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How to lock down your router

The Basics

A router is the doorway between the wild Internet and your home or office. It is what lets you get out to the Internet. It also protects you from all the evil Internet miscreants trying to get into your computer. The question is, does it provide security like this?

Or like this?

If you own your router, it will have many settings to improve the default security. You'll need the address of your router and its username and password. Then you can log into your router and change the settings to provide excellent protection.

If you don't own your router but are renting a router from an ISP like Comcast, then you might not be able to adjust enough settings to provide decent security. However, some of Comcast's newer modem/router combinations do allow you to improve their default settings.

The Purpose of this Article

I will provide you with excellent, simple, step-by-step instructions for improving the security settings for any particular router you have unless the router was crippled by the manufacturer. If you have a Comcast router that is crippled, I suggest calling them and requesting a functional gateway. If that is impossible, I recommend getting your own modem and router and stop renting from Comcast.

Step-by-step instructions for all routers!

I wrote an AI bot prompt that would allow you to insert your router's model number and get specific step-by-step instructions for upgrading your router security. I'll help any client who doesn't feel secure in doing this themselves. I can pop in and follow the bot's instructions myself and perhaps use human intelligence to override some option. I used the following prompt for my Asus RT-AX5400 router. I presented that prompt to Claude 4.5 through Poe.com and checked its suggestions. Then I tried it with many other bots, and it worked quite well. This will give you good results and help lock down your router if you use any of these engines: LeChat, Grok, Claude 4.5, Perplexity, or Gemini 3 Pro. I'm sure it'll work with others as well.

I've followed my basic 4-point formula of describing:

1. What I want to do (the task)
2. Who I am
3. Who I want the bot to be
4. Anything else to perfect it.

Below is my prompt: Change my "Asus RT-AX5400” to your router's model to get precise instructions tailored to your specific router. Review what I've written and make any changes to better fit your specific situation.

Everyone should have a guest network for guests and also IoT devices like TV sets and robot vacuum cleaners. If you don't need your phone or tablet to have access to your main computer, then they should also connect via your guest network.

--- Beginning of Prompt

I have an Asus RT-AX5400 router. I'd like to adjust the settings to make it more secure and to provide better privacy. I have a local network with multiple devices that connect to my business and guest networks. I do not have connected NAS devices. I am not using a Windows Server or connecting to a domain. I want step by step instructions for my specific router. You should be a gentle instructor who doesn't expect me to know anything. The steps should be clear telling me what menu items to press and where to find them. If the setting isn't obvious to a normal computer user, you'll explain what the item means and why the setting should be set your way.

You should also explain any situation where the adjustment might cause a problem so I can decide. Help me understand what we are doing. I want you to recommend all the useful settings and suggest those settings which are helpful for security or privacy. It is important that your suggestions do not cause problems. If there is a good chance there might be a problem, do not recommend it. If there is only a moderate chance, explain what situations would cause a problem. Use a numbered list.

Add enabling DNS rebinding protection and DNSSEC support if available on my router. Also, if available for my router, be sure and show me how to turn on automatic updates and schedule them.

--- End of Prompt

After you finish following its instructions, follow up with this continuation prompt:

Review your recommendations and tell me if you left anything useful out, or we've got it
@
It will review everything it said and see if it left anything out. It will also look for other suggestions it could have made and why it left them off. Claude found another setting that it missed entirely, which should have been included. It is usually a good idea to review your work, even if you are an AI bot.

As a further check, I recommend presenting the prompt and its follow-up to an additional bot to see if they find anything the other missed! You don't need to accept everything they suggest.

If you are using Poe as your AI research assistant, you don't need to give the full prompt to a second bot. Just type @gemini or @grok and select a powerful Gemini or Grok bot. Then type, "What do you think? Can you add anything, or do you disagree?” The second bot will then examine the original prompt and the suggestion from the first bot and its double-check. Then it will see if it can add anything. This is simpler than getting an entire analysis from a second bot.

There are no absolute right answers

These bots can legitimately disagree. For example, IPv6 is the new recommended protocol. One bot might describe how to lock down your IPv6 settings. However, another bot might recommend turning it off completely. It isn't needed yet, and the attack surface of something that doesn't exist is zero. Just do what makes sense to you, or call me for advice if you are a client.