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Wireless routers are increasingly common in homes. Many people buy wireless routers mainly to make laptop wireless access more convenient, but those using wireless routers often don’t know how to encrypt their wireless router. This leaves their Wi-Fi open for others to connect to, and the internet speed gets slower and slower. Setting a password is very important, so I researched the main encryption types and methods for wireless routers and want to share them here, hoping they will be useful.
1. Enable WEP Encryption on the Wireless Router
First, let’s use an example to illustrate implementing 128-bit WEP encryption. Now let’s look at how to use this WEP key to set up the wireless router.
Wireless router encryption note: When configuring this part, it is best to use a wired connection to the wireless router, because if you enter the wrong wireless key, you will not be able to connect to the wireless router using the correct key. As with the previous wireless router setup, use your web browser to access the wireless router and click the Wireless Parameters tab. Click Basic Settings, first enable the security settings, and in the row labeled Security Type, select WEP.
Select Hex in the key format, enter the key, and click Save. Write down this key. After you click save settings, any computer previously connected to this wireless router will lose its connection. This is normal because you have modified the way they communicate with the wireless router, but you haven’t told them what security key to use to access it yet.
2. Enable WPA Encryption on the Wireless Router
To contrast with enabling WEP encryption, let’s use another example to introduce how to enable WPA encryption. Enabling WPA encryption is very similar to enabling WEP encryption, but with one difference. Before enabling WPA encryption, you must first decide how long this encryption key is valid. For instance, if you set it to 1800 seconds, which is 30 minutes, then after the key has been used for 30 minutes, the wireless router and wireless network card will generate a new key. If a hacker cracks the key within 30 minutes, the key’s useful time is less than 30 minutes because after 30 minutes it has already become a completely new key, and the hacker will have to start cracking it all over again. Below is an example of setting up WPA on a wireless router.
In the Wireless Parameters, select Enable Security Settings, choose WPA-PSK, select the security option WPA-PSK, choose the encryption method, and enter the PSK password. In the field labeled WPA Shared Key, enter the pre-shared key. In the field labeled Group Key Renewal, enter how long before the key should be updated. We choose 1800 seconds in this example. Click Save Settings.
Wireless router encryption note: How long should we set the key update interval? There is no single good answer. If you set it too short, for example 1-2 minutes, security is indeed improved, but for some network cards, this might cause connection problems. We recommend using the manufacturer’s default value. For enabling WPA encryption, we also need to tell the passphrase to every wireless network card so they will know how to decode communication with the wireless router. Set up each machine in the wireless home network one by one, remembering to check each time whether it has connected to the wireless router.
Troubleshooting Tips: Wireless Router Encryption
If some computers fail to re-establish a session, the items to check are as follows: Confirm that the encryption methods on the wireless router and wireless network card are consistent. Confirm that the passphrase used to generate the WEP key (or WPA key) is the same on both the wireless router and the wireless network card. This passphrase is case-sensitive; for example, “p” and “P” are different. So be careful when entering, paying attention to the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters. If it still doesn’t work, then disable encryption on both the wireless router and wireless network card to confirm if a connection can be established without encryption enabled.
That concludes the introduction to wireless router encryption methods. Give it a try quickly, so your network is a secure wireless network and you can enjoy pleasant internet speeds.
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