Check The Connection

Have you ever wondered if your Wi-Fi could be better, or faster? Maybe you were promised certain speeds — and well, it just doesn’t feel like your Internet’s very fast!

Let’s back up. Wi-Fi is the connection to the Internet, and many families these days have their own Wi-Fi network at home. This is intended to be their private network, for their computers and other devices only. When you first move in and get your Wi-Fi network set up for the house, the first thing you should do is use a strong password. Some providers will assign you a password.

If you have an extensive home security system tied into your network, the security of that network is then paramount. Having a password does you no good if it’s a weak one, whether because it’s something anyone could guess (like ‘password’) or it’s tied into something personal (like the name of your pet.) It might be a pain to connect devices to the network if your password is long and complex, but it’ll make it that much harder for hackers to gain access.

If you think someone’s gained access, take a look at your system administrator page. You’ll be able to view all the devices hooked up to the network, and if there’s one you don’t recognise, change your password right away. If your network is unusually slow or sluggish, it may be possible that someone’s gotten in — or you may have too many devices going at once, which can affect internet speeds.

Treat your Wi-Fi network like anything else in your house — you don’t want it to get stolen, so of course you’re going to give it the same security you would anything else.