Whether you have a wired or wireless router, you should learn to secure you internet connection from the outside world. It's simple to do and will save you headaches in the future.

Open up your browser and point it to your router by typing in it's IP address. If you don't know the IP address, open up Command Prompt under the Accessories section, type in "cmd" and hit enter. Then type in ipconfig and hit enter. Your router's IP address is listed next to Default Gateway.

You must enter the username and password for your router at this point. Each manufacturer is different so please check with your router's manufacturer to find the default username and password.

Once you are in the router's menu, the first thing you should do is to make sure that you change the default password to something else. If you have a wireless router, you should choose to set up wireless security. The SSID is the name of the broadcasted signal that your wireless device will see when looking for wireless signals. You should also choose a wireless security mode of WPA as WEP was hacked and there are hacking tools available on the internet to people that want to get on to your wireless signal. Also, the AES wireless algorithim has been proven safer than TKIP.

Securing your router is the first step in keeping your internet connection safe from people you don't want to give access to. Check with your router's manufacturer to find out more steps you can take to tighten the security of your router.