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13/12/2022As a host on Airbnb, managing your reservations, cleaning, and finances are just a few of the many tasks on your to-do list. But one of the most important aspects of hosting is ensuring the safety and security of your property and guests.
While a sturdy lock on the front door is a good start, digital security is also crucial. Sharing passwords securely can protect your property and guests from property damage, hacking, and unwanted visitors. Here are some ways you can digitally secure your property and ensure a stress-free experience for everyone.
Lock down access to your property
As a host on Airbnb, one of your top priorities is ensuring the safety and security of your property and guests. While meeting guests in person and physically handing over a key or passcode can work for some hosts, many property owners are turning to lockboxes and other solutions that don't require their presence at arrival. In these cases, it's important to use a secure method for sharing access instructions with guests.
One option is to use Airbnb's own messaging system, or a secure app like Signal or WhatsApp. However, if you're a DrivePassword member, you can create an item in your vault and share it with guests. This item could contain a digital passcode, lock box combination, or the location of a physical key. Your guest will need to have a DrivePassword account to access the shared information.
With a DrivePassword, you can also create "Folder" to share instructions and other useful but private information about the property with your guests. You could even store your entire Airbnb home manual in a shared "Folder".
DrivePassword is a great option for hosts because you can choose guests to have only read access to a shared "Folder" or item.
Secure your router
Ensuring the security of your router is just as important as locking the front door of your property. If you've set up your router and haven't given it much thought since, now is the time to secure it and the Wi-Fi network it provides.
First, change the router's default password. Like any device, you want to make sure you're using a strong, unique password. DrivePassword can help you create and manage strong, unique passwords for all your devices.
Second, consider who has physical access to your router. Ideally, you don't want your guests to be able to access it, as many routers can be factory reset, giving guests access to the hardware's administrator dashboard and settings. While most guests won't have any malicious plans, it's possible that someone could interfere with your router to intercept web traffic, adjust which devices get bandwidth priority, or even install malware to spy on future guests' activities.
To prevent this, keep your router in a secure location. This could be a locked cabinet or a private room that you or someone you trust is always staying in. By securing your router and Wi-Fi network, you can keep your property and guests safe from digital threats.
Create a guest Wi-Fi network
Providing Wi-Fi at your Airbnb is just as important as providing a comfortable bed for your guests. While you can save money by running a single Wi-Fi network for both you and your guests, it's best to give them their own separate network. This will help protect your personal devices and data should the guest network become compromised.
If your router doesn't allow you to create a guest Wi-Fi network, consider buying a second router to create an additional network. Alternatively, you could pay for a separate internet plan to keep the two networks completely separate.
Just like your router, you should use strong, unique passwords to protect the Wi-Fi networks in your Airbnb. Don't use something easy to remember, like a phone number. Instead, use a password generator to create a truly random password. DrivePassword can help you create and manage strong, unique passwords for all your devices and networks.
By creating a guest-specific Wi-Fi network and using strong passwords to protect it, you can keep your personal devices and data safe while still providing Wi-Fi for your guests.
Turn on automatic updates on all your devices
As a host on Airbnb, you have a lot to manage. To make your life easier, consider turning on automatic updates for all the devices in your property. This includes door locks, thermostats, security cameras, smart TVs, routers, and anything else that requires updates.
By turning on automatic updates, you'll save time and effort, as you won't have to manually check for and install updates for each device. Automatic updates will also keep your devices more secure, as they will be running the latest versions with the latest security patches and features.
Improve access to streaming services
Offering streaming services to your Airbnb guests can be a nice touch, but some guests may prefer to use their own subscriptions, or accidentally log out of the account you've created for them. This can make it difficult for guests to access the streaming services you provide.
To make it easier for your guests to access streaming services, you could include the passwords in your house manual or add them to a separate vault that's just for Airbnb guests. Using DrivePassword, you can easily share the passwords with your guests, giving them access to the streaming services without compromising security. And once your guests have checked out, you can revoke access to the shared vault, update the passwords, and then grant access to the next set of guests.
This way, guests can log in to the streaming services on their own, without you having to worry about them walking off with your passwords. And you won't need to rely on cleaning staff to help guests log in between stays. By using DrivePassword to manage and share passwords for your streaming services, you can provide your guests with easy access without compromising security.
DrivePassword & Airbnbs