Give your Wi-Fi a long password that is not the one on the sticker, and give the router’s settings page a different one. Use WPA3 or WPA2. Then look at the list of everything connected, and remove anything you do not know.
Last checked against the sources listed at the end of this page.
We sell nothing, and no company paid to be on this page. The two products named link to their makers’ own websites. None of those links earns us money.
•Know what is on your network: open the list of connected devices in your router’s app or settings page, and remove anything you do not recognise (opens in a new tab). Give visitors and smart gadgets a guest network with its own password.
Free help first
Your broadband provider
The router (the box that connects your home to the internet and makes your Wi-Fi) usually comes from your provider, and its help pages show how to change its settings: there is a list below. If your router only offers the old WEP or WPA security, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) says to contact the provider that gave you the router and ask for an upgrade (opens in a new tab).
If a family member or friend set up your broadband, ask them to go through the checklist on this page with you, with the router’s app or settings page open. Never write a password on the sheet.
What are the two passwords on my router?
Your router is the box from your broadband provider that connects your home to the internet and makes your Wi-Fi. Everything that connects to it, by Wi-Fi or by cable, is your home network. The NI Cyber Security Centre puts it simply: if the router has weak security, then your whole network does too (opens in a new tab).
A router has two different passwords, and both often start out on a sticker on the router:
The Wi-Fi password (sometimes called the Wi-Fi key or wireless key): what you and your visitors type to join the Wi-Fi.
The settings-page password (the admin, login or web interface password): what opens the router’s settings, in a web browser or your provider’s app. Whoever has it can change everything, including the Wi-Fi password.
How do I change it? Your provider’s own help pages
Every router is different, so follow your provider’s steps for yours. These pages are for the provider’s own routers; if yours is another model, search the provider’s help pages for the name on your router.
Not with one of these? Look on your provider’s website for the name on your router’s sticker, or ring their helpline.
WPA3, WPA2, WPA, WEP: which Wi-Fi security should I use, and why?
The Wi-Fi security setting is the lock on your Wi-Fi. It scrambles (encrypts) everything that travels through the air between your devices and the router, so that someone nearby cannot read it or join without the password. You will find it in the router’s settings, under Wi-Fi or wireless, as “security”, “encryption” or “authentication”. There have been four kinds:
“WPA2/WPA3” (or “WPA2 + WPA3”) is fine. It lets an older device join with WPA2 while newer ones use WPA3, on the same network with the same password: the Wi-Fi Alliance calls it transition mode (opens in a new tab).
Avoid “WPA/WPA2” and anything that says “TKIP”. The Wi-Fi Alliance strongly discourages (opens in a new tab) them, because they keep the old, weak method switched on.
To see which one you use, open your router’s settings or app and look under Wi-Fi or wireless security: the NI Cyber Security Centre says you will need to log into your router to check (opens in a new tab). If it only offers WEP or WPA, ask your provider for a newer router, as CISA advises.
UPnP: off, unless something needs it. UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) lets games consoles and smart gadgets connect, and find each other, by themselves. The UK’s NCSC suggests considering disabling it (opens in a new tab), but warns this may stop some online games and smart devices working. Some routers have it off already.
A guest network is a second Wi-Fi network from the same router, with its own name and password. Whoever joins it gets the internet, but is kept apart from your own computers, phones and printer. The NI Cyber Security Centre says most home routers will have a “Guest” Wi-Fi network (opens in a new tab).
CISA’s advice is to switch it on, with a separate password that is long, random, and unique (opens in a new tab), for anyone who does not routinely use your Wi-Fi: visitors, the babysitter, a tradesperson. It also suggests putting smart gadgets (plugs, bulbs, speakers, cameras) on it if the internet is all they need, so they cannot reach the rest of your home network.
Why some advice says turn it off
NCSC Ireland’s 2020 advice for people working from home said to turn guest networking off. Its reason: on some routers guest access is on from the start, and needs no security key (opens in a new tab) (no password) to join. An open guest network lets anyone nearby use your internet.
So both are right, and the answer is simple: use a guest network only with its own password. If yours is on with no password, or you never use it, turn it off.
One catch: a guest network keeps devices apart, so a gadget your phone needs to find at home, such as a TV you cast to, may need to stay on your main network.
What is on my network, and what can others on it reach?
Go through it with the household. Names can be odd (a model number, or a maker’s name), so count the phones, tablets, computers, TVs, speakers, printers, cameras and plugs in the house.
Remove what you do not recognise: the NI Cyber Security Centre says investigate and remove (opens in a new tab) it. Then change the Wi-Fi password, so it cannot simply join again.
Anyone you give the Wi-Fi password to is on the same network as your own things. Many devices ask for a password before their settings can be changed, but often it is one the maker set. Check that it is not still the one the device came with:
Its advice is calm and simple: be careful with very cheap smart devices, and buy from trusted vendors (opens in a new tab), makers and shops you know. Keep Google Play Protect (Android’s own malware check) switched on, and avoid apps from unofficial stores that offer free streaming. If you are unsure about a box you already have, ask the shop you bought it from.
What do the new EU rules mean when I buy a router or smart device?
Usually not. Everything above works with the router you have. Two reasons to change: your router only offers WEP or WPA, or gets no updates (ask your provider for a newer one first); or the Wi-Fi does not reach every room. For that, a mesh system helps: two or more units that work together as one Wi-Fi network.
Check with your provider that your own router or mesh system will work with your connection. Then look for WPA3, a guest network, automatic updates, and how long the maker promises security updates.
These are examples, not the only good choices. We name them from what their makers publish. We have not tested them ourselves, and no link here earns us anything.
TP-Link
Deco X50, 2-pack (Wi-Fi 6 mesh)
Good for: a home where the Wi-Fi does not reach every room. The two units work together as one Wi-Fi network, and you manage them from an app on your phone.
Wi-Fi security: WPA3-Personal, as well as WPA2.
Guest networks, and an app that lists every connected device, with a button to block one.
Check it works: The first unit connects to your provider’s router or modem. TP-Link says a 2-pack covers up to 4,500 square feet (about 418 m²); a bigger home may need a third.
Good for: replacing your router, if it is your own or your provider lets you use your own. It plugs straight into a phone-line connection (VDSL, used for fibre to the cabinet), or into the fibre box of a fibre-to-the-home connection through its LAN 1 port. Pure Telecom, for one, publishes set-up steps for a FRITZ!Box on its fibre lines (opens in a new tab).
Wi-Fi guest access, free updates for new features and security, and a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty.
Check it works: Ask your provider first whether you can use your own router, and for the settings it needs. Check it comes with a three-pin plug for an Irish socket.
I recognise everything on it, and removed anything I did not
The router
3
Its settings-page password is changed, and is not the Wi-Fi password
4
Updates install automatically, or my provider looks after them
5
WPS is off, if my router lets me
6
Remote management is off, unless I use it
7
The network name does not show my name, my address or the router’s make
The Wi-Fi
8
The Wi-Fi password is long, and not the one on the sticker
Four or more random words, 12 characters or more.
9
The security setting is WPA3 or WPA2
WPA2/WPA3 is fine. Never WEP, WPA, TKIP or Open.
10
Visitors use a guest network with its own password, or it is turned off
Other devices
11
The printer’s and cameras’ passwords are not the ones they came with
12
Updates are on for the TV, cameras and other smart gadgets
Notes
From safeandsecure.ie/topics/cyber/home-wifi-and-network. Last checked 7 October 2026. Sources: National Cyber Security Centre (ncsc.gov.ie); NI Cyber Security Centre (nicybersecuritycentre.gov.uk); CISA (cisa.gov); Wi-Fi Alliance (wi-fi.org); UK NCSC (ncsc.gov.uk); your broadband provider’s own help pages.
Print this
The checklist prints on one page, in black on white, with a box to tick beside each line. It has no space for passwords, on purpose. The whole guide prints without the menus, and with the address of every source.
If something is there that you did not let in, change the Wi-Fi password. Every device then has to reconnect with the new one, as Three’s guide to its hub (opens in a new tab) says, so only the ones you set up again come back.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from one of these, and each was read on 7 October 2026.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ireland. A strong password has at least 12 characters, and 14 or more is better; a strong passphrase has at least 3 random words, and 4 or more is better, not words linked to you; a different password for each important account.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ireland. Routers from a provider come with a preset network name and password; an unchanged name can help attackers find known weaknesses; the password supplied is generally shorter than the recommended 12 characters.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ireland. Written for home working during COVID-19. Many home routers use a default password; five router tips: hiding the network name (which does not stop the network being detected), changing the network name, turning off WPS, turning off guest access that needs no password, and choosing WPA2 or WPA3.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), Ireland. Malware built into some low-cost Android tablets, TV boxes, digital photo frames and phones; it can reach the home network; a factory reset often does not remove it; 10,053 Irish internet (IP) addresses seen connecting to it; buy from trusted vendors, keep Google Play Protect on, and avoid unofficial app stores that offer free streaming.
NI Cyber Security Centre (Northern Ireland, United Kingdom). If the router has weak security, so does the whole network; change the router’s default login and the default Wi-Fi password; know what is connected and remove what you do not recognise; automatic updates; WPA2 or WPA3, never WEP, WPA or “Open”; a guest network for smart devices and for guests.
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), United States. Change the router login to a long, random, unique password; check for updates; a network name with no personal information; a Wi-Fi passphrase of 5 to 7 unrelated words, used for nothing else; WPA3 Personal or WPA2 AES only, and ask the provider for an upgrade if the router is open or uses WEP, WPA or TKIP; turn off remote management, WPS and UPnP; keep the router out of others’ reach; a guest network with its own password for visitors and smart devices.
Wi-Fi Alliance, the industry body that certifies Wi-Fi equipment. WPA3 is mandatory for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED devices; WPA3-Personal gives more protection against password guessing.
Wi-Fi Alliance. With WPA3 an “offline dictionary attack” (guessing the password away from the network) is not possible; even someone who guesses the password cannot read earlier traffic.
Wi-Fi Alliance. WEP was the original standard; WPA replaced it in 2003 as a stopgap for WEP’s limited protection, and WPA’s TKIP has some weakness to attack; WPA2 replaced WPA in 2004.
Wi-Fi Alliance. WPA with TKIP no longer provides sufficient security; TKIP and WEP use the same underlying cipher; WPA2 required on certified products since 2006; “TKIP-only” and WPA / WPA2 mixed mode strongly discouraged.
National Cyber Security Centre, United Kingdom. Change a default password; switch off remote access if you do not need it; automatic updates; treat the support end date as a “use by” date.
National Cyber Security Centre, United Kingdom. Some cameras ship with well-known default passwords such as admin or 00000; the router’s list of connected devices; UPnP, and that turning it off may stop some games and devices working.
Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg). We often have more devices connected than we realise: TVs, smart doorbells, security systems, smart home devices and appliances.
EUR-Lex, the official site of EU law. Repeals Regulation 2022/30 with effect from 11 December 2027, when the Cyber Resilience Act’s requirements take over.
EUR-Lex, the official site of EU law. Routers and modems are listed as “important products” (Annex III); the support period is at least five years unless the product is expected to be used for less; security updates, where applicable automatic, on by default (Annex I).
Virgin Media Ireland. The network name and password are on a sticker under the hub; holding the pinhole reset for sixty seconds returns the hub to its default values.
Three Ireland. Changing the Wi-Fi name and password (all devices must then reconnect); change the default settings-page password after first login; the hub checks for updates every night between 02:00 and 04:00 and installs them itself.
Pure Telecom. Changing the wireless password; the default settings login is admin for both; when asked to change it, Pure recommends the Wi-Fi password.
Pure Telecom. Setting up a FRITZ!Box on Pure’s fibre to the cabinet and fibre to the home (including SIRO) lines; for fibre to the home, the cable goes into LAN port 1.
HP (Irish support site). The printer’s settings homepage opens in a web browser on a device on the same network; it may ask for admin and a PIN from the printer’s label.
Brother. The default password is on a “Pwd” label; Brother strongly recommends changing it at once; settings can be managed over a network; someone with the password could take information from print jobs.
TP-Link, the maker (its Irish address opens this page). WPA3-Personal as well as WPA and WPA2; guest networks; the Deco app’s list of connected devices, with block and pause; an IoT network; a 2-pack covers up to 4,500 square feet.
FRITZ! (AVM), the maker. VDSL or ADSL line, or a fibre connection through its LAN 1 port; “Secure upon delivery with WPA2 encryption; WPA3 is also available”; Wi-Fi guest access; free updates for new features and security; a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty.
FRITZ! (AVM), the maker. WPA3 in the “WPA2 + WPA3” transition mode, which it says is on in the factory settings; the setting is under Wi-Fi > Security > Encryption.
