Title: How to Secure Your Home Network After Sharing Wi-Fi with a Neighbor’s Teenager
Earlier this week, I made the decision to allow my neighbor’s 15-year-old grandson to use our Wi-Fi. In the moment, it seemed like a generous act, especially since his grandparents were unable to afford internet service. However, after reflecting on my own experiences as a teenager, I’m starting to realize that this might not have been the wisest choice.
For context, the young lad just moved in next door with his grandparents, and we recently upgraded to a fiber-optic internet connection with unlimited 50 Mbps upload and download speeds. While he initially offered to compensate me for using our network, I declined payment and instead asked him to use it responsibly and legally. This decision was made with good intentions, but it dawned on me that I may have inadvertently granted him access to all the devices connected to our network.
Thinking back to my own teenage years, when mischievous programs like “wack a mole” (which was essentially the infamous NetBus client) could easily cause trouble, I began to feel a bit uneasy about the arrangement. Now I find myself in a position where I need to isolate his internet access to protect my home network.
To secure my connection, I’ve been considering wireless isolation strategies but I’m not entirely familiar with the technical aspects. One viable solution that crossed my mind is to set up a secondary router. I have a spare router lying around that I could wire directly and place in the window for him to use, creating a separate subnet that would keep his access isolated from the rest of my home network.
Currently, my equipment setup consists of a Bell Home Hub 3000 wired to my Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router, which is running DD-WRT firmware (v3.0). I’m looking for insights on how to best implement this secondary router to ensure that my network remains secure.
If you have experience in network management or have faced a similar situation, I’d appreciate any advice on how to proceed. What are some effective ways to establish a secure connection while allowing access to a neighbor? Your insights would be invaluable as I navigate this unexpected dilemma!
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