A ten-minute check of your home Wi-Fi and router
The router is the front door of every device at home, and most are still on factory settings. Five things to check tonight.
Every phone, laptop, TV and camera at home goes through the router. Many routers still use the password printed on the sticker and firmware from the day they were installed.
Five checks
- Change the router’s admin password — the one for its settings page, not the Wi-Fi password.
- Use WPA2 or WPA3 Wi-Fi security with a long passphrase. Avoid WEP and “open” networks.
- Update the firmware, or ask your internet provider to. Old router firmware is a common target.
- Turn off WPS and remote management unless you actually use them.
- Put guests and smart devices on a guest network, so a cheap camera or a visitor’s phone cannot reach the family laptops.
On public Wi-Fi
At cafés, airports and stations, prefer your phone’s hotspot for banking. If you must use public Wi-Fi, stick to sites that show the padlock and never install anything a captive portal asks you to.
How TotalHeal helps
TotalHeal’s Network & Home checks look at your Wi-Fi, router and connected devices and point out weak spots in plain language. They are part of every plan. See what every plan includes.