When you operate a wireless network in your home, it provides you and your family the ability to connect to the internet from anywhere in your home. However, most people forget that the signals sent out by wireless routers extend far beyond the walls of your home, sometimes by over 250 feet! This means that your network is accessible to anyone within this range. People accessing your network can leech off your internet bandwidth, tap into your files, and possibly even access critical personal information such as usernames and passwords.

The worst part about all this however, is that most people with wireless networks have absolutely nothing preventing any unwanted outside connections. Try this: next time you have someone over with a laptop capable of accessing wireless internet, ask them to connect to your network. If you have not manually changed any settings for your wireless router, this will be a simple click of the mouse. This is because wireless routers generally do not have security measures enabled by default. read more »