Uh, there are plenty of other vulnerabilities.

If you have multiple computers on your WiFi network (or even just your one) and have it set as a private network, that means that the Public folders (among other things) on your computer are visible to any other computer on your network. Most people don't set their connections to a home or office network as anything but private since they want to do things like file sharing, printer sharing, etc.

And the nefarious can find all sorts of ways to sneak around through a network once they have access. WiFi passwords are every bit as critical to keep private as other passwords.

There's a reason that most routers these days allow you to create two networks, one that's your actual home/office network that is private, and a separate network for guests, each of which has its own SSID and password and where both are thoroughly isolated from the other.

 

Wow. I also run an Airbnb guesthouse. I give them the WIFI password. Now I'm wondering if a guest could hack into my home computer. And if so, would they be able to CONTINUE to hack into it once they check out but are far away (in another city, state, etc)? I should mention that I only use the WIRED Ethernet connections with my home computer. I never use wireless connectivity for myself. Can someone with my wireless password still hack into my wired computer? I also provide guests with a wired Internet connection if they need it. It all runs through the same router.

Not sure if my router allows two networks. It's "dual band".
This is the router I have R6400v2 — AC1750 Smart WiFi Router 802.11ac Dual Band Gigabit

 

If your home computer is on the same WiFi network, they certainly could, and it wouldn't be terribly difficult, either. If you have only one access point, then you should set it up with two separate networks (or have a technician do the same) that "do not speak to one another" and that each have their own passwords as a bare minimum.

And it does not matter if your physical connection to your router is wired if the network being used is the same one that is used for WiFi (and it typically is).

WiFi does not, however, span continents. You have to be close enough to a wireless access point to have a signal in order to be able to connect to it.

I would never, in a million years, either give someone I do not know and know well physical access to my router via wired connection, or a WiFi connection to the same network as my own computers are on. There are some who are far more anal retentive than I who would not even consider having two separate WiFi networks on the same router with one being used by those not known to them. But that degree of security is more than enough for me, as I do not believe that the majority of people who might use a guest network are hackers who could even figure out that there's another network (and if they can, you're already in big trouble anyway).

I believe in taking security seriously, but also in placing primary concern on preventing reasonably possible attacks/intrusions. There are myriad remotely possible attacks/intrusions that are about as probable "in real life" as I am to be able to fly to the moon under the power of my own arms.

But even the modem-routers that have been supplied by internet service providers (ISPs) have had the capability of having separate networks created on them for some years now. It's not the simplest thing for the uninitiated to do, and it took some fiddling before I eventually got everything right, but there are lots of tutorials out there that show step-by-step, how to do this. Now, mind you, there is a maximum number (typically 255) number of devices that can be connected to any access point, and if you set up split networks this makes each network only have the possibility of having 127 connected to each. But when was the last time most of us at home ever came close to having either one of those numbers of devices connected at one time?

Dual-band has to do with how the WiFi itself broadcasts, on the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency spectrums. It has nothing to do with the network configuration on a given router or modem-router.

Someone else who has that same router may already be familiar with setting it up with separate networks, but I'm not. And one final note, and that doesn't matter what router you may be using, do NOT use WPS (pushbutton) connections. They are well-known to be a security risk. Make sure the devices you connect have connected via the good, old-fashioned entry of a password to connect via WPA-PSK protocol.

 

you should set it up with two separate networks (or have a technician do the same) that "do not speak to one another" and that each have their own passwords as a bare minimum.

Is there a search term that I can use to find a modem that supports dual networks? When I search, I keep getting pages about dual BAND routers.
But maybe my router supports two networks. I'll look into it.
I actually own a second modem. Could I run them both? I'm guessing that doesn't solve the problem of needing separate networks?

 

Take a look at the search results from: multiple ssid on same router at DuckDuckGo

Ignore those that talk about using multiple routers on the same network (that is, using one router in bridge mode as a network extender). There are a number of discussions.

Most routers these days will support the setup of two (or more) SSIDs on the same router. Some don't do a very good job of publicizing that fact or giving directions for doing so, while some do.

 

It was actually very simple. My router (NetGear R6400v2) actually has a tab for setting up a "Guest Network". I entered a unique name for the new network, created a unique password and saved. I did the same for a guest 5G network.

 

Make sure and change your original passwords on the non guest networks. I'd change the router admin password too.

 

As long as the 2 networks are isolated, you should be ok @EventVwr , the way to identify, connect to the guest network, are you able to ping another device connected to the home network ?

Check for VLAN settings or Virtual network, these give you options to completely isolate both networks, very important if you're running an AirBnB