No, not to secure your own Wi-Fi. The security setting of your router does that, together with a strong password.
What solves it instead
- Open the settings of your router (the manufacturer's web page or app) and check the security setting: WPA3 Personal, or WPA2/WPA3 if older devices need it.
- Set a strong Wi-Fi password and change the default administrator password of the router.
- Turn on automatic updates for the router if it offers them.
The facts
| About | Word for word from the source | Source, checked on |
|---|---|---|
| What protects your Wi-Fi at home | The security setting defines the type of authentication and encryption used by your router, and the level of privacy protection for data transmitted over its network. | support.apple.com, |
| The setting to choose | WPA3 Personal is the newest, most secure protocol currently available for Wi-Fi devices. | support.apple.com, |
| Whatever the setting: the password | Whichever setting you choose, always set a strong password for joining the network. | support.apple.com, |
| Keep the router up to date | If possible, set your router to automatically install software and firmware updates as they become available. | support.apple.com, |
| What EU law requires of new connected devices from 11 December 2027 | be made available on the market with a secure by default configuration | eur-lex.europa.eu, |
What a VPN does change
A VPN does not replace the security of your router: it encrypts the traffic between your device and the VPN server, so your internet provider no longer sees which sites you visit, and those sites see the address of the VPN server instead of yours. That is useful at home if you want exactly that, or for a specific purpose such as a service from another country; the security of the Wi-Fi itself stays a matter of the router. Check when a VPN is worth paying for
Without a VPN
- You
- Your networkinternet provider, or the Wi-Fi of work, school or a café
Sees: which sites you visit and when. With HTTPS, not what you do there.
- The website
Sees: your IP address, and with it roughly where you are and who your internet provider is.
With a VPN
- You
- Your networkinternet provider, or the Wi-Fi of work, school or a caféEncrypted tunnel
Sees: only that you are connected to a VPN server, and how much data you send.
- VPN serverrun by the VPN provider
Sees: which sites you visit, as your internet provider did before.
- The website
Sees: the IP address of the VPN server. It still recognises you by your login and cookies.
What we did not check
3
- How each router brand names these settings, and which routers support WPA3: we have not tested routers.
- What your internet provider stores about your connection: that depends on the provider and the law in your country.
- The quotes come from Apple's recommendations for routers used with its devices; other manufacturers word it differently.
Next step
- Open the settings of your router (the manufacturer's web page or app) and check the security setting: WPA3 Personal, or WPA2/WPA3 if older devices need it.