You don't want your neighbors accessing your wireless internet and possibly driving up your internet/phone bill, right? You don't want any old person out on the street to be able to use your internet that youare paying for, am I correct? Learn how to secure your D-Link router.
Why Should I Secure My Router?
Whenever you go into an electrical shop and take a glance at the wireless routers you see many different brands and routers clamouring for your attention. One of the "benefits" of using Brand A's router is that it broadcasts up to 50 metres (164 feet), whilst Brand B only broadcasts 25m.
This is not always a good thing. I am sure most houses are less than 50 meters away from their neighbors. Without proper security your neighbors can hop onto their computer (or Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable or any other device that supports wireless internet) and search for wireless access points. When your device appears on their screen, they can say, “Hey, I can use Joe Bloggs' internet connection so I don't run up my monthly usage meter,” and happily waste your internet quota which may eventually lead to a higher phone/internet bill.
There is a more serious reason to secure your wireless network. If your neighbor (or anybody on the street with a laptop) engages in fraudulent activities, law enforcement authorities can trace the activities back to your IP address (a unique number to your modem/router in the format of xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx) and possibly prosecute you for fraud.
Well, I'm Convinced! How Do I Do It? I've Got a D-Link Router.
What router type is it? This matters in figuring out what type of security you should use. There are three types of wireless security: WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2. These are ranked in order of encryption strength (in other words, how hard it is to hack the code), with WEP being the weakest. D-Link suggests you use only WPA and WPA2 (however, the Nintendo DS does not support the WPA and WPA2 encryption, only WEP), so we'll look at that. You can use WPA/WPA2 on:
- DI Series
- WBR Series
- DIR Series
- Most other D-Link routers
Information on how to set up the routers is only available for the DI, WBR and DIR series.
DI Series
- Open up your internet browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.).
- Type in the address bar "192.168.0.1".
- Type in the username, which is admin. Leave the password field blank.
- Click on "Home" at the top, then click "Wireless" on the left sidebar
- Select WPA-PSK
- Choose a passphrase. It can be between 8 and 63 characters and may include symbols and spaces. This must be entered on all computers accessing wireless. Your computer will prompt you when connecting.
- Click "Apply" to save your settings. Click "Continue" (important!).
WBR Series
- Follow steps 1-3 from the DI Series instructions
- Click Setup at the top and click Wireless Settings on the left hand side
- Select the type of WPA you want using the drop down menu marked "Security Mode"
- Enter in your passphrase. It must meet the requirements in DI Series Step 6.
- Click Save Settings
DIR Series
The DIR Series uses the same steps as WBR Series steps 1-5, however the passphrase is the "Pre-Shared Key".
There! You are all secured! However, securing your wireless network does not safeguard you online. You must still be on the lookout for fraud!
