5 ways to keep people from stealing your broadband

Let's clear one thing before: at one point or another, we all have used someone else's wireless connection to check our e-mail, get directions, or find something funny in a less than exciting vacation.

With that being said, there are others who abuse the privilege: The next-door college student who decides to use the connection to download hi-def porn. The tweenager bootleg albums that should have that Miley Cyrus. A novice hacker who decides it would be fun to use your gateway for a while '"exploration".

In this article, I will give you some points that will help you retrieve the width of banda, make the network more secure, and trigger freeloaders.

1. Change the default user name and password on the router.

Many safety problems start from the fact that most people do not know how to access their routers to start.

First, you must open the browser and type in the IP 192.168.0.1 (or 192.168.1.1 for Linksys).

The login screen will open automatically. All manufacturers have a default password. For example, dlink default user name is "admin" and password is left blank.

Consult your user manual or the bottom of your router in case of failure by the manufacturer.

Vai to the board or administrative settings after you have logged in and change it to whatever you want. Change username to something alien to your name or surname. Try to add a password that has at least one number in it.

Do not forget to change the username "user" and password. While you can not change anything while you are logged in as "user", this can be experienced freeloaders see your settings, and more easily find a backdoor.

2. Change your SSID.

What is an SSID? In a nutshell, is the name of the router. The router is usually default is the name of the manufacturer, and when the SSID is "belkin54g", shouting "Free Internet Access". Change into something boring and unexciting. This is no time to play "Pimp Your SSID". An unusual name or exciting automatically attract freeloaders. You can usually find this in the "Settings" tab as well.

3. Create a WPA

This is just a 8-63 character password that is stored on your router. To allow anyone to access the connection, it must first enter the correct password. To set the WPA key, log into your router. Once there, select the tab "Wireless". Then, turn on encryption.

If there are two types of WPA, select "WPA-PSK". This is the only intended for home use. Enter the password. Restart the router.

The next time you (or anyone else) tries to access the router, you will be prompted for the key. The computer will save the key for the next time you log on to the network, and things should go smoothly from there. Now you are moderately safe.

4. Turn down the juice.

The router is automatically configured for maximum transmission range. This is great if you live in a 1800sq. foot house on an acre of land. If you live in an apartment or townhouse, however, most of your neighbors will receive a strong signal. To avoid this, access the router. Go to "Settings" tab or the "system", and lower (or transmit) the signal strength to 50 or 75%. This should give more than enough signal to get access anywhere in your apartment, and keep the guy down the hall from siphoning your bandwidth

5.Enable MAC based filtering.

Combining this 3-step, you can create a highly secure home network. This step is for those who do not mind reading the manual and play with the settings a bit. '

Each wireless card, network card, modem, and is what is known as a MAC address. No device has the same MAC address. This is probably the biggest step you can take to make your network secure.

This is a step quite technical, so we will refer to the user manual for specifics. I will tell you, in broad terms what you have to do.

Make sure that all the computers you want on the network are turned on and connected to your router.

Access to the router.

Under the "Security" tab, there is a section which is usually called "Network Filters" or simply "filters".

Select "Filter by MAC Address".

One by one, add the MAC addresses of your wireless and wired () devices at the table. Most routers will allow you to add up to 20 addresses.

If you can not find the MAC address, click here for a tutorial.

Then select "Allow Access to these PCs."

Save the settings and let the router to reboot.

Your PC will be able to access the Internet as usual, all others will remain outside.

This should eliminate occasional users and intermediate Internet access also have permission to access the router.

If you make a mistake, and you stop, just do a hard reset of the router, and you will return to factory settings.

These are generic instructions, but true for most consumer level routers currently on the market. For more detailed instructions, consult the user manual supplied with the router.

Hopefully this will ease some of your mali bandwidth, and allow you to get the best of the internet you are paying. So kick those freeloaders to the curb, and then make sure that they can not get the signal.

Miley Cyrus going to download bootleg .......