it would block the threats from the internet,

A home network firewall is a hardware device which is purchased in addition to the router. A home network firewall is recommended when your router does not support a firewall or you would not want to use the router as a firewall.

The product recommendations for wireless router with firewall and home network firewall is provided at the end of the section.

7. Router firmware upgrade

It should be ensured that your router is upgraded to the latest firmware. If your firmware is not updated, it can be exploited. A hacker can search for known vulnerabilities on a specific router firmware version and exploit it.

8. Disable remote access protocols on the router

Your router may have default configuration where it is possible to remotely access it from the internet. The best way to find this out is to use a online tool like shodan.io . This tool would help you find out devices which are connected to the internet, open ports and if enabled for default credentials.

It should be ensured that remote access protocols from the internet are disabled on the router. Or it should be secured with necessary username and password credentials.

9. Separate your guest network from the home LAN network

If you need to provide wifi access to users which are not part of your actual network , it is recommended you have a guest network. By having a guest network , you can be assured that the users are provided limited access to the network.

Product recommendation

Wireless router with firewall

If you have decided to buy a wireless router with firewall , you can check out the following routers.

1. The ASUS WiFi 6 Router (RT-AX3000) – Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router is a Wifi 6 router which has inbuilt firewall in it. AiProtection Pro is the security engine which is available in it which provides commercial grade security features for users on the network.

More details can be checked out here – ASUS WiFi 6 Router (RT-AX3000) – Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Internet Router

2. Gryphon Tower Super-Fast Mesh WiFi Router – Advanced Firewall Security, Parental Controls is a mesh router which provides coverage to 3000 Sqft. It has inbuilt firewall which provides protection against internet security threats like ransomware, phishing and more.

More details can be checked out here – Gryphon Tower Super-Fast Mesh WiFi Router – Advanced Firewall Security, Parental Controls

Home Network Firewall

The Trend Micro Home Network Security Firewall would be an excellent choice if you have decided to purchase a home network firewall.

It protects devices on your home network from internet security threats like phishing, ransomware, viruses. It also monitors your network in real time for any security threats.

More details can be checked out here – Trend Micro Home Network Security Firewall

Laptop and Mobile Security

Kaspersky Total Security is a reputed internet security software which provides protection against various types of internet threats. This software is recommended for end point devices like mobile, laptop and desktop computers.

Conclusion

Ensure that you follow and implement the steps above to secure your home network and implement robust network security. It is highly recomemnded that you upgrade your router with inbuilt firewall or purchase a hardrware firewall in case you do not want to replace your router along with necessary software to protect your end point devices.

Recommended Read: 6 ways your home wireless router can be hacked.