A small button labeled WPS on the router very often goes unnoticed by many users. The Internet is, and good. And so people living in the 21st century think. It's high time, using all the available benefits of humanity, including computer technology, to find out what WPS is in the router and simplify your life.
Technology and its capabilities
First you need to find out what WPS means on the router. The acronym WPS stands for Wi-Fi Protected Setup, and if in Russian - a secure wireless network setting. Its essence is that two different devices with this technology will be able to seamlessly connect to each other without any settings. The important point here is that the head unit, when the client connects, gives it the encrypted access key, this network will be encrypted.
Connection using WPS technology can be hardware and software. The hardware method is the presence of a physical button on the router, when pressed, the two devices are connected together via a wireless network. And the software way is that the user must go into the settings of the router, find the access key and enter it on the device that needs to be connected to the network. Sometimes the manufacturer places a key in the form of a sticker on the device’s case.
Preset WPS
Naturally, the WPS mode on the router must be activated. To do this, go to your router settings and enable WPS. In addition, the router allows you to set additional settings for a secure channel. In fact, you can create a second virtual network, with its own rules - to restrict access to local resources, narrow the Internet channel. The user will certainly find all the necessary information in the instruction manual that comes with the router.
Most manufacturers are often limited to just one item in the setup menu - “Enable / Disable WPS”. In such cases, flashing the router will help. The fact is that WPS technology is gaining immense popularity in the world, and many manufacturers, striving to be in trend, have already updated their software. It remains only to go to the official website, find your device in the list and, following the instructions, perform the required algorithm of actions.
What are the advantages over a regular connection?
After figuring out what WPS is in the router, a user might think that this is another stupid thing for manufacturers. Why are these buttons and keys, because you can simply transfer the password from the Wi-Fi router. Transfer to! Then already at the front door add a sheet of paper with the password written on it or remove the password altogether.
The WPS button on the router resembles a butler - clicking on it puts guests on the network. But what kind of network it is, it already depends on the owner of the house. With this technology, you can provide access to social networks, but protect from torrents so that they do not clog the channel. Particularly curious is to close all local resources, leaving the network printer visible. Even households can be given access to DLNA and a thin channel to the Internet - there are no borders, everything is in the hands of the owner.
Safety or paranoia?
Many will learn about WPS in a router from news feeds, where they write in black and white about an unsafe connection that this technology hides. After reading the article, the user will certainly examine his router with a look in the hope of not finding WPS buttons on his case.
Yes, WPS technology has an insecure protection mechanism, which is relatively easy to attack from the outside and can let an attacker into the network. That is why in modern routers in the WPS settings you can find an item with a certain cutoff, the purpose of which is to prohibit the reception of guests in case of detection of an attack. Owners of old devices will find such a function in the router menu after flashing.
On the other hand, WPS technology, like Wi-Fi, Ethernet, DLNA, Windows, Android - any technology that has network protocols is subject to hacking. In order to gain access to resources, knowledge and time are needed, and those who possess these factors will not be exchanged for games with private networks - there the stakes are much higher.
Finally
Having received information about what WPS is in the router, the user has to decide whether he needs this technology or whether it needs to be disabled. In any case, the decision will be correct and to some extent safe. By disabling the unused function, you can be sure that the neighbor behind the wall for the second year in a row does not pick up the password for the easily cracked router. And by turning it on and setting it right, you can not be afraid that friends and relatives who wish to connect to the Internet will not look "where it is not necessary."
If you intend to initially use the WPS connection as a guest, then professionals recommend using this technology not to create connections between devices in the house, because all these devices will obey the configured network and, accordingly, are visible to guests. Let it take more time to bind the phone, speakers, TV or refrigerator to the router via Wi-Fi, but this will further protect the owner from troubles.