6 Things you didn't know you could do with your router

Most people who have a broadband connection at home have a router installed. Creating a broadband connection WIFI network is one thing that the router can do easily. Most people know that they can connect their router to the wired broadband connection and create a wireless setup for multiple devices at home. Besides establishing a wireless network, there are so many cool things to do with a router. Here are a few router tricks that you can try at home.

Here are a few things you can do with a router -

1. Set scheduled access

   Setting up scheduled restrictions on internet access at home might be a feature that several parents find beneficial. To make sure that kids do not use their devices past bedtime, they can configure router to set schedules for particular devices. You can set an access control policy for your router. On the router configuration page, you can choose the respective MAC addresses of the devices that should not access the network within set hours.

2. Create a local area network for file sharing

   When you connect a computer to a wireless network, you may have noticed a prompt that lets you choose whether or not you wish to allow other devices in the same network to connect to your machine. When you have allowed connections as it is a private home network, your devices are all part of a local area network. Therefore, you would be able to share files wireless between two or more devices within the same wireless network.##BlogVASBanner##

3. Parental controls

   This refers to restrictions imposed on access to particular websites. Most routers allow basic filtering on certain websites. IP addresses are often dynamically assigned. So, make sure that you set filters based on the MAC address. This lets you restrict a particular list of websites for the selected devices in the network. Accidental access to illegal sites can also be blocked with this feature.

4. Guest network for security reasons

   When there are guests at home, you may have to share your wireless network password. If you have only one wireless network, your guests will be able to access every other device in the network. This makes your network vulnerable. Most routers today allow the option of creating a guest network. This would be a separate wireless network that can be configured with or without a separate password for the guests. You can also allocate a specific bandwidth so that your home device connections are not impacted.

5. Setup a private cloud space

   This works in routers with a USB port. Connect an external hard disk with sufficient storage space and reliable security features to your router. Similar to sharing files to other devices in the LAN, you can save data to this hard drive from any smartphone or laptop that are wirelessly connected to the router. This hard disk would become your private cloud space to store and access data from any devices connected to the home network.

6. Wireless printing features

   If your router has a USB port, connect your wired printer to this USB port. Once your printer is connected to the router through a wired connection, your smartphones and other devices that are wirelessly connected to the router should be able to access the printer.

Conclusion

Depending on the router you own and its configuration, the steps to achieve the above-mentioned results may vary. So, do a quick search online or refer to the manual to get a clearer picture and execute these handy wireless router tricks. This way, you can make the most of your device.