5 Easy Router Tricks For Faster, More Secure WiFi

In this age of digitization, the router plays a very important role in letting us access the Internet in a faster and better way. Your laptops, phones, televisions, and other devices with WiFi feature can have access to the enormous information over the web.

Basically, a router acts as an access point for all the devices enabled with the WiFi feature. A faster and most importantly, a safe network is in demand nowadays because of the continuous and growing cyberattacks.

With so many incidents of the security breach by hackers in the past few years, the majority of Internet users remain in fear. It is regarding whether their information is still secured or not. Moreover, it is quite easier to deceive them by installing malicious softwares on their computers in order to steal their data.

Sometimes, we are so busy enjoying the services in our gadgets that we forget to establish a safety setup for the WiFi network. You can not deny this reality, as it’s happening everywhere. But, in this article, we will let you know the top five router tricks that you can easily apply for a faster and more secure WiFi.

5 Easy Tricks to Avail a Faster and Secure WiFi

The reason you are reading this article is that you are not sure whether your WiFi router is secure or not. Else, you are looking for some ways to increase the speed of the WiFi network. 

Not only you but, everybody who uses the Internet through WiFi, are looking for the optimal tricks for this purpose. In this section, we have discussed the most effective and easy tricks to make you familiar with the ways to get a faster and secure WiFi network.

Trick #1: Always Keep the Router Firmware Updated

Generally, we all have a common idea that if we don’t update any programs or services, it may cause issues. It is highly recommended by the experts that the software, which runs the router, needs to be updated.

The software which runs the WiFi router is called Firmware. The router manufacturers always provide updates of the software to make it better, in terms of speed and security.

Cyber attackers always look for the security holes through which they can hack the system.. Hackers can take advantage of an outdated Firewall because it may have unpatched security breaches.

But, if you update the Firmware, the newer version always comes with advanced features. It also have improvements that can impact the router’s overall speed and security.

Hence, you need to check for the Firmware update for your router on the manufacturer’s website. After downloading the file, install it and configure your router settings.

Trick #2: Change the Wireless Channel

Signal and speed degradation can take place when there is congestion in the wireless channel by other users. Signal interference is a major issue that interrupts your Internet connection to run smoothly.

Some of the settings on modern routers are featured in such a way, they auto-detect the least congestion wireless channels automatically. Thus, it connects to the desired channel and doesn’t let the Internet signal drop. 

On the other hand, there are some poor quality routers, which are predefined to connect to a specific channel. Eventually, if the signal drops in that specific channel, the Internet speed gets degraded.

So, if you are using a poor quality router, you can use free tools to see the least busy channel. You can switch to the network to access a faster speed. Besides, you can also type “netsh wlan show all” in the Command Prompt (Administrative mode) to see all the available wireless channels with their details. 

Apart from that, you can replace the old router with a new one. Make sure that the new router has the ability to autodetect the best channels before connecting to that signal.

Trick #3: Optimize the Router’s Location and Use a High-Gain WiFi Antenna

It is always recommended you to place the router in a central location of your place. The nearer your device is to the router, the better network speed you will get. The WiFi speed can be slower due to the router’s odd location as well. Hence, you should move it to such a place where you normally use your device.

Moreover, always make sure to keep away electronic devices like the TV, remote, Microwave, etc. from the router. They may create a signal confliction, resulting in the slowing down of the WiFi performance.

If your router have antennas, check whether they are oriented in the right direction to boost up the signal coverage. Moreover, there are certain tools available online that can detect network coverage. You can also use Wireless range extender of the same or different brand to broadcast the signal throughout a larger area.

Trick #4: Use WPA2 and AES Encryption

Encryption is a process of protecting your device from getting accessed by anonymous attackers. This is a must-use feature in every router provided to the users. If you don’t use this feature, it means you are allowing others to access your personal data.

It just takes about a minute or less to enable encryption in the router settings. So, how do you do that?

Firstly, make sure you are using WPA2 Personal mode if that option is available. Otherwise, you can use WPA Personal. Always remember not to use WEP, as this offers weak encryption and easily hackable. Never forget to change the WPA2/WPA key or password on a timely basis. A strong password usage is recommended instead of a poor one.

After that, look in the router settings to confirm whether you are using AES encryption instead of TKIP. Always use AES encryption but, not AES and TKIP together.

Trick #5: Change and Hide Your Default SSID

SSID (Service Set Identifier) is the public name of your router’s WiFi network that shows up when people are looking for WiFi networks. The SSID is kept as a default name of the router company or the model name.

In that case, it becomes easier for the hacker to land into your device information by breaking into the network. Henceforth, it is recommended that you change the default name of the WLAN network.

There is another way, which is more effective in protecting the WLAN network by hiding its SSID. Most of the routers allow hiding the SSID so it doesn’t show up while searching for local networks. But, if you want to add any new device, you can search for the same by manually entering the SSID.

Ending Note

In the above section, we have shared the best five tricks that you can apply for accessing a fast and more secure WiFi. It would not take much time to apply all the tips to secure your router. We are sure that even if you don’t have any technical knowledge, it will not be an issue while implementing these tricks.

Mario C. Morrissey
Mario C. Morrissey
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