Change the system defaults – everyone knows them. Change the Admin and SNMP passwords. Change the IP network range. Also change the Server Set ID (SSID). The SSID is a unique identifier for your wireless access point. The default SSID is set in the factory is definitely not unique. Anything that is predictable is not secure.

Don't broadcast the SSID. While you can change the default SSID, that does little if your access point broadcasts that SSID.

Enable Wireless Encryption (WEP) or something similar. WEP can be compromised, but enabling it makes it significantly more difficult to compromise your information. The larger the key length, the better. 128-bit is recommended.

 Enable Shared Key Authentication. The default Open System setting lets anyone connect to your network with very minimal effort.

Change your SNMP Community String. Create a Community String like it is a strong password. If your access point does not have the ability to set a SNMP string, ignore this.

Enable MAC Address Control. Again, this makes it more difficult for a hacker to compromise your home network. Any devices connecting to the access point must be pre-authorized by the administrator of the access point to do so.

Set Wireless LAN cards to Infrastructure Mode. Most cards have the default Ad Hoc mode, which is less secure. Setting your NIC to Infrastructure mode will prevent your workstation from connecting to other computers with wireless enabled.

Don't rely exclusively on a hardware firewall. A hardware firewall at your home's Internet entry point is critical. However, you should still have software firewalls on all computers on your network, in case something makes it through your hardware firewall or a hacker does make it onto your network. Software firewalls do much better layer 7 (application) inspection as well. This can prevent malware from taking over your computer.