What Is WiFi Isolation: Lock Down Your Wi-Fi Network

Wed, May 5, 2021 5:31 PM

Wireless Isolation explained

Wireless Isolation refers to a router setting. To put it another way, it "locks down" the WiFi network. 

Other names for Wireless Isolation

Wireless Isolation is referred to as "Station Isolation," "Access Point (or AP) Isolation," "Set Service Identification or (SSID) Isolation," or "Client Isolation" by various router manufacturers. It's dubbed "Access Internet" by Asus. The principles remain the same, regardless of the label.

When the Wireless Isolation setting is activated, a device connected to a network via a wireless connection is unable to reach other computers and resources connected via a wired connection. It also prevents a wirelessly connected device from connecting to another device that is also wirelessly connected.

Also Read: How to Setup A Personal Mobile Hotspot?

Isolating a system prevents it from connecting to a network server, host machine, or router. Wireless Isolation, in other words, prevents users on a particular SSID or WiFi network from receiving data from other devices on the same SSID, as well as devices serving the SSID from a LAN or wired network.

When a router's Wireless Isolation feature is enabled, any WiFi device (such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone) connected to the router can only access the Internet. If users want to see other network devices after enabling Wireless Isolation, they must link their devices to the router through an Ethernet cable. Wireless Isolation, in essence, builds a virtual network for each wireless system on a WLAN.

Also Read: How Wired and Wireless Internet Affects Your Internet 

Difference between Wireless Isolation and Guess Network

You're right if you assumed that setting up a guest network on a router implies creating two different SSIDs. Visiting users are WiFi segregated when a router is designed for both a stable primary network (say, for you and the missus) and an isolated sub-SSID network for visitors.

You can tweak your WiFi router to limit your visitors' or your children's Internet usage by allowing them to go online only at certain hours, throttle their bandwidth usage, or even prevent them from visiting specific IP addresses. If your router supports dual-band networking (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz), you can limit them to only one band.

WiFi routers can even block a device's specific physical media access control (MAC) address. Public WiFi isn't quite what it appears to be.

Simple Wireless Isolation is a lot less complicated. All client devices connected to a router will be isolated from all other devices if the isolation option is activated. That's what there is to it.

Also, Read: How to Cut the Cord Cable and Stream TV in 2022

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