"Why is Having a Solid Home Network Security Wireless Strategy Beneficial to your Residence and Family?"

A solid home network security wireless strategy is a must to have a secure home. This article deals with the subject of connecting to the Internet wirelessly in the home. Click here if you are looking for information on wireless alarm systems.

Wireless Technology

Wireless is a relatively easy way to network your computers to the Internet. The Internet access comes through a wireless router which broadcasts the signals. Your computer will receive and send signals to the router with a wireless access card.

Many home wireless networks are not properly secured. People are in a rush to get connected to the Internet. There have also been added features to wireless systems in recent years that actually make its set-up more complicated.

Why is having Wireless Security Important?

Having secured home network security wireless helps with the safety of your household. Bad guys or hackers can do the following:

• With an unsecured network, a hacker can spy on your online activities.
• They can introduce viruses on your computer.
• They can get access to your passwords for sites that should be private.
• They can get your credit card numbers.
• They can purchase things with your credit cards.
• They can get access to your bank accounts.
• They can find out your schedule to determine a good time to burglarize your house.

Criminals can also use your network to engage in illegal online activity. If they get caught, the authorities will trace activity back to your wireless network. So criminals can do a lot of bad stuff to you if they have access to your wireless system.

Hackers do not need to be close to your house to get your wireless signals. With a Wi-Fi antenna a criminal can access your system.

A more innocuous thing is that your neighbors can sponge their Internet access off of you. This is not to your benefit because they are taking bandwidth from you. You do not want to spend unnecessary minutes waiting for your websites to load up.

Securing your Wireless System

There are a number of things that you can do to secure your wireless internet connection. The first thing to do is to encrypt your network. Try to use WPA encryption rather than WEP. If your budget does not allow for WPA encryption use the WEP encryption. Any type of encryption is better than no encryption.

Some other quick tips include:

• Don't use identifier broadcasting to announce wireless.
• Change the name of the wireless access point (SSID or ESSID).
• Change the access point default password.
• Limit which computers are allowed to use the access point.

You should also have the latest anti-virus and malware software installed on your computer in case a hacker gets access to it. Make sure that you run the software periodically.

You definitely need a home security strategy to keep your family and valuables safe. As part of your home security strategy, you should include proper secure wireless Internet access.