For remote and hybrid teams, the home network has effectively become an extension of the company’s own infrastructure, yet it typically receives none of the deliberate security configuration an office network would have. Most home routers are used with factory default settings indefinitely, which leaves a meaningful gap between how seriously a company treats its office network security and how little attention its remote employees’ home networks actually receive. This guide covers practical steps to close that gap.
Change default router credentials immediately
Routers ship with default administrator usernames and passwords that are publicly documented for every common router model, and a router still running these defaults can be reconfigured by anyone who gains access to the network, or in some cases remotely if remote administration is left enabled. Changing the default admin credentials to a strong, unique password is one of the simplest and highest-impact steps, yet remains commonly skipped since most people never interact with their router’s admin settings after initial setup.
Use WPA3 (or at minimum WPA2) encryption
Wi-Fi encryption standards have evolved considerably, and older standards (WEP, and to a lesser extent early WPA) have known vulnerabilities that make them meaningfully weaker than current options. Confirm your router is configured for WPA3 if supported, or WPA2 at minimum, and that no older, weaker encryption standard is enabled for backward compatibility with very old devices, which most home networks no longer need to support.
Separate work devices onto a guest or dedicated network
Most modern routers support creating a separate guest network or a secondary network segment, isolated from your primary home network. Placing work devices on a separate network from personal devices, smart home gadgets, and guest devices limits the potential impact if one of those other, typically less carefully maintained devices becomes compromised — network isolation means a compromised smart TV or an insecure IoT device cannot directly reach your work laptop on a genuinely separate network segment.
This is a particularly valuable step for anyone in a household with several smart home devices, which have a documented history of weaker security practices compared to computers and phones, and represent one of the more common entry points for a home network compromise.
Keep router firmware updated
Router firmware, like any other software, receives periodic security updates addressing discovered vulnerabilities, but many routers do not update automatically by default and require manually checking for and applying updates through the admin interface. Check your specific router model’s update settings and enable automatic updates if supported, or set a periodic reminder (quarterly is reasonable) to manually check for and apply updates if automatic updating is not available.
If your router is old enough that the manufacturer no longer provides firmware updates at all, this is worth factoring into a router replacement decision, since an unsupported router will not receive patches for any future vulnerabilities discovered in its firmware.
Disable remote administration unless genuinely needed
Many routers offer a remote administration feature allowing configuration changes from outside the home network, which is rarely necessary for a typical home office setup and represents an additional exposed attack surface if left enabled with weak credentials or an unpatched vulnerability. Disable this feature unless you have a specific, deliberate reason to need it, in which case ensure it is protected with strong authentication and kept updated with particular attention given its increased exposure.
Disabling unnecessary router features
Many consumer routers ship with additional features enabled by default that expand the network’s attack surface without providing meaningful benefit to a typical home office setup — WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup), which has documented vulnerabilities in its PIN-based implementation, and UPnP (Universal Plug and Play), which allows devices on the network to automatically open ports without explicit administrator approval, are two common examples worth reviewing specifically. Disable WPS entirely if your router supports manual connection methods instead, and disable UPnP unless a specific device or application genuinely requires it, reviewing what ports are actually open as a result if you do need to keep it enabled for something specific.
Physical security of your home office setup
Network security discussions often focus entirely on digital configuration, but physical access to your router or work devices represents its own risk, particularly in shared living situations or homes with regular visitors. Position your router somewhere not easily physically accessible to guests or visitors, and ensure work devices are not left logged in and unattended in common areas of the home where a family member, roommate, or visitor could access them, even unintentionally.
Consider a business-grade router for serious remote work setups
Consumer-grade routers, particularly ones provided by an internet service provider as part of a standard installation, often have more limited security features and configuration options compared to business-grade networking equipment. For anyone doing substantial remote work handling sensitive client data, investing in a business-grade router with more robust firewall capabilities, better firmware update practices from the manufacturer, and more granular network segmentation options is a reasonable investment, particularly if the employer is willing to cover or subsidize the cost given the direct business benefit.
Combining home network security with a VPN
A secured home network and a business VPN, covered in our VPN provider guide, address different layers of the same overall problem. Home network security protects the local environment (protecting other devices on the same network, preventing unauthorized access to the network itself), while a VPN protects the actual data in transit to company systems, particularly valuable when working from other, less trusted networks like public Wi-Fi. Both are worth maintaining together rather than treating one as a substitute for the other.
A note on smart home devices sharing the network
Beyond network segmentation, review the smart home devices on your network periodically for outstanding firmware updates and for any device no longer actively used but still connected, which represents unnecessary risk without any corresponding benefit. Many smart home devices also default to broader network permissions or weaker default credentials than is ideal, similar to the router credential issue discussed earlier, and are worth reviewing with the same scrutiny.
Practical starting checklist
1. Change default router admin credentials to a strong, unique password.
2. Confirm WPA3 or WPA2 encryption is active, with no older weaker standards enabled.
3. Create a separate network for work devices, isolated from personal and smart home devices.
4. Enable automatic firmware updates or set a recurring reminder to check manually.
5. Disable remote administration unless specifically needed.
6. Consider a business-grade router if doing substantial remote work with sensitive data.
Frequently asked questions
Should employers provide or subsidize home office networking equipment for remote employees?
This varies by company policy and budget, but given how directly home network security affects overall business security posture for a remote team, subsidizing a reasonable business-grade router for employees handling sensitive data is a defensible investment, and increasingly common among companies with substantial remote workforces.
Is a mesh Wi-Fi system more or less secure than a traditional single router?
Security depends more on the specific product’s update practices, default configuration, and available security features than on whether it uses a mesh architecture specifically. Evaluate a mesh system using the same criteria covered in this guide rather than assuming the mesh architecture itself confers a meaningful security advantage or disadvantage.
How do we verify our home network is actually configured correctly, rather than just assuming the settings took effect?
Log into your router’s admin interface directly and review the actual active settings rather than assuming a setting you changed previously is still in effect, particularly after any firmware update, which occasionally resets certain configuration options to defaults.
What if our internet service provider’s router does not support the features described in this guide?
Many ISP-provided routers can be replaced with your own router while keeping the ISP’s equipment purely as a modem, giving you access to a broader range of security features and configuration options than the ISP’s default router typically provides. Check with your ISP about “bridge mode” or similar options that allow this setup.
Does using a VPN make home network hardening unnecessary?
No — a VPN protects data in transit to specific company systems, but does nothing to protect other devices on your home network, prevent unauthorized access to the network itself, or address a compromised smart home device sharing the same network. The two address genuinely different layers of risk and work best together rather than as substitutes for each other.
For more on protecting your remote work setup, see our VPN provider guide and full hardening guides section.