How and why to protect your home Wi-Fi network?

Currently, home wireless Wi-Fi networks are very popular. They are created even if there is only one computer in the apartment, as it is very convenient when the wireless router is in the corridor, and you can connect to the Internet from any device anywhere in the apartment. As a rule, modern wireless routers do not even require any configuration, or it is minimal. Many Internet users do not even set a password for Internet access, and therefore everyone can use your Internet within a radius of 30-50 meters. "So what?" – you will say, "I have an unlimited tariff plan. Let them use it, I'm not sorry!" However, due to the fact that your home network is poorly protected, you may get into trouble, here are some of them:

your neighbors will have access to the contents of your computer, to your usernames and passwords, confidential information;
if your neighbor turns out to be a hacker and hacks a bank's computer from your network and steals money, then you will have problems, since your IP address will light up, and you probably won't be able to prove that you didn't do it, since most wireless routers don't keep access logs.;
the speed of Internet access can drop dramatically when your neighbors download movies from the Internet;
your neighbor can send spam from your network, again, your IP address will light up and you will have problems, not him;
unscrupulous neighbors can infect your computer with viruses.
In a word, it is better to protect your home network. To do this, at least do the following (how to do all this, read the user manual that comes with your router):

change the router access password;
change the network SSID name. It is best that the network name is a meaningless set of characters so that it is impossible to guess what kind of network it is. And a hacker might think that this network was created to intercept the information transmitted through it. And it's even better to hide the network name (as a rule, the Broadcast SSID or Hide SSID parameter is responsible for this), then no one will know that there is, in principle, some kind of network nearby;
change the router's IP address, as this address is easy to calculate if a hacker knows the manufacturer of your router (they are all the same by default);
use WPA2. This protocol provides reliable data protection and encryption (WPA is less reliable). Apply WPA2 authentication, then the user will have to enter the password you set to connect to the network. If you have an old router that supports only the WEP protocol, then throw it away and buy a new one with WAP support, since WEP will easily hack even the "kettle". Or, alternatively, you can update the firmware of your old router to add WAP support. You can do this in the service center or independently by downloading the firmware on the manufacturer's website (if, of course, he released it);
turn off the router when you are not using it, when it is turned off, no one will be able to use it, and as a nice bonus, you will save electricity.
Of course, a qualified hacker will smile after reading these recommendations and easily bypass all these obstacles, but in any case, these measures will reliably protect you from amateurs. It's like door locks or safes: the more reliable the protection of a lock or a safe, the more time it will take a professional to crack it, and there are no locks that cannot be hacked.