Coleman Technologies Blog

Setting up a router used to be a much more complex process than it is today. Thankfully, innovations in the technology have made it simpler and easier for consumers and businesses alike to do, to the point where some Internet service providers just let users do it themselves with guided instructions. Let’s go over how you can get the most out of your wireless router.

Place Your Router in a High-Up, Unobstructed, and Centralized Location

The placement of your router is crucial to your organization getting the most out of it, and it’s mostly because of how Wi-Fi signals work. These signals ripple out from the device, radiating outward from the central location and growing weaker in the process. You should keep it centralized to make the signal reach all parts of your office.

To help the signal along, you also need to make sure that it’s not blocked by anything by keeping a clear line of sight between the router and your devices. Thus, keeping it elevated and out in the open rather than a cabinet or a closet is the best way to go here.

Update Your Router and Its Firmware with Patches

Your router is an easy-to-overlook technology that, while not as complex or dynamic as a computer, still runs on software and, thus, requires patches to stay secure and operational. Outdated security protocols could make your wireless network vulnerable, and outdated firmware might mean that your router is simply not performing as well as it could be. If you want to get the most out of your wireless technology, then keeping your router updated is crucial.

Keep Separate Connections for Personal Devices

You’ll want to keep your personal devices off of your business network, mostly because you don’t want guests and visitors using bandwidth that your employees should be using. Furthermore, letting anyone access your network can be considered a security risk, and limiting who can access your business’ network can be a good step toward keeping it secure.

Coleman Technologies can help you set up a wireless network that aids your company’s efforts at success. To learn more, call us today at (604) 513-9428.

We’re here to help your organization make better use of its wireless connection.

The Router
Your router will determine the general range of your wireless network, as well as its security. Depending on your business’ specific needs, a router can be a tricky investment. You have to consider several aspects, including how much range you need and what kind of options are available for it. Here are some of the variables you’ll need to consider:

• It is within your budgetary constraints
• It supports Internet speeds you pay for
• The space your router needs to cover
• The devices the router has to support
• Ensure that any router you choose supports WPA2 encryption

Once you’ve determined which router you’re going with, you can set it up in a place that is most effective for your purposes. If you want your router to broadcast a signal through your entire office, you’ll need to test it out and see how the location works. Try to find a nice central location. If the router doesn’t work as intended in specific parts of the office, you might need to include a Wi-Fi repeater to get the range you’re looking for.

The Repeater
If your signal isn’t extending as far as you’d like, a repeater (or extender) can be used to extend the wireless signal to reach a larger area. This way, the signal will reach any area you need it to reach. A Wi-Fi repeater contains two wireless routers. One of them picks up the wireless signal coming off of your network’s central router, while the other picks up the signal and transmits it in much the same way as your network’s central router. Thankfully, the wireless repeater only needs to be in a location within the broadcasting range of the central router. Just plug it into an average outlet and you’re good to go.

Security
Security is another important part of your business’ wireless network that requires you to think about it during the setup phase. The router doesn’t necessarily have to be hard to set up, though. First, make sure you have WPA2 encryption turned on. Some models don’t default to this and instead use the ineffective Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption that can be broken through easily enough. With WPA2, you’ll be much more secure.

Next, you want to name your wireless network to something that can help you identify it, as well as assign a complex password to defend it. This ensures that only those who need the network for work will be logging onto it, and that they will know which network belongs to your organization if multiple are available. Once you’ve finished with this task, you want to enable the router’s firewall. Doing this provides an additional layer of protection against potential threats.

One more thing: be sure to change the admin’s password on the actual router, as most default passwords can simply be looked up online.

For more information on how to optimize the use you get out of your business’ wireless connection, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428.

What do you do if you have forgotten your wireless router’s password? You could restore the router back to its default settings, of course, but what if you have, like a dummy, never changed the router’s password in the first place? This Internet password repository could be your saving grace.

RouterPasswords.com

RouterPasswords.com is a website built to document default usernames and passwords for wireless routers. It’s run by a community of users for a community of users. Essentially, anyone can submit their default username and password for their router to help anyone out who may have forgotten it somewhere down the line. They make a point to highlight that the username and password of the router is not the one set by your Internet service provider–rather, they want the factory-set default credentials. Once the credentials have been reviewed by an administrator, they are added to the online repository.

It’s also worth mentioning that this site can be helpful from a technician’s perspective as well, as identifying the default username and password for a device can mean less work and less time spent troubleshooting an issue, if that is indeed the problem at hand.

In addition to having the largest default router password repository on the Internet (according to them, at least), the website also provides tips and tricks for how to manage router settings, reviews for the latest wireless routing technologies, and news related to wireless technology.

There is a Dark Side to This Website Existing

Of course, there is also the negative consequence of a website like this existing in that, if you can use it, so can anyone else on the Internet—hackers included. Imagine that you are a hacker and you’re trying to find the path of least resistance into a wireless network. You notice that the device’s wireless network name was never changed or set up beyond the factory default, so you assume that the wireless network’s password is also the factory default.

From there, well, you can guess where this story goes.

You should always change your wireless network’s name and password for this very reason. Tools like this exist to make users’ lives easier, but they inadvertently also make the lives of hackers easier, too.

Reinforce Your Wireless Practices with Us!

Coleman Technologies can of course help you shore up any weaknesses that might exist in your business’ wireless network policies and connections. With us on your side, you’ll have a staunch ally in the fight against cybercrime. To learn more, contact us at (604) 513-9428 today.