We are all familiar with this situation: You finally get your WiFi hooked up and you receive a long network name and password of jumbled letters, numbers and symbols. You’ll never remember it, so you decide to change it to something more memorable.

While that’s not the wrong thing to do, there’s a good reason that the password is difficult to remember in the first place—it’s a strong one. So, before changing the password to something personal or much easier to figure out, consider these reasons why you should keep the long and strong password:

People can perform illegal activities on your network.

If you are connected to the internet, you are at risk of being hacked. We all are. But what happens when someone gets into your network and does something illegal from it? Big problem.

If someone is able to break into your network and do something illegal, you as the network owner are responsible for that activity unless you can prove that it wasn’t you—which is difficult to do.

Keeping your network as secure as possible is the best way to prevent this from happening to you, so make sure your passwords are strong.

People can access your files.

If someone is able to easily get into your home wireless network, then they can easily get access to your local files. This means access to sensitive and private information.

To prevent this, make sure that your WiFi password is a strong one. Another best practice is to also disable network file sharing on your device so that this cannot occur in the first place.

People can use up all of your bandwidth.

Lastly, remember that your bandwidth is limited! If people are able to easily access your WiFi network, then that means a bunch of people are using your internet at the same time as you are. The results are slow download or streaming speeds, and you can even be charged extra for the month depending on your carrier and plan.

So, there are many reasons to keep your WiFi network as secure as possible. Not only will a secure network keep your privacy in check, but also can prevent the frustrations of slow internet and extra bills each month.