Put your smart TV, cameras and thermostat on their own Wi-Fi

By the end of this guide, your smart devices will still work from their apps, but a hacked camera or TV will no longer be able to reach your laptops, phones or shared files.

Who it's for

Households and home offices with a typical router or mesh Wi-Fi system, including the one your internet provider supplied. You need the router's admin login (usually in its app, or on a web page such as 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1; the address is often printed on a label on the router). Setting up the network takes about 30 minutes, plus a few minutes per device to reconnect it.

Why bother: smart devices often run old software that never gets updated, and many ship with weak defaults. On the same network as your laptop, a compromised device can scan for and attack everything else. On its own network, it can only reach the internet.

Steps

1. List what you're moving

   Open your router's list of connected devices and write down everything that isn't a computer, phone or tablet: TVs, streaming sticks, cameras, doorbells, thermostats, smart plugs and bulbs, speakers, robot vacuums, appliances. Unrecognised names are usually one of these; the manufacturer shown next to them helps.

2. Find your router's separate-network option

   Look in the router's app or admin page for one of these, best first:

   • An IoT or smart-home network: offered by several mesh systems and newer routers, built for exactly this.
   • A guest network: available on almost every router, and works well for this job.
   • A separate VLAN: on business-grade gear. Same idea, more control.

   If your router offers none of these, it's worth replacing: that usually also means it no longer gets security updates.

3. Create the network, isolated from your main one

   Give it its own name (for example Home-Devices) and its own strong password, different from your main Wi-Fi. Then find the setting that controls access to your main network (it may be called "Allow guests to access local network", "Intranet access" or "Network isolation") and make sure guests cannot reach it.

   For security, choose WPA2/WPA3 (or WPA2-Personal if a device refuses to connect). Make sure the 2.4 GHz band is on: many smart devices can't use 5 GHz. Turn off any schedule or time limit that switches the guest network off, or your devices will drop offline.

4. Move your devices across, one at a time

   Most devices change networks through their own app ("Wi-Fi settings" or "reconnect"). Some have to be reset and set up again from scratch. During setup, some apps need your phone on the same network as the device: join the new network on your phone for the setup, then switch back. Move one device, check it still works in its app, then move the next.

5. Decide what to do about casting and printers

   Casting from your phone to a TV or speaker (Chromecast, AirPlay) and wireless printing only work when both ends are on the same network. You have three choices: move your phone to the device network when you want to cast; keep the printer on your main network (printers are a lower risk than cameras and TVs); or, on routers that support it, allow just those services across. Choose on purpose rather than finding out later.

6. Change your main Wi-Fi password

   This catches anything you missed. After you change it, every device that wasn't moved falls off the main network. Reconnect only your own computers, phones and tablets, plus anything you deliberately kept there, such as the printer. Anything else that turns up offline belongs on the device network.

Common mistakes

• Leaving local access switched on. A guest network that can still reach your main network looks separate but isn't. The isolation setting in step 3 is the whole point.
• Reusing your main Wi-Fi password. Devices store their Wi-Fi password, and a compromised one can give it away. Give each network its own.
• Forgetting devices plugged in by cable. A smart TV or game console on an Ethernet cable is on your main network no matter what the Wi-Fi says. Switch it to Wi-Fi on the device network, or accept that one exception.
• A guest network that switches itself off. Some routers disable guest Wi-Fi after a few hours or overnight. Turn the schedule off, or your cameras will quietly stop recording.
• Stopping at the network. Separation limits the damage but doesn't fix the device. While you're in each app, install updates and change any default password.