Safeguarding Your Home Network: Lessons Learned from Sharing Wi-Fi

Recently, I found myself in a bit of a predicament after agreeing to let our neighbor’s teenage kid use our Wi-Fi. Initially, I thought it was a nice gesture, but after giving it some thought—and considering my own behaviors at that age—I began to question the wisdom of my decision.

A Little Background

The neighbor’s grandson, who is around 15 years old, moved in with his grandparents just a few days ago. Unfortunately, his grandfather is a bit too frugal to invest in an internet connection for the household. After recently upgrading to a fiber-optic internet plan with unlimited data and a reliable 50Mbps upload and download speed, I found it hard to say no when the kid requested access.

He even offered to pay for the privilege, but I opted for a more informal arrangement whereby he would take responsibility for using the internet properly—keeping things clean and abiding by the law. However, I soon realized that this arrangement allowed him access to all of my devices connected to our home network.

Thinking back to my own teenage years, I remembered the mischief we got up to online, particularly with programs like “Netbus” that could wreak havoc. Suddenly, my friendly gesture didn’t feel quite so innocent. I had concerns about security and privacy, and the thought of potential misuse weighed heavily on my mind.

Seeking Solutions: Isolating the Connection

I quickly concluded that I needed to isolate his connection from the rest of my home network. In my research, I stumbled upon the concept of wireless isolation, which could provide a layer of protection. However, I lacked a clear understanding of how to implement this effectively.

One potential solution I considered was utilizing a spare router I have. I could hardwire it to our main connection and configure it to work solely for him, establishing a separate subnet. But I am still uncertain about how much that would truly safeguard my network from unwanted access or potential security breaches.

For context, my current setup includes a Bell Home Hub 3000 connected to a Netgear Nighthawk R7000 router, which is running DD-WRT firmware.

Request for Advice

I am reaching out to the community for insights and suggestions. What have you done to protect your home network while sharing Wi-Fi with others? Are there specific settings or configurations that could enhance my security? Any advice on wireless isolation or subnetting would be greatly appreciated!

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