Broadband Router

[mailco]

I have a Linksys Broadband Router model WRT54G ver 2.
Can someone help with how I can configure a password into it as half the apartments where I live are now using my broadband via my wireless router. How do I get its ip address and what do I do then? :rolleyes:

[nizzy1115]

Hi, and welcome do daniweb. I hope this is helpful, and ask if i was confusing as i am throwing this together pretty fast.

First type in your web browser 192.168.1.1 and hit enter. You should get a logon box like this. [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/50/144264153_5b0931ed3b.jpg[/IMG]

The default username is blank (nothing is entered) and the default password is "admin". Type "admin" into the password box and hit enter. This will bring you to the main configuration screen which looks like this: [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/51/144264156_a8cf065c21.jpg[/IMG]

Now since you have the default password and everyone knows what it is, we need to change it so no one can access your routers settings but you. To do this click on the management tab at the top and the first box will let you choose your password, and then repete it below it for confirmation. Then click "Save Settings" at the bottom, and then "ok". This screen should look similar to this: [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/55/144266252_17eec22de2.jpg[/IMG]

Now we will add security so that only you can connect to your router to get internet access. To do this click on the "Wireless Security" tab at the top and then a new row of links will form below that row.

Click on the "Wireless Security" tab. Your page should look like this: [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/56/144268537_9efb0ca2f5.jpg[/IMG]

In the first drop down box called "Security Mode", choose WEP, or WPA. I choose WEP because not all of my devices support WPA, and if you are unsure if yours do or not, I recomend choosing WEP. Then make sure "Default Transmit Key" is set to "1". Then choose the encription size you want. (I choose 128 bit for the best security WEP offers). Then you have to creat a password that will allow you to log on to the internet through your router. This is called the "Passphrase". Choose something that is really hard to guess. (A good passphrase will contain letters numbers and characters such as exclimation point etc.) Then click generate. You should see Key 1 - Key 4 generated. Write down your "passphrase" and write down Key 1. Also, create a text document and copy and paste your key 1 into this document for future needs. Then click "Save Settings" and click on ok.

Now your computer is encripted so no one can access it unless they know the password. This means even you (for right now). So what you need to do to connect to it is double click on the little wireless connection symbol in the right side of your task bar (for windows xp), and it will look something like this: [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/52/144272445_2323727123.jpg[/IMG]

Click on view wireless networks and it should show you your wireless network. [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/44/144271645_b8331f043c.jpg[/IMG]

Then choose your network, and click connect. It will prompt you for your paraphrase twice. Use the document you created earlier with the password and copy and paste it into these boxes and click connect.

You should now be connected to your network and secure from others getting into it!

This is all you need to do to stop users from gaining access to your internet (most of the time), but you can still further secure your self with your router. (I will explain in the next post).

[nizzy1115]

Part 2: Further securing your network

While not required, these steps will help you secure your wireless network, and make it more efficient if you are near other networks.

Log into your router as before. Now were are going to apply a wireless MAC filter on your router. Each wireless device (ie wireless card in your laptop) has an individual id that is unique to it. It is called its MAC address. We can tell your wireless router to only allow a computer that has your mac address to attach to it, all others will be denied.
To do this, click on the "Wireless" tab at the top of the page, and then in the list of links below it click on wireless mac filter. Then click the button "enable". [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/51/144278457_1a60dc60ac.jpg[/IMG]

Then click " Permit only". Then click the "Edit MAC filter list" button at the bottom. This should bring up a chart where you can enter your computers that you would like to be able to access your router. [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/51/144278458_1dbff9472d.jpg[/IMG]

You can manualy type in your devices MAC address in here if you know them, or if you don't, click on "Wireless Client MAC List" button at the top of the page to view your computers MAC addresses. NOTE: your computers must be connected to the internet through your router at this moment to be visible here. (If they are not connected, you can add them to the list later by doing the same process.) This page should look like this: [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/44/144278459_4922cb3ab5.jpg[/IMG]

Click the check box next to the devices that you own and want to connect to the internet. The click "Update Filter List" and it will close this window. You will be back at the chart page and your MAC addresses will be visible in the table. Then click "Save Settings" at the bottom of that page and it will close that window. You should now be back at the linksys wireless MAC filter page. Click "Save Settings" and click ok. (Your computer will try to reconnect to the router again automatically). Thats it!

Now you can do some fast and easy settings to help you secure your router and make it faster if other networks are around you. Click on the "Wireless" tab at the top of the page, and make sure "Basic Wireless Settings" is chosen. It should look like this: [IMG]http://static.flickr.com/56/144284850_61723102a1.jpg[/IMG]

In the first drop down box, you can choose what mode you want your router to transmit in. If all your devices are Wireless G standard than choose Wireless G. If all of your devices are Wireless B standard than chose Wireless B. If you have a mix of B and G choose both.

The next text box contains the SSID of your router. This is basically your routers name. If you chose to chage this setting, you will need to go back into the "View Wireless Networks" like before and click on the new network with the new name and paste your WEP key 1 into the boxes again. This is helpful though to distinguish your router from the others.

Below that there is an option to select to enable or disable your SSID broadcast. What this means is if it is enabled everyone will see that your router is there, but most will only be able to connect to it if they know the encription password and have a MAC address listed in your table. If you click disable SSID broadcast, no one will see that your router is there (unless they use some special software). However, you will have to manually set up to connect to the network manually. I do not recomend this option though, as it is not necessary. (If someone is going to try and hack into your network, im pretty sure they are already smart enough to figure out how to see your network even if its hidden.) (Click to Save Settings after each change.)

Lastly. There is a box called "Wireless Channel" and is set to "6" by default. If you have a lot of other networks near you, you might get some interference from them. Changing the wireless channel might help improve signal and speed.

Although there are always more things you can do to be even more secure, these methods will prove pretty difficult for someone to gain access to your network.

Hope this helped some :)