More than 70% of the population in the world connects their mobile device to the network of the router in order to access the internet. But, one downfall of this is that it leaves the WiFi network vulnerable to cyber threats. In order to keep the network protected from them, WPA2 or WiFi Protected Access encryption protocol is highly recommended. WPA2 secures the incoming as well as the outgoing internet traffic and makes it very hard for unauthorized users to access your device. In case you have not upgraded your device to WPA2, it is recommended that you do so now.
Walk through the step-by-step instructions mentioned in this blog post and learn how to configure router to use WPA2 via 192.168.1.1 in a hassle-free manner.
Before you read what is given ahead in this guide, you should know that the information given below is completely generic. It gives simply a gist of procedure.
How to Configure Router to Use WPA2?
1. Log in to the Router Console
Get access to an updated web browser. You can use any browser as long as it is updated. For example, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Opera, and much more. Go to the address field of the browser and enter the IP address. In case you are using a Netgear wireless router, then you can also use the default web address, i.e. routerlogin.net or routerlogin.com for the login process. Once the login portal appears, enter the user name and password and hit the Enter button to proceed.
2. Go to Router Security Panel
Once you have accessed the dashboard of your WiFi router, navigate to the Wireless option and then click the Security menu. The name of the menu might differ depending on the router which you ate using. Go to the product manual of your networking device to go to the right option. It is recommended that you avoid following the wrong instructions by referring to any third party website. Otherwise, you will end up experiencing issues and your progress to learn how to configure router to use WPA2 will come to a stop or halt.
3. Select the Encryption Option
After going to the Security Panel, select the encryption option WPA2-PSK. By any chance, if this option is not available, then take our advice and execute the router firmware update process. For this, you need to again go through the instructions given in the user manual. By the way, know that some routers also offer a WPA2-Enterprise setting. However, it is designed for corporate environments only. Also, after the router firmware update, if your wireless router is also offering WPA3, then not all your devices will be compatible with it.
4. Set WiFi Network Password
The next step in learning how to configure router to use WPA2 is to set a strong network password. Make sure that the password has at least 8 characters. It should be a mixture of not just uppercase letters but also lowercase. And last, but not least, it should be a mix of letters, symbols, and numbers. Also, make sure that you jot down the WiFi network password on a piece of paper. The reason being, in the future, if you forget it, then you should know that you have somewhere to refer to for help.
5. Save the Changes and Reboot
Now, you ought to click the Save button to save the changes. Once that is done, your networking device will reboot. It is recommended that you do not interrupt the reboot process by unplugging the router from the wall socket or simply turning it off by pressing the power button. Otherwise, you will be compelled to do router troubleshooting unnecessarily. We are assuming that you do not want to get stuck with router-related technical issues, right? If what we are assuming is true, then do as suggested.
Final Words
WPA2 has been in use for many years now. This means that there are very few devices or routers that do not support this protocol. We hope that once you have read the guidelines given above, you will face no issues whatsoever in learning how to configure router to use WPA2. If you want to secure your network more than you already have by using this protocol, then it is recommended you switch from WPA2 to WPA3.
By the way, just because WPA3 is an upgraded version of WPA2, that does not necessarily mean you need to implement it right away. First, you need to check the compatibility of the wireless router which you are using. Till the time, your networking device does not get compatible with this protocol; WPA2 with a good antivirus software and firewall settings on your device is a pretty good option. With that said, we are wrapping up this guide.