Home Router Tip of the Week - Guest Settings
January 19, 2023
Earlier we had discussed the SSID or the ‘name’ of your home internet and reasons why you should configure it differently than the factory setting. Today we’re discussing a different kind of setting called a Guest Network. You know how you hide your jewelry box or gun cabinet from guests? A guest network is the same principle. You’re providing your guests limited access to your home network vs throwing open the door and letting everyone know where you keep your valuables.
Most wireless routers today have a guest setting available. The way to set up your networked devices however, is to set all your valuables such as printers, computers, smart devices to a specific SSID that you can ‘hide’ through the router settings, this means not broadcasting it. This also means the name of the wifi won’t be broadcast to anyone, so only the person programming the router will know it and share it. This is especially critical in apartment complexes where wifi can be broadcast to other units. (Please don’t post the SSID/Password on a sticky note in the kitchen!)
The guest network is the only one that visitors should see and hopefully none of your critical devices will be on it. But don’t forget, sometimes having fun with your SSID naming convention is a great way to mess with the neighbors!
Å®Óźϼ¯ Security Matters is a system-wide effort to increase awareness on cybersecurity topics. For more information, please visit the Å®Óźϼ¯ Security Matters website at or email us at ua-securitymatters@alaska.edu.
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