How to secure your home router: a practical security checklist

Your router deserves a security check even when the internet works perfectly. Start with its passwords, wireless protection, and update settings. You do not need to change every advanced option to make useful improvements.

Before you change settings

Find the exact model and its official instructions. Use the manufacturer’s app or documented local admin address. If your internet provider manages the router, ask which settings and updates it controls. Allow time to reconnect devices if you change the Wi-Fi settings.

1. Separate the two passwords

The Wi-Fi password lets devices join your network. The administrator password controls the router itself. Replace shared factory credentials with strong, unique ones, and store them securely. Sharing Wi-Fi access should not mean sharing administrator access.

2. Check wireless security and updates

Use WPA3 Personal where your equipment supports it, or WPA2 Personal for compatible older devices. Avoid obsolete WEP or original WPA. Check for router software updates and enable automatic updates when supported. The FTC’s home Wi-Fi guide explains these protections and reviewing unnecessary remote-management features.

Make one change at a time. After changing wireless security, test a phone and a computer before moving to the next setting. If an older device stops connecting, consult its documentation rather than weakening the entire network without investigating.

3. Review connected devices

Look for a connected-device list in the router’s app or settings. Match entries to equipment you own before blocking anything: an unfamiliar label alone is not proof of an intruder. Keep a short inventory of computers, phones, cameras, and smart-home devices.

For each device, replace default login credentials and enable account two-factor authentication where offered. The FTC’s connected-device checklist covers these steps. Protecting the router does not replace protecting the devices behind it.

4. Give visitors appropriate access

If your router offers a guest network, check its instructions for isolating guests from your main devices. A different network name by itself does not establish what guests can reach. Test any access you rely on, such as printing or casting, after changing isolation settings.

Keep a simple maintenance note

Record the model, last update check, and which settings you changed, without putting passwords in a shared document. Log out of the administration interface when finished. If replacement becomes necessary, our router buying checklist can help you compare practical requirements. For account protection, see our security checkup.