What is WiFi Protected Setup
We want to tell you that WiFi Protected Setup has other names as well in the internet community but in this article we will use the term WiFi Protected Setup. In the end of first decade of 21st century it was showed and router configuration was made easier for ordinary consumers. Now you don’t need to find the SSID from WiFi network and type the password. You just need to use the WPS to connect to internet. This method for connecting to internet is very much easy but don’t be afraid that it will damage your network security.
Below are the four most popular methods that are used for connecting to internet via WPS:
- This is very simple method. In this method you need to push the WPS button on the back side of your wireless router. Below is an image showing the WPS button on a wireless router.
If you want to connect your smartphone or any other electronic device to internet through the wireless router then you must press the WPS button on both the devices at same time.
2. This method can be used with all the wireless routers that have WPS functionality. This method can be used with other methods or standalone. If you turn around your router then you will find eight digit PIN which you need to enter on your smartphone or any other electronic device to connect to internet.
3. In this method you just need to select those devices which you want to connect to internet via your wireless router.
4. This method is known as USB method as we use USB flash drive to connect to internet.
History of WiFi Protected Setup
In the year 2011 biggest problem in WPS products was founded. This bug was present in almost every WPS device. At that time routers didn’t read the whole eight digit PIN as a whole. The wireless router divides the eight digit PIN into two parts of four digits each. Due this WPS security becomes very much insecure because there are only eleven thousand different combination of four digit PIN whereas eight digit PIN have one hundred million different combinations. We want to tell you that hackers can use various software to brute force and retrieve the exact PIN combination to hack your WiFi network and connect to internet. Brute force is basically a technique which is used by many hacking softwares for checking every combination.
In some routers which are highly secure you have limited number of attempts to get access from your wireless router to connect to internet. After the limit ends you can use the method of pressing WPS button on your router for connecting to internet. This is the most secure method now-a-days. Some router manufacturers give advice to disable the PIN method.
How to Turn off WiFi Protected Setup?
When you buy a new wireless router then WPS is turned on by default. It means that hackers get a chance to hack your wireless router and easily access the internet. It will be more secure to turn off the WPS manually. For turning off the WPS manually you need to update the firmware of your wireless router in which there is option of turning off the WPS on unsuccessful attempts made by hackers.