One of the options which may confuse the average user when securing its wireless network is which security mode is the best. There are several options to choose from and selecting the wrong one can put your wireless home network in danger.
At the moment, when you what to set up the security mode in your router settings you will see several options – Open (No security), WEP, WPA/WPA2 Personal or Enterprise, and in some new routers even WPA3. Now, you are right if you think that WPA3 is the best one, but unfortunately not all wireless routers have this option yet. Therefore, let’s take a closer look at the security modes or standards and how good they are in protecting your wireless network.
In order to select the best security mode for your router you will have to access the router settings first. Here at routerctrl.com you can find step-by-step guides to help you login to your router. After you access the router admin console you will be able to select one of the available Security modes. So, let’s start!
No security
We are sure that we don’t have to tell you to avoid leaving your Wi-fi network with no security at all. In case you own a restaurant or a café it is always better to secure your wireless network than to leave it open. Just do that not only for yourself, gut for your guests as well. When you leave the wireless network open, it doesn’t only mean your guests won’t have to bother with a password to access the network, it means the traffic running through the network isn’t encrypted as well and this puts everyone in danger. Hackers can easily connect to your network and have access to all personal data and other information you wouldn’t like anyone else to have but you.
WEP
The WEP security mode is so obsolete and weak that even someone with very little knowledge will be able to hack your network. Therefore, it’s not even worth it to try leaving your network protected with WEP. However, although there were serious efforts put into making the WEP security mode better it is highly recommended to avoid it because it’s very vulnerable. Another information worth knowing is that the Wi-Fi alliance has officially abandoned WEP security in 2004.
WPA/WPA2-Personal (Recommended)
This is the recommended and for most wireless routers the best security type at the moment. It is highly recommended to use this option and combination as shown on the image. So, choose WPA2-PSK and the latest AES encryption protocol. This combination is compatible with all smartphones no matter whether we are talking about iOS or Android powered devices.
WPA/WPA2-Enterprise
For the home user it is recommended to go with the WPA/WPA2 Personal security mode. On the other hand, the WPA/WPA2 Enterprise is made to be used in organizations. Although you may think these two security modes are the same, they aren’t. The man difference is in the authentication. While the Personal type uses PSK (Pre-Shared Key) the enterprise type offers enterprise-grade authentication by using IEEE 802.1X,
WPA3
Although your most likely doesn’t support WPA3 security mode we have to mention it because the number of devices supporting this security standard is increasing day by day.
WPA3 is a security standard designed to replace the WPA2. It is the latest security protocol for personal wireless networks and it drastically improves their cybersecurity. It offers better password encryption as well as a protection from brute-force attacks and all of that with the idea to better protect your home wireless network.
Summary
All the security protocols we have mentioned above are important and you should always go with the latest version available to protect your personal wireless network. However, even the strongest security protocol won’t protect your network if you set up a weak password. So, when you are setting up a new password for your wireless network always use a combination of special characters, numbers, capital and small letters. Do your best to come up with a long, hard to guess password and then you can rely completely on the security type you have selected.
