How to Make a Secure Wireless Router

Ensuring that your wireless router is secure is important to maintain the privacy of your important data. Theft of data and resources through the Internet has become more prevalent, especially since anyone with just the right equipment and a bit of know-how can set up a wireless router in just minutes. Taking just an extra bit of time to secure your wireless connection will prove beneficial in the long run.

Materials Needed:
- A computer
- a wireless router
Step 1
Make sure your wireless router or access point is secure. An administrator password is needed to be able to configure security settings in a router or access point. The moment you've set up your router or access point, change the default password. Use a strong password, one that includes letters, numbers, or even special symbols. Write down the password and keep it in a safe place for future reference. There is a high probability that you won't be using the password often but loss of this password may result in resetting your router to default factory settings. This will wipe out all previous configurations and settings you have made.
Step 2
Turn off broadcast of your network's Service Set Identifier (SSID) to prevent anyone within range to detect your wireless network. This will be a bit inconvenient because a valid user will not easily detect the network; however, in the long run, it prevents people who are not part of the valid network from detecting and potentially leeching from your resources.
Step 3
Consider using Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) over Wired Equivalency Privacy (WEP). WEP has weaknesses already known to most experienced hackers so it is relatively easy to crack and access. WPA provides better protection. Older versions of the router, however, do not support WPA.
Step 4
Use WEP if WPA is unavailable. You might omit the whole process of setting up WEP because of its flaws but it's better than no protection at all. Try to make up for its weaknesses by setting an encryption key that is difficult to guess. Another method is to change your password every week. This may prove tiresome but necessary if you want to make sure your wireless network is secure.
Step 5
Check if Remote Administration is disabled. This is usually turned off by default but it is best to be sure. Remote Administration enables the configuration of your wireless router or access point via the Internet. Turn it on only when absolutely necessary.
How to Speed up the Computer on Start-up

How to Speed up the Computer on Start-up

It's necessary to maintain computers, although it might be quite difficult. It helps to be aware on causes of poor computer performance. Using your computer's utmost capacity would give fairness to the money you spent on buying it.

Materials Needed:
- RAM (optional)
-
Step 1
Disable Start-up Programs. Go to Start button, choose Run, type Msconfig, click OK. This will show you the System Configuration Utility. Choose the Start-up Tab. Uncheck the programs which are unnecessary for start-up. This would disable the programs the user does not need. Click OK after unnecessary programs have been unchecked. The user will then be asked to restart the computer for the changes in system Configuration to take effect.
Step 2
Add RAM. If your computer has numerous files it would be good to get a powerful Ram to boost up its performance. Adding up RAM could also solve the problem. On the General tab of Properties of My Computer the user could figure out how much RAM the computer is provided with. At least 2GB RAM would more likely be compatible for a computer that is filled with today's new programs.
Step 3
Perform a Disk clean up. Go to Start button, Programs, Accessories, choose System Tools, Disk Clean up. Before defragging the hard disk, the user needs to clean up the available drives. This eliminates the unnecessary files. Choose the drive to be cleaned. Most temporary folders are found in drive C. Allow the computer to calculate the space of your disk. After calculating, check the folders which contents need to be erased. Do this to all the drives available on the computer.
Step 4
Defrag hard drives. Moving files from folder to folder could leave some disk space occupied. Defrag your hard disk to access files faster. After the disk clean up, Go to Start button, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter. Choose the disk to defrag. Allow the computer to analyze the disk space, after analysis, click on Defragment. This may take a few minutes to complete, depending on how often it is performed.
Step 5
Get a registry cleaner. This helps clean up the computer registry and enables the computer to run better and faster. When installing programs it is not recommend allowing the program to launch on start-up unless the program will be used regularly on start-up.
Step 6
Perform a system restore: This step is found in programs, Accessories, System Tools. The System restore allows the user to choose an earlier time when the same computer worked well. The computer would then attempt to restore its capability on the given date. Follow the wizard to perform this.
Step 7
Anti-virus Update. Get an update for the anti-virus installed on the computer, doing this would allow the new viruses and spyware to be detected and deleted.