4 Reasons You Need To Set Up A Guest Network On Your Wi-Fi

Key Takeaways

Keep your network secure by isolating guest devices on a separate network, preventing access to your personal devices.
Simplify guest access with a simple password for temporary connections, ensuring privacy and ease of use for all guests.
Control bandwidth usage by limiting speeds on the guest network, ensuring your own devices have optimal performance.

Most of our Wi-Fi routers support guest networks, but maybe you aren’t sure why you’d want to bother with setting one up instead of just sharing your standard Wi-Fi. Even if you trust your guests, it’s still a good idea to have them connect to a guest network instead of your primary network. Not only does it keep guests’ devices from accessing your local network, but it can also make it easier to keep an eye on which devices are connected to your Internet.

4 Isolate your network

Perhaps the biggest reason most people create a guest network is for improved security. A guest network, for the most part, is kept separate from the primary network, so your guest devices don’t see your personal devices while connected. While your guests would be unlikely to do any actual harm on your main network, there’s also no reason they need that level of access if they’re just briefly connecting to the internet.

On some of the best Wi-Fi routers, you’ll find the option to let your guest devices see your local network or to allow guests to see each other. If you want to do basic local networking, like casting a video from a phone to a TV, you could enable these options. It’s worth keeping in mind that allowing a device on your local network doesn’t instantly give it access to files stored on your other machines, so it’s not exceptionally risky. But you should make sure you have your firewall enabled.

One other consideration is capacity. While most modern routers can handle dozens of devices without any real issues, if they’re all using the same bands, you could notice some slowdown. When you configure your router, for example, most of your Wi-Fi devices will connect using 5GHz spectrum, so putting as many of your guests on the 2.4GHz spectrum as possible can help keep performance high for your own tech.

3 Simpler passwords

Netgear router with IoT, Guest, and standard Wi-Fi shown on an Android phone

If you’ve got guests heading over, there’s a good chance they’ll want to connect to your Wi-Fi network to not only increase their speeds but to save battery on their phones. The last thing you want to do then, is give everyone your long and complex Wi-Fi password that will be difficult to type in. While it’s easy to change your router password, it’s a pain to sign all of your devices back in. A guest network, since it has less access to your local network and is only temporary, can have a much simpler password.

While shorter passwords aren’t as secure, most routers keep your guest devices separate from your local devices, so even if someone gets unauthorized access, they aren’t suddenly able to see your connected device. This could also be as simple as making sure your guests don’t have access to your smart speaker, so they can’t change the playlist. You can shut the guest network down as soon as the party is over, and you’ll be able to create a new password the next time you have guests over.

Set guest portal for guest Wi-Fi TP-Link

Yet another feature included with some routers is the ability to create a portal for your guest network. This is the sort of login page you may have seen while using public Wi-Fi and can be used to display the company logo and terms of usage. If you run a business and want to provide Wi-Fi for guests, this makes your business look a little more professional and makes it easier for some to get connected.

You can also often set a time limit before someone has to enter the password again. This is a nice way to disconnect users who have been using the internet for longer than they would reasonably as a customer, but allows for re-connection if the connection was ended early by mistake.

2 Limit speeds

Set individual device speed limits on TP-Link

Some routers will have more guest network options than others, but one of the best benefits of a guest network is to give you more bandwidth control. This allows you to set a speed limit for your guest network, so you can reserve some speed for yourself. For example, if you’ve got someone over who really loves gaming and wants to download all of their favorites on your fast connection, you can limit them to make sure you’ve got enough speed to efficiently use your own network.

This feature is also helpful if you’ve got a data cap on your internet connection. While many ISPs have moved more towards unlimited access, some ISPs are still capping their customers’ usage. If you find yourself near the cap at the end of the month, putting some limits on your guests could help conserve data.

1 Easily remove users afterward

Set up guest network with time limits on TP-Link Archer

Even if you’re the one typing in the password for all of your guests, once their device is connected, they won’t need you to get connected again. Like your devices, they will be able to connect automatically when back in range. If you want to make sure that all of your guests’ devices are removed from your network, being able to shut down the entire guest network is the easiest option. If you just want to keep your guest network access available for the few times of the year that you have guests or want to keep it running all the time, a guest network will at least mean that you won’t need to reconnect all of your tech if you change the guest password.

IoT and individual device controls

A lot of people look at the guest network as a way to apply some restrictions to specific kinds of devices. Some people may choose to use a guest network for their smart home IoT devices for better compatibility, for example. Some IoT devices only support 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and guest networks often let you select 2.4GHz only for guests. Additionally, some routers also support IoT networks, which work a lot like guest networks, except they’re more often than not part of the intranet, so they’re on your local network (i.e. won’t serve the same purpose as a separate guest network).

If your main goal is to put a speed limit on some of your devices, your router may have individual controls you can put on devices. Sometimes, as part of parental controls, many routers will let you set speed limits for a specific device. You may also be able to more effectively prioritize devices using QoS (quality of service) settings rather than setting up a separate network.

For the most part, guest networks make the most sense for guests. They’re quick to set up and offer controls that help you stay in charge of your network. If you want to be able to get all of your friends and family connected when they come to visit, a guest network is the easiest way to get everyone online without writing down your password.