As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly secure your smart home network.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open your router manufacturer's support page and its administration app or web interface, then record the router model, firmware version, internet provider, Wi-Fi security mode and whether remote administration is enabled, without copying any passwords or keys.
   2. Open the manufacturer's support pages for your smart hubs, cameras and other connected devices, and make a list of each device, its app, its firmware version, whether it still receives updates, and whether you still use it.
   3. Paste the prompt and your non-sensitive list into a chatbot, answer its questions from the router and device screens, and reject any request for passwords, Wi-Fi keys or recovery codes.
   4. Use the returned checklist to change one setting at a time in the router app and device apps, starting with administrator access, Wi-Fi security, firmware and software updates, remote administration and unused devices.
   5. After each change, compare the router or app screen with the expected result in the answer, then test internet access, each smart hub, cameras, speakers and any automations that matter to you.
   6. Ask the chatbot to turn any missing, unclear or model-specific setting into a question for your router manufacturer's support team, and stop rather than applying advice that would expose a device or cannot be independently checked.

   Prompt

   Help me improve the security of my UK home smart-device network. Do not guess my router model, device settings, firmware status or internet provider. Ask me for the minimum information you need before giving model-specific instructions, and tell me where to find each item without asking for passwords, Wi-Fi keys, recovery codes, private IP addresses or other secrets. Start with safe checks covering the router administrator account, Wi-Fi encryption and password, firmware updates, remote administration, guest networking, UPnP, unused devices, default passwords, software updates, two-factor authentication and whether any device needs internet access. Separate advice for the router, phones and computers, cameras, speakers, plugs, hubs and other smart devices. Do not tell me to weaken encryption, expose a device directly to the internet, or change an advanced setting unless you explain the risk and give the exact way to undo it. For every recommendation, state what I should see in the relevant app or router page, how to test that existing devices still work, and what I should do if the option is missing. Mark anything that requires a network-security professional. Give me a short ordered checklist at the end. Never claim the network is secure just because the checklist is complete.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.