8 Reasons Why Have a Guest Network at Home

Friends like to ask me when they are in my house, “Can I have your house wifi password?”

What would you do?

The common action that most house owners will just give the wifi main password without thinking. That’s provided they still remember.

I kind of understand.

You want to be a good host and serve your guests well. Your guests need another plate, you give to them immediately. Your guest’s kids dirty your beautiful wall, you give a smile too. Or a fake smile.

Today, I’ll show you 8 reasons why you have a guest network at home.

The truth is, you can create your own guest network within a minute.

Any Harm Giving Away Your Home Wifi Password?

You can ignore the advice that giving a wifi password won’t cause any harm. Moreover, you’re giving it to your friends. The people that you know. Surely, they won’t do anything funny, right? Even so, what harm can he do with your wifi password?

Now, imagine this.

Your friends might accidentally install a malicious app on their phone.

These malware spread themselves over your home network once the infected device is connected to your wifi. It will also spread to your home computers too. Or worse, confidential information gets uploaded to the bad guy.

You get the picture.

Sorry - i got carried away. When I realized I can give guest wifi passwords to my friends without compromising security, it was like an ‘aha’ moment for me.

In fact, once I started using a guest network, I got more interested to know who has connected to my home network.

First, here’s the burning question:

What is Guest Network?

Guest network as the name implies, gives your guests internet access only. Wifi method is the easiest. Your guests can’t see your IT devices. When they can’t see, they also cannot access home IT devices like printers or storage.

Very seldom, you’ll use the cable method to build a guest network at home. This method is more commonly found in big corporations. I don’t think you have any weirdo friends that will bring a cable and request to plug it into your home router.

Now, let’s take a look on 8 reasons to have a guest home network to convince you further.

1. Secure your important data

When your visitors join the guest network, they can’t see your computer or NAS. Hence, your important files or (secretive) photos cannot be seen. This is especially useful if you don’t set any protection on the computer and NAS.

2. Identify who uses your internet

Every router should have some logs to show the connected devices in your home wifi. Since your guests are all joined to your guest network, it’s easier to notice any unusual device that links to your main wifi. In this way, you’re able to identify any hackers easily.

3. Keep your main password secure

Your main password is usually the more complicated one. Hope you are already using a complex password, and not those easy to guess passwords like start123 or admin. You don’t need to reveal the main password to your guests.

4. Protect your network

You can turn off the main wifi broadcast, and broadcast only the guest network. So, your main wifi stays isolated from the guest network. Even if there’s an infected laptop that joins your guest network, the virus stays disconnected from your home PC.

5. Offer easy to remember password

There is no need to remember difficult guest passwords. What you can do is to set some simple easy to remember password like iloveyoualot. Pass it to your guest. I’m sure you’ll bring a smile to your friends.

6. Turn off your guest account

When your guests have left your house, you can turn off the guest wifi. It has no impact on your main wifi, and your family can still access the internet as per normal. Nice.

7. Connect to IoT devices

As you purchase more smart appliances like microwaves or fridge, these IoT devices require access to your home network. The best way is to link these Iot devices to the guest network, without worrying that they will access your shared data.

8. Make password changes

You can always change your guest password anytime when your guests left the house. On the other hand, if you change the main wifi password, you have to reconnect several other personal important devices too. This change can be time consuming as each family member can easily have more than 3 devices.

My Thoughts... 

Guest networks are important when you have visitors coming to your home. It safeguard your important devices like your NAS and PC. Most recent routers should have this feature. Since it’s there, might as well use it. In fact, some routers even allow you to create multiple guest networks. One for friends and one for smart home devices.

I usually leave the guest network turned on 24/7. I don’t have to turn it on or off when an unexpected guest turns up. Who got time for this? However, if I go for an overseas trip, I’ll turn off the guest mode.

There you have it: the 8 reasons why you should have a guest home network.

Conclusion

What do you think? Which reason is important to you? Connect to smart home appliances?

Or maybe identify who uses your internet?

Either way, let me know in the comments section below.