{"id":547330,"date":"2023-02-03T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/"},"modified":"2023-02-03T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T12:00:00","slug":"9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/","title":{"rendered":"#9 Dangerous Thing You Should Never Do on Your Router"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a27397b2816b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a27397b2816b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#%E2%80%9C9_Dangerous_Thing_You_Should_Never_Do_on_Your_Router%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;9 Dangerous Thing You Should Never Do on Your Router&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#A_Word_on_Router_Security\" >A Word on Router Security<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Disabling_Automatic_Updates\" >Disabling Automatic Updates<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Hosting_an_Open_Wi-Fi_Network\" >Hosting an Open Wi-Fi Network<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Forwarding_Ports\" >Forwarding Ports<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Putting_Devices_in_the_DMZ\" >Putting Devices in the DMZ<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Enabling_Remote_Administration\" >Enabling Remote Administration<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Using_a_Weak_Administrator_Password\" >Using a Weak Administrator Password<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Leaving_Universal_Plug_and_Play_UPnP_On\" >Leaving Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) On<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Leaving_Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup_WPS_On\" >Leaving Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) On<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/9-dangerous-thing-you-should-never-do-on-your-router\/#Keeping_Unused_Features_Active\" >Keeping Unused Features Active<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C9_Dangerous_Thing_You_Should_Never_Do_on_Your_Router%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;9 Dangerous Thing You Should Never Do on Your Router&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-869586 size-full\" data-pagespeed-no-defer=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RouterSettings1.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The back of a router with the internet cable and other Ethernet cables plugged in.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-credittext=\"Hannah Stryker \/ How-To Geek\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\">Hannah Stryker \/ How-To Geek<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Router settings can have a significant impact on router security. It&#8217;s best to turn off features if you&#8217;re not using them and always use strong passwords.<\/p>\n<p>When you get under the hood, there are a lot of router settings and options. Here\u2019s a crash course on what to avoid doing to keep your router as secure as possible.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"A_Word_on_Router_Security\"><\/span>A Word on Router Security<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Before we dig into the dangerous things we recommend you avoid doing with your router, we understand that there are some situations where you may have a very good reason to do one of the things listed below.<\/p>\n<p>If you know what you\u2019re getting into and you have a specific reason for doing it, by all means, do so while proceeding with <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ropriate caution. But for most people following the suggestions below, turning off features they don\u2019t need and leaving the router to manage everything else automatically is almost always the best security choice with the least risk.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Disabling_Automatic_Updates\"><\/span>Disabling Automatic Updates<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re a network administrator or play an amateur one at home (perhaps dabbling with small business network gear like Ubiquiti hardware), you\u2019re likely very on top of your network firmware and manage your updates to avoid bugs, uptime issues and other problems. When you\u2019re that hands-on with your network, sometimes you avoid auto-updates so you can manually review every firmware update.<\/p>\n<p>But most people don\u2019t need to be so hands-on and are better off letting their router handle the updates automatically to ensure vulnerabilities and bugs are patched as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n<p>If your router doesn\u2019t support automatic updates or is so old that it no longer receives them, we strongly recommend upgrading it. In addition to automatic updates, a new Wi-Fi router will include other improvements like upgraded Wi-Fi security and better Wi-Fi coverage.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hosting_an_Open_Wi-Fi_Network\"><\/span>Hosting an Open Wi-Fi Network<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of Wi-Fi security, although it\u2019s tempting to run an open Wi-Fi network to avoid typing in passwords, it\u2019s a security nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone close enough to connect to your Wi-Fi network is free to use your network however they wish, including using it for illegal activities or freely roaming your network trying to access your devices.<\/p>\n<p>You should use a strong password on your Wi-Fi router. We\u2019d even go so far as to suggest that you skip using the default Wi-Fi password if your router has one and replace it with one of your own.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Forwarding_Ports\"><\/span>Forwarding Ports<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>When you\u2019re struggling to get some service running properly, it\u2019s easy to get frustrated and open a wide range of ports or even open up all the ports for a particular device on your network to get the remote connection working.<\/p>\n<p>You should only open the exact ports you need, such as a specific port for a locally hosted <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> server. Opening more ports exposes more of your home network to the internet. And if you set port forward assignments with too wide of a range, then it can cause network headaches when traffic is routed to the wrong devices.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s rare these days to even need port forwarding, so unless you have a specific need, it\u2019s best to simply let the router handle things without setting port forwarding assignments.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Putting_Devices_in_the_DMZ\"><\/span>Putting Devices in the DMZ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You might see an option in you router to put a device in the \u201cDMZ,\u201d which stands for \u201cdemilitarized zone.\u201d It\u2019s a no-man\u2019s-land where none of the security features of your router will be applied to that device. To continue the military analogies, it\u2019s the nuclear option for solving a port forwarding problem because you\u2019re shoving the device right out of the secure zone.<\/p>\n<p>Unless you have a very specific fringe-use-case reason to use the DMZ, you should never put a device in the DMZ. You should especially avoid putting your computer or another device that holds personal information, like a NAS, in the DMZ.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Enabling_Remote_Administration\"><\/span>Enabling Remote Administration<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Whether it\u2019s called \u201cRemote Administration,\u201d \u201cRemote Access,\u201d or \u201cRemote Management,\u201d by default, your router\u2019s administration panel is accessible only to people on the local network. You can\u2019t access it if you\u2019re not connected to the router via an Ethernet cable or over the local Wi-Fi connection.<\/p>\n<p>If you enable remote access, that means anyone connecting to your external public IP address will be able to access your router\u2019s login. This affords them the opportunity to pick away at your router, trying default passwords, password tables, and other methods.<\/p>\n<p>Most people don\u2019t need to remotely access their router\u2019s administration panel when they aren\u2019t at home, so it\u2019s best just to leave remote access turned off. If you do turn it on, be sure to use a strong password and keep your router\u2019s firmware up-to-date to protect against vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Using_a_Weak_Administrator_Password\"><\/span>Using a Weak Administrator Password<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You might not think about the administrator password on your router, but it\u2019s a really important one. Your email or bank password might get more attention and seem higher profile, but if you have a weak or default password on your router, it\u2019s easy for someone to change the settings.<\/p>\n<p>Your router, like everything else, needs a long and strong password. If you don\u2019t know the current password for your router, you can use these tips to access your router and set a new password.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leaving_Universal_Plug_and_Play_UPnP_On\"><\/span>Leaving Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) On<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) is a set of networking protocols that allow devices on your network to discover each other and automatically work together.<\/p>\n<p>In theory, that\u2019s really great. In practice, UPnP has been plagued by security issues for years, and we (as well as the FBI) recommend turning off UPnP features on your router.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Leaving_Wi-Fi_Protected_Setup_WPS_On\"><\/span>Leaving Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) On<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Introduced in 2006, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) makes it possible to push a little button on your router and a little button on your device, and the router and device will automatically negotiate a connection without you having to do any further setup.<\/p>\n<p>Like UPnP, it seems like a great idea on paper and should make life easier for everybody. In practice, also like UPnP, it ended up having security vulnerabilities. We recommend you turn WPS off. Yes, the push-to-setup feature can save you time, but given how little time you actually spend adding new devices to your network, it\u2019s just not worth the trade-off.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Keeping_Unused_Features_Active\"><\/span>Keeping Unused Features Active<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We called this section \u201ckeeping unused features active,\u201d but it could just as easily be called \u201cturning on features you don\u2019t need\u201d because it\u2019s the same <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> idea.<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t go over every possible setting on your router, but a safe approach is to leave features turned off if you\u2019re not using them. If your router has a file and print server, turn it off if you\u2019re not using it. If there is a built-in VPN client you\u2019re not using, again, turn it off. By disabling services on the router you\u2019re not using, you cut down on the number of potential zero-day exploits and vulnerabilities your router exposes.<\/p>\n<p>The same goes for turning things on or messing around with advanced features. We absolutely encourage people to learn and play with their hardware, but if you\u2019re not interested in learning advanced firewall rules and syntax, it\u2019s best to leave that section alone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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It&#8217;s best to turn off features if you&#8217;re not using them and always use strong passwords. When you get under the hood, there are a lot of router settings and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":547331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/RouterSettings1.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-547330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=547330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/547330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/547331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=547330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=547330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=547330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}