Gone are the days when you had to connect your rather short Ethernet cable from your modem to your laptop’s Ethernet slot to connect it to the internet. All that has changed with the evolution of Wireless Networking. Today you have wireless Modems that are capable of tethering the internet connection to your house into wireless signals that can be received by your Laptop’s or even your Smartphone’s wireless adaptor. The result is that you can access the Internet from these devices from any place that falls in the signal range of the modem. Say Good Bye to the wires and short distance issues because today wireless modems typically have a range of over 20 meters minimum. But as with any other technology, wireless networks are not without their share of problems as well.
Some of them are listed below
Lack of Confidentiality
Bandwidth Stealing
Information Security
Litigation and Criminal Activity
There are several problems other than the one listed above, and the main reason why all of these issues pop up is that of inadequate monitoring of wireless networks.
Mostly unauthorized personnel use your wireless internet access without your knowledge and thus leads to any one or all of the issues mentioned above.
So how do you monitor your wireless network? There is no single answer to this question but here is a list of considerations you should impose to have a strictly monitored wireless network:
A Manual, as well as Automated network monitoring, should be active at all times the network is open.
You must fully know your wireless network configuration, and there should not be any loose ends or transparent portions that you do not have knowledge about it.
Try to have the control of the Wireless Network managed by yourself if possible or only by a single person whom you trust.
Always secure your wireless network or WLAN with a password and even if you are a beginner the operating system you use be it Windows or Linux or Mac, offers you with enough options to set an access password for your wireless network.
Try to have a 3rd party wireless monitoring software to keep a check on who is using your Wireless network at any instant of time like for example SoftPerfect Wi-Fi Guard.
Never leave your wireless access open if you are not using it for anything because this is the time when intruders can infringe your network easily.
Always keep a note of suspicious activity like unusually reduced bandwidth, irregular internet connection to the same network you used perfectly before and so on.
Once you have made sure the above considerations are in place; you are sure to have a much more secure wireless network be it at home or office. The most important things you need to do on an urgent basis are to set a strong password and have a wireless network monitoring software installed because even if the other measures are somehow bypassed by intruders, these will ensure that they do not.