How to connect to the Internet safely? step by step guide

It is no secret to anyone that the internet has become a fundamental need in today’s societies. Nevertheless, You always have to keep in mind that connecting has its risks and due to various threats it is not always safe. This is something that must be assumed from the very moment that web browsing is activated.

There are endless security flaws, viruses and malware that circulate on the web and they can get into some of our everyday devices like computers, cell phones, laptops and more. Allowing them to steal very important personal information or even steal our web identity. These risks will always be latent until certain security measures are taken for our internet connection, either via Ethernet (telephone connection), for wireless networks (wifi) or mobile networks (3G/4G).

Fortunately, there are certain security measures that you can apply to keep your computers protected from any threat when browsing the internet through any type of connection. That is why we will proceed to teach you each of them so that you stop worrying about any risk that may affect your mobile or computer while you browse the web.

Steps to connect to an internet network safely

As you know, there are different types of connections with a different operation, so to connect securely in each one you have to take different measures. Next we show you how to connect to Ethernet or WiFi from mobile or desktop.

Connect to an Ethernet network securely

Before establishing certain security parameters when browsing the web, we must know how to make a reliable internet connection between our computer and the internet modem. The first thing to do is open the box where the modem comes you have purchased and check the contents of it.

Inside it should be the following objects:

• Modem/modem router (of the brand you purchased).
• Manual.
• Power adapter (power source).
• Ethernet cable RJ45
• RJ11 telephone cable.
• Bridge.

After verifying that the content is complete, you proceed to:

• Place the modem near the computer.
• Have the computer on.
• Proceed to connect the RJ45 (Ethernet) cable from the modem to the computer.
• Connect the bridge to the telephone cable.
• Connect the telephone cable RJ11 with the modem.
• Connect the power adapter to the modem.
• Turn on the modem and wait for the device to turn on and be fully active.

You now have a working connection, but this is only the first step. The next thing is to make sure that you will be safe using it. For this you can make some configurations to your browser. In this case we will teach you how to do it from Google Chrome.

The first thing you have to do is protect you from malicious advertising. There are those who insert viruses in pop-ups or ad links that your computer can download without your knowledge. To take care of it, what you should do is block pop-up windows by following these steps.

• Open your browser and click the three overlapping dots on the top right corner of the interface and click the “Setting“.

• Scroll down and select “Advanced configuration” and in the ” sectionPrivacy & Security” Choose “Content Settings“.

• Look for the one where it says “popups and redirects“, go in and turn off the switch to block them.

With this already you will not have to worry about these annoying pop-up ads. What you should do now is to install a browser extension that will take care of you from downloading infected files. For this you can use Avast Online Security. To do this you must do the following:

• Enter the Website from Google Chrome.
• Look for the extension of “Avast Online Security”.
• Select it and click “Add to Chrome“.

After that, you can be calmer when browsing using this browser. The extension will scan everything you download before you open it to make sure there’s no risk to your computer. In this way you save having to install a complete antivirus.

Create a Wi-Fi network safely

What do you need to create a Wi-Fi network? Mainly you have to have a modem router. Following this, if you will use a Wi-Fi connection on your computer, you must have a wireless network card equipped on said computer.

• To create a Wi-Fi network, the first thing you need to do is connect the router Wi-Fi with your computer to be able to configure the security parameters in the Wi-Fi network.
• After that we are going to enter Command Prompt. To locate it, we only go to the search bar and write Cmd in it and click on Command Prompt.
• When entering Command Prompt we will write the command: ipconfig and automatically Windows will show us our IPs. We will copy the address “Default Gateway“, it is easy to identify it will appear with the numbers 192.168.xx.xx.

• After copying the IP address, we will open our browser and paste it in the search bar of it, press Enter on our keyboard, and it will open a user identification tab. Companies commonly use the word: admin as username and password.

After identifying yourself as a user, you will be able to enter the configuration page. Each company uses different configuration pages, making it a bit difficult to give you the precise steps to follow. In this case we will work with TP LINK. However, you can join us and pay close attention so that you can configure the security parameters of your router regardless of the brand you use.

• We will look for the option “Wireless” and we will click on it. We will configure the SSID or name our Wi-Fi network, after that we will indicate the region or country where we cannot find it. Finally, we verify that the options of Enable Wireless Radio, Enable SSID Broadcastare activated and press “Save“.

• Now we are going to configure the access key to our network. For them we will place ourselves in the option of “Wireless Setting” and we will choose the security option: WPA/WPA2 – Personal (Recommended), in which we are going to write our password.

• In case of using another device you should look for the option WPA/WPA2 there you can create or change the password.

Remember that you should not use an easy password, so avoid using important data or dates, when creating your password we recommend that you even write it down after creating it, to have it in case you forget it.

After you have created your password for the Wi-Fi network, press save for the configuration to take effect. Similarly, it is It is convenient that you apply the same configuration to your browser that we teach you in the process by Ethernet, since the risks remain the same.

From the phone

Mobile phones come with all the necessary settings to enjoy safe browsing. That is why it is on these devices that you have the least to worry about. There are two ways to get internet on a smartphone; by data or WiFi. The first one is the easiest of all.

Simply follow these steps to activate your mobile data from any smart terminal:

• Drag your finger from the top of the screen down to bring up the control center.
• Look for the option “data mobiles” and touch on it.

For its part, WiFi connection is a bit more complexbut it is also very easy to do. What you should do is:

• Drag your finger from the top of the screen down.
• Look for the option “Wifi “and touch on it to turn it on.

• When turned on, it will start searching for the networks that are within its reach. Select the public network and wait for it to connect.

What dangers and risks exist when connecting to the Internet from anywhere on a public network?

A free free WiFi network It is what all of us who sit on a bench in a park or square hope to find, but it is important to know that not all that glitters is gold. Although you can enjoy free internet, also the risks of browsing this way are greater and then we will tell you which are the most transcendental.

• Interception of communications: You should know that the WiFi network administrator can see everything we do from our computer, especially the portals we enter. Said administrator is anyone who can enter the control panel. router configurationwhich can be any other user on the network that has the login credentials, which is very easy to know these days.
• Information theft: Although this is something quite unlikely, it can happen perfectly. By connecting to a public network you agree to share information in your shared folders with other members of the network. This means that they will be able to extract information or, more importantly in this case, insert information into yours, which can include everything from unnecessary files to malware.
• Viruses on the local network: a router can be attacked from the server by malware and automatically transmit it to the other members of the network. This means that you may be connecting to an infected signal that causes more problems than it solves for your computer.
• hardware damage: A virus can be powerful enough to cause damage to its configuration, which can end up breaking it and causing damage to some of the hardware components.

Tips for safe browsing

It is important to have certain security parameters when browsing the web, as well as some basic knowledge to do when you are on unreliable or insecure pages.

• Use security programs: having antivirus, firewall, antispam and even antimalware installed will give you better security when browsing your computer, cell phone or other devices that connect to the internet.
• Update the operating system and other applications: Keeping your operating system up to date, as well as your security applications, will help you stay protected, since new threats come out every day that can affect you if you are not up to date with security.
• Download the program on the official websites: Avoid entering through links or hyperlinks of dubious origin. It is important to be aware of these cases, since they can come in invitations, messages on social networks or even emails. The way to commonly identify them is that these messages come in another language, they are invitations to see a photo or video and even their link code is very strange.
• Use browsing in incognito mode: This allows us to navigate calmly in case we use passwords or personal data on different pages, since it prevents our data from being saved in the browser.
• Connect to known Wi-Fi networks: If you plan to carry out personal activities, such as shopping or bank transfers, it is better that you do it on a network that you know very well or that is private. Since the data packages can be easily accessible to hackers in public networks, due to their ease of access to it.
• Do not share bank information on unsafe portals: If you are thinking of buying something online, make sure the e-commerce is trustworthy before sharing your payment details. This is a mistake that can be fatal since every year hundreds of people in the world are scammed in this way. It is preferable that you use other payment processors to always keep your account information secret.

This is everything you need to know to stay 100% safe when browsing the internet from any device on the main connections currently used. Apply these tips always and thus you will not suffer bad experiences when you visit your favorite web portals.