The desire to turn off Wi-Fi on a laptop can arise for various reasons. For example, you are on the way. There is no internet, and the transmitter just spends a laptop's charge searching for non-existent networks. Or you have wired Internet connected to your laptop, and you don’t need this Wi-Fi. In any case, you need to know how to disable Wi-Fi on a laptop. Same story with password change. If you notice that a "vampire" has stuck to your network, then the best option is to find out how to change the wifi password and do it. So this small "educational program" will be useful to everyone.
What can the effect of turning off Wi-Fi affect?
This is a legitimate question, because everyone wants to know about the possible risks, consequences and bonuses. In principle, if the Wi-Fi network is disabled on your laptop, then nothing bad will happen. Well, the Internet will disappear. That's all. In return, you will get a great bonus: your laptop will be able to run on battery power for much longer. In some cases, this is crucial. And the Internet is not that important. You can live without it.
Same story with password change. But here everything is a little more complicated. Your laptop will no longer automatically connect to the access point because the password has been changed. You will have to reconfigure the connection. That's all. But, if you come up with a “furious” password, then no attacker can no longer insolently connect to your Wi-Fi and unscrupulously use the benefits of a free internet.
Lenovo Wi-Fi Disable
How to disable Wi-Fi on a Lenovo laptop? There are several ways to do this. The first is the use of laptop shortcuts. For most models, to disable Wi-Fi, just hold down the Fn + F5 key combination . This will immediately turn off the transmitter. You can turn on the network in the same combination. Everything turns on and off very quickly.
But there is a switch located on the device’s case in some models (especially older ones). It can be anywhere: side, front, back. But he is. To turn off the transmitter, just slide the switch to the off position and the network will immediately shut down. This is a hardware way to disable wifi. And the first was software, which works only if the necessary system drivers are installed on the laptop.
ASUS laptops
In the case of the Korean manufacturer, everything looks a little different. Many models are equipped with hot keys to turn off the Wi-Fi transmitter, but each model may have its own combination. There is no particular constancy here. How to disable Wi-Fi on Asus laptop? To do this, hold down the key combination Fn + F2. If this helps, then we do not have to resort to searching for other methods.
If this combination does not work, you will have to carefully study the pictograms depicted on the function buttons. Look for something similar to a transmitter pattern with a signal. If found - feel free to click. If your laptop is so old that the icons are erased, then you need to try random combinations. At least one will work. Everything that you accidentally turn off, you can easily turn it on again. Let's move on to the next paragraph of the instruction “How to disable Wi-Fi on a laptop”.
Using system features
If the keyboard shortcuts for laptops for some reason do not work, then you can use the alternative option - system options. How to disable Wi-Fi on a laptop using the capabilities of the operating system? Very simple. In Windows of the tenth and eighth version, just left-click on the Wi-Fi image in the system tray. A side menu pops up immediately, in which it is enough to move the slider to the "Off" position. The transmitter will immediately turn off.
With the seven, everything is a little more complicated. There is no option to turn off Wi-Fi directly from the interface. To disable it, you have to right-click on the Wi-Fi icon, go to the menu item "Network and Sharing Center", then on the tab "Change adapter settings". Here we select our wireless connection, right-click and select "Disable". A little more complicated than the eight and ten. But the result is the same.
Wi-Fi Password Replacement
The password for Wi-Fi is changed in the settings of the router itself (router). The sequence of actions depends on the specific model and manufacturer. But in general, the replacement algorithm is similar. Therefore, consider the example of changing the password on the Asus router.
First you need to enter the router menu. To do this, enter http://192.168.1.1 in the address bar in the browser. We will be politely asked to enter a username and password. In both fields, enter the word admin. Now we are on the router menu. We are looking for the item "Settings", then "Wireless Network" and "General". The password for Wi-Fi is hidden under asterisks in the WPA Pre-shared Key field. It is in this field that we need to enter a new password. After entering, click the "Apply" button. All. Password changed successfully. Now the free Wi-Fi of the laptop will not go to others.
General password guidelines
Before you learn how to change a Wi-Fi password, you need to understand some of the features of creating a new password so that your Wi-Fi network is difficult to break. By default, today's secure networks use an eight-digit password. But eight characters is a minimum. In fact, a password can have any number of characters. And the more, the better.
To create a password, it is best to use a combination of random numbers, uppercase and normal English letters. Moreover, the more random the combination, the better. All the more you can hope that the password will withstand even the most sophisticated hacking methods. Everything else relates to the purely technical side of the issue. To create a random password, it is better to use online generators. Never use names, dates or common names. For best results, use this method: take eight random words and select one random letter from each. This will prevent attackers from easily breaking protection.
Which certificate to use?
A security certificate provides connection security. The more perfect it is, the safer. Today, there are types of certificates WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA-PSK2. The first two are hopelessly outdated. And in their best years, they were quite full of holes. But the latter is by far the most protected. It should be used. Since the connection must be reliably protected from outside penetration.
The main thing is to remember that no matter how secure the certificate is, it turns into nothing with a weak password. If you have a password of four, then no super secure security certificate will help you. Any monkey with a keyboard can crack your wi-fi. A laptop will also be under attack if you have file and folder sharing enabled.
What type of encryption to choose?
Everything is simple here. Each certificate comes with its own type of encryption. If you change it arbitrarily, then Wi-Fi simply will not connect. The already obsolete and unsafe type of TKIP was used along with the WEP certificate. It goes without saying that now its use will be impossible. But with WPA-PSK2, AES encryption type is used, which is much more reliable than its ancestor. If you try to force change the type of encryption, then you just will not have a connection. So do not experiment.
The type of encryption affects many factors. But the most important of them is security. The better the encryption, the more difficult it is to crack the connection. But remember that absolutely reliable methods of protection do not exist. Even the most advanced type of encryption can be cracked once or twice by some self-taught hacker. So the best option to achieve maximum security is to change the password at least once a month.
Conclusion
Thanks to this small "educational program" you learned how to disable Wi-Fi on a laptop and change the password on the router. Information about security certificates and encryption types was also very useful. Now you can easily do everything you need. The main thing is to strictly follow this instruction and not engage in amateur performances. Otherwise, you can do such things that no specialist will then be able to fix it.