Nowadays, Internet has become a necessity of life. Taking advantage of wireless technology such as 3G/4G carrier networks and WiFi hotspots, people can use many wireless devices like notebook computers, smartphones, tablets and even cameras to connect to Internet on the road. Hence, a mobile router or travel router appears in the market to act as a central spot supporting multiple wireless devices to share an Internet link.
A mobile router is usually equipped with a wireless function and small in size. Therefore it could pose a greater risk of being lost or compromised. In a worst-case scenario, your data would be stolen or the router acts as a gateway to attack your connected devices.
Below are some tips to improve information security when using the mobile router.
Device Security
1. Always check the physical existence of the router and keep or lock the router when it is not attended.
2. Change the default router password as soon as possible after purchased. It would reduce the chance of unauthorised access to the router's configuration.
3. Disable WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) feature. A vulnerability has been identified in WPS that can allow a remote attacker to recover the PIN of WPS in a few hours.
4. Regularly check and update the latest firmware for security fixes. This would reduce the chance of being attacked by hackers.
5. Enable built-in firewall on the router. This would restrict unauthorised access to the router and the connected devices.
Wireless Security
1. Disable Service Set Identifier (SSID) from broadcasting. This would minimise the risk of intruders searching targets to attack by locating the broadcast SSID.
2. Enable WPA2 encryption. Transmission encryption would protect the data transferring between the mobile router and the device against any illegal eavesdropping of data.
3. Enable Media Access Control (MAC) address filtering if possible. The mobile router can deny any unregistered devices from connecting.
4. Disable the Guest Network if not required. This would prevent any unauthorised use of chargeable Internet connection.
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