Setting up a new home WiFi box (also known as a router)? It’s tempting to focus on just getting the darned thing to work but you should also change the WiFi password while you’re at it, and there may be more than one.
The broadband router is the beating heart of home technology that beams WiFi to desktops, laptops, mobile phones, smart TV sets and possibly more. To keep your connection secure, changing WiFi passwords should be as regular as changing lightbulbs.
The task shouldn’t be overlooked because one of the two passwords is often easy to guess. And with it you can change the other one. There’s even the possibility that your new router has no password protecting it at all…
Image credit: Dan Duchars/ Future Plc
As an important part of your digital home security system, we’ll talk you through how – and how often – to change passwords and take a look at what might happen if you don’t.
Anyone who has ever known your WiFi password still has it, unless you change it. And they can access your internet connection and everything on your network from nearby, including outside your home within a short distance. So if your neighbour’s teenager once babysat for you, or your ex-flatmate lives across the street, they could be streaming movies right now using your broadband and you’d never know.
Or it can be used more maliciously. Robert Schifreen is a former hacker whose company Cybaware now provides security awareness training to staff in companies across the UK.
Schifreen outlines the worst case scenario: “If you do get hacked, i.e. if someone uses your WiFi password because they used to know it and you never changed it, that person is now connected to your router and everything connected to it. They can access (or try to) your computer, phone, security or doorbell cameras, other smart devices such as heating thermostat, your printer, router, and so on.
“If you haven’t changed the Admin password on your router they can change its configuration settings, disable your internet service, disconnect your devices such as the cameras, or change your WiFi password and lock you out completely.
“They could even disable the router’s firewall, which means that they can then hack your devices from wherever they are in the world, not just while they’re connected to your WiFi.”
Image credit: Neale Smith /Future Plc
First, know that you actually have two broadband passwords assigned to your router. The Admin password is the one that you use to change the router’s settings. The WiFi password is the one that you, family members and guests use to sign into WiFi wireless internet.
The default Admin password for your router is usually generic. It might even be “admin” or “password” or blank. When you first get your router (or right now, if you didn’t do it already) change it.
Sandeep Harpalani, VP Connected Home Products, Netgear, also recommends checking the settings: “Use the highest level of security, like WPA3, which is more secure and protects against weak passwords being cracked by guessing.”
Image credit: BT.com
Your Admin password should be impossible to guess and you need to keep a record of it but you won’t use it often. So it can be a random string of letters and numbers. Online password generators are great for this.
Your WiFi password should be more memorable and easier to type because you’ll use it a lot. Random gobbledegook is a pain for that.
Robert Schifreen has a handy way to come up with memorable, secure passwords: “A good rule for choosing strong passwords is ‘two unrelated words, with a number or symbol after each’. Simple as that. So ‘plant=Wagon6’ is a good one.”
Common sense prevails when it comes to storing passwords. If your WiFi password is stuck to your fridge, don’t have your fridge in the background of photos on social media.
“If customers want to store their passwords, they can use a password manager on their phone or save via password protected notes etc… We advise customers to make sure it’s not visible through a window for a passer-by and potential hacker to see,” says Amber Pine, Managing Director of Sky Broadband.
“If you end up with too many passwords to remember, it’s OK to write them down,” says Schifreen. “After all, people who steal passwords generally do it via the internet, not by peeking at your paperwork. Having loads of strong passwords written down is much safer than having loads of weak or similar ones that you can remember off the top of your head. But if you do write them down, don’t make it obvious. Those My Internet Passwords books that you can buy online aren’t ideal!”
Image credit: Sky
You don’t need to change the Admin password regularly and only you should know it. You won’t use it often but keep it somewhere safe because you will need to use it to change the WiFi password.
Schifreen recommends changing the WiFi password once a year. It’s easy to change… but then you need to type the new password into every smart device in the house.
“How about picking a date every year (a day between Christmas and New Year, maybe, when there’s never anything to do) when you change all your important passwords?” he suggests. So that’s email, banking, shopping etc as well as WiFi.
“Never use the same password on more than one system or website,” he adds. “When hackers manage to break into a system and discover the list of everyone’s email address and password, they use that list to try logging in to hundreds of other systems with the same credentials.”
He also points out that you don’t have to tell your password to house guests, you can offer to type it in for them instead.
Big brands often go further, making it easy to change and manage passwords via a phone app. Sandeep Harpalani explains: “You can always find your password from the Netgear Nighthawk/Orbi router management app. You don’t need to store the password in other places.”
The app in turn is protected by your phone’s usual security (face ID, fingerprint, passcode). You can use the app to manage every aspect of your home internet, including parental controls and pausing the internet to any device.
The post How to change your WiFi password – and why you should appeared first on Ideal Home.
You can now buy paint designed to help you cope with SAD. The new Valspar paint palette will help combat seasonal affective disorder.
There’s also a collection of paint to help you nod off, and one for de-stressing. So, if you’re experiencing paint chart overwhelm, let your paint ideas, be swayed by Valspar’s ‘The Colour Effect’ palettes.
Image credit: Valspar
Valspar teamed up with The Sleep Charity and trend forecasters at Trendbible to come up with three ranges of paint. Ultimately they narrowed it down to Mood Boosting Colours for Winter (SAD), Colour for Sleep and Colour for Stress Relief.
Around 29% of us struggle with the lack of sunlight in autumn and winter, experiencing low mood and difficulty getting up in the morning. Justine Fox, leading applied colour psychologist, says, ‘When nights get shorter and the world outside turns cold, our instinct is to draw in and conserve energy.
‘Bringing vibrancy and energy into our spaces using uplifting colour goes some way to counteract this feeling,’ she says. ‘The shades in this palette are optically brightening and reflective, and will enhance the sense of light in a room.’
The Valspar paint palette for SAD has a blend of oranges, yellows and greens, from ‘Cozy Glow’ ‘Sea Silk and ‘Teal Time.’
Image credit: Valspar
The best mattress that suits your sleep position is the first port of call in getting more zzzs, but colour will help too. Just reading the names of the colours in this palette is transporting us to a dreamlike state.
There’s ‘Ethereal Dance,’ ‘Indigo Dreams and ‘Sea Crest.’ As the names suggest, this palette has lots of dark blues, sea greens and purples, and some warming neutrals.
Lisa Artis, Deputy CEO of The Sleep Charity recommends exploring darker shades in our bedrooms. ‘They create tempting, intimate interior spaces that you can retreat to,’ says Lisa.
Image credit: Valspar
Tapping into biophilia, this palette is overflowing with nature-inspired hues, like hazy greens and blues. There’s also some grey for those already toying with some grey living room ideas. ‘Heather Haze,’ ‘Calm Water’ and ‘Mother Nature’ all sound very calming.
‘When we’re feeling anxious and overly stressed, we need both physical and mental space to decompress,’ says Justine Fox. She adds that softly faded and cool greyed colours rooted in the natural world ‘create the perfect environment for us to practice mindfulness, taking a mental pause and quietly focusing on self-care.’
The Colour Effect is available from November in selected B&Q stores nationwide and to download online. Each pack has eight Valspar shades, and some expert guidance on picking colours you will love.
The post This new paint palette is designed to help with Seasonal Affective Disorder appeared first on Ideal Home.
Gonks were the most in demand Christmas accessory of last year, set to be even bigger for 2021! Seriously, last year in the run up to Christmas they were like gold dust. No sooner had you found the one you wanted to welcome into your home and it was gone – quicker than you could say ‘son of a nutcracker!’.
To stay ahead of the curve we’ve been on the look for where to buy these popular festive must-haves and explore how to style them around the entire home.
Here’s where you to buy the best of these little characters this festive season…
Image credit: John Lewis & Partners
What a way to extend a friendly warm welcome. This adorable ‘Lady Gonk’ design is holding a present, to extend even more of a welcome. The standing figuring is ideal to place beside the front door to greet guests.
Of course if you don’t have a sheltered porch area, out of the wind and rain, it would be just as welcome next to a TV unit or bedside the Christmas tree even – both festive focal points for sure!
Buy now: Festive field Lady Gonk Figure, £25, John Lewis & Partners
Image credit: Stickers4walls.co.uk
Festive decorating is taking over walls and windows this year, thanks to the many brilliant stickers available. These adorable Christmas gonks are perfect for a friendly Christmas window decorating idea.
The set of Scandinavian Gnome stickers are easy to pop on the window panes to extend your decorating scheme, from indoors to out. The stickers are also ideal for walls to welcome festive fun to living room walls. Made from soft PVC static cling vinyl are reposition-able and reusable, so they can be used year after year.
Buy now: Reusable Gnome Trio Window Decorations, £36.99, Sticker4walls.co.uk
Image credit: Livelaughlove.co.uk
This charming Grandpa Gnome is just the thing to add a rustic touch to festive trees. The simple, yet statement design is made of grey felt, a white fluffy beard and rustic twine to hang it perfectly on tree branches.
Buy now: Grandpa Gnome, £2.95, Livelaughlove.co.uk
Image credit: BAA Stool
Invite the spirit of xmas into every room, quite literally by choosing a Christmas gonk doorstep to keep the door ajar. This superb handmade little Gonk is channelling ‘Gandalf the Great’ vibes… and we like it! This very bearded creation is utterly charming, to sport a more traditional take on this festive decoration. There’s even a little bell to add to the charm.
Image credit: Dunelm
These more traditional knitted red, white and blue Scandi-style Gonks are ideal to introduce this classic gnome into your home. Perfect for a whimsical winter wonderland decorating theme.
Collect a few to create a curated display with other festive decorations, such as garlands and paper pom poms. Hallways are a great place for this simple idea, to welcome visitors with a cluster of friendly face.
Image credit: Dunelm
Christmas mantel decorating ideas play a key role in cementing the festive theme for any living room. A nod to embracing the Gonk trend is to feature a few of the jolly characters along the mantel, to add cheer and colour. In this case the designs are reminiscent of a Russian doll, with gnomes ascending in size, to add an element of height interest to the display.
When styling the fireplace it is generally best to work in odd numbers and add ornaments at various heights to give depth to the curated collection of seasonal decorations.
Image credit: Beautiful Gifts and Things
Create a captivating corner with a cluster of festive tea light decorations. Give the stars of the show their own corner of a room to shine bright with these delightful Gonk votives. From dressing the mantel to the Christmas dining table a festive candle display goes a log way to add a touch of ambience.
Image credit: Dunelm
It’s no longer about the fairy, the tree topper for this year is the on-trend Gonk. What better way to finish a traditionally dressed tree than with this Folklore favourite.
Buy now: Gnome Tree Topper, £6, Dunelm
Image credit Poundland
Place a colourful character beside the tree, to tie in the colour scheme and extend the Christmas decorating outwards from the main point of focus – the Christmas tree.
These charming designs are stylish with colour coordinated outfits, with wobbly legs – perfect for positioning on the sofa or over the mantel, somewhere key beside a beautifully decorated tree.
Image credit: Dunelm
Elevate the status of Christmas gonks by hanging a decorative garland to capture the attention of all who visit. A decorative garland is an easy way to extending your scheme, making a simple Christmas wall decor idea.
Image credit: Dunelm
Include bedrooms into the festive spirit with simple decorative touches. Light up trees add ambience, paper decorations can add colour and interest while a friendly gonk can be good company. Ideal for kids bedrooms to make the tradition of protector feel more real.
This fabulous pink sequin Gonk is looking for a glam home! The sparkly knitted designs are just the things to welcome this traditional folklore character into the modern home.
Buy now: Pink Sequin Gnome, £10, Dunelm
What are Christmas Gonks?
Christmas gonks are not a new thing, in fact they go back yonks. And it turns out there’s more to these bearded little Santa doppelgangers than mere decoration. The festive little characters originated in Scandinavian folklore where they are believed to protect farms and homes from catastrophes and misfortune.
Many Scandinavian children in fact still leave out food for the Gonks on Christmas Eve, much like the tradition of a mince pie and a glass of milk for Santa.The difference being the Gonk’s snack of choice is a bowl of porridge and butter, as this is said to make the creatures happy and ensure good luck in the new year.
Get your Gonk before they’re gone this year.
The post Christmas gonks for 2021 – ideas for styling seasonal gnomes around the home appeared first on Ideal Home.
