Many homeowners spend hundreds of dollars a year on , monitoring cameras and other equipment, and even on smartphone apps that help them keep track of their families and property, keeping them safe from harm. However, these same homeowners are also losing hundreds of dollars a year, and they may not even be aware of it.
The cause of this loss is something that homeowners may not even think about—Wi-Fi theft. Each month, the average homeowner pays anywhere from $60-$100 a month for their home’s Internet Wi-Fi, depending on the services they use and their contract, but when people nearby hijack their services, they are losing money each time it happens. However, there are ways for homeowners to protect their homes’ Wi-Fi and keep it secure.
Indiana University’s Knowledge Base website notes that “Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and Wi-Fi allow you to access the Internet at broadband speeds without the need for a completely wired network, and allow many different workstations to use one central access point. However, wireless networks have security risks beyond those of a typical wired connection: since anyone within range can potentially connect to your wireless access points, you should take extra security precautions when setting up your home wireless network. [ . . . ] The more of these measures that you take, the greater the chance that someone will move on and attempt to locate a less secure network.”
Because of the investment homeowners make each month in order to have Wi-Fi at their homes, a number of security measures should be taken to ensure that no one nearby is illegally gaining access to the household’s connection.
Wi-Fi theft has become more common as computer technology advances and mobile devices such as lightweight laptops and tablets make iteasier to steal unsecured Wi-Fi signals. One way that homeowners can ensure that their signal is secure is by checking often in their Wi-Fi administrator’s panel to see if all updates and patches have been applied to each device that uses the access point. This way, the security of the point is stronger overall and there is no way for hijackers to slip through the cracks and piggyback on the signal.
It is also important for homeowners to have strong password protection for their Internet Wi-Fi. They should choose a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols to deter individuals from easily guessing the password. The numbers chosen should be random and not connected to the homeowner’s birthday. With Wi-Fi theft costing people hundreds of dollars a year, homeowners cannot afford to leave their signals unprotected.
Emily Stevenson
Author – Emily is a 10 year veteran of the home security industry working in sales. She was a top sales person at leading home security companies, but has shifted her focus to working on helping consumers make the right decisions.