Use Wi-Fi guest network? Check these settings

Guest networks are a great Wi-Fi router feature, but if you use a guest network in your home, make sure you use it safely and efficiently. Here's what you need to know.

Settings vary, so read your manual

We can't cover all the settings variations and the presence of those settings (or lack thereof) on a particular router, but we can go over the settings and concepts you need to know.

Whether you access your router interface through a smartphone app or using a web browser on your PC, be sure to research your particular router model and review the available settings and options, as well as the terms used by your router manufacturer for the concepts described. below.

And if you find that your particular router doesn't support some or all of the options, it might be time to upgrade. Routers don't last forever, and when they want features or security updates, it's okay to get rid of them.

Use up-to-date encryption

Your guest network is still part of your network and you should use the best encryption scheme supported by your router. There is no reason to run WPA if your router supports WPA2 or WPA3.

Running an open guest network can make it easier for your guests to connect, but it also means everyone can connect easily. Unless you want the kid next door running his torrent empire through your connection, lock him out.

Set a strong password (and change it frequently)

As with anything related to security in your home, you should use a strong password for your guest network. Additionally, you should change it more frequently than you change your primary Wi-Fi password.

Most of the time, when a guest wants to access your Wi-Fi network, it's for their smartphone. You can make it easier to use a strong password while not creating a hassle for your guests by using a QR tool, like QiFi, to turn your SSID and password into a convenient QR code that your guests can to scan.

You can either print it out and stick it on the fridge or in a kitchen cabinet, or just save it to your phone to show them when they need it. Some Wi-Fi platforms like eero even support native QR code creation directly from the control app, which is pretty cool.

Make sure network isolation is enabled

Encrypted and secured with a good password, make sure network isolation is enabled. By default it should be. In fact, on some routers you won't even have the option to turn it off because they want your guest network creation experience to be foolproof.

But you still need to check that it is enabled. Look for any settings that contain terms like "access point isolation," "restrict local network access," "access intranet," or variations of these things that use acronyms like AP or LAN.

Make sure that when you toggle these settings, you only toggle them for the guest network. Hotspot isolation is a great feature for a guest network because it ensures that each guest is effectively partitioned into a single connection, but if you apply hotspot isolation to your entire network ( standard SSID included), this will prevent all wireless clients from communicating with each other, which is a huge headache and will interrupt the functionality of many network and smart home devices.

Ultimately, however, the fundamental purpose of a guest network is to separate guest network activity from the main network. If your guest network is configured to allow access to the local intranet/LAN, you are missing out on the best feature.

Enjoy parental controls

While most people probably don't care about monitoring what their guests watch or blocking adult material, that doesn't mean that parental controls and associated restrictions aren't still useful for guest networks.

Many controls allow you to restrict access to things like peer-to-peer (P2P) protocols. So if you want to avoid finding out after the fact that your nephew is King Warez of New Jersey thanks to a legal notice from your ISP, restricting your guest network is a good idea.

Enable quality of service (QoS) rules

If you have a fiber connection with no data cap, this particular category of settings may not make sense to you.

But if you have a slower connection, a data cap that's way too small, or want to prevent your guests from hogging network resources, enable Quality of Service (QoS) rules for your guest network (or simply band-limit available bandwidth) is a wise decision.

Once you've looked at your router's settings, for QoS or otherwise, be sure to take a smartphone or laptop to test that they are in effect. Try testing your local network devices while connected to the guest network, run speed tests to test QoS, and make sure that how you think your guest network is configured matches how your network is actually configured guest.