All Things Wi-Fi...And Then Some - Part Two

So you've learned the lingo and now you're ready to put it all together. If you follow this guide you should be up and running in less than an hour though your setup may take more or less time depending on the brands of hardware you have. There are and endless variety of choices when it comes to brands, and mainly it comes down to personal preference since most will do the job.

Modems vary greatly in brand but typically you will recieve this from your ISP so you will get whatever brand they use. I have used several and have not noticed any significant advantages of one over the other. Routers on the other hand, come in all shapes and sizes, and some are better than others but all will basically do the job, it just depends on how big a headache you can tolerate.

The most common are Netgear, my personal favorite, offering ease of setup, very user friendly and more options than most will ever need. D-Link, another favorite of mine, user friendly, easy to set up and good options but sometimes can be a bit more touchy. Linksys is the the last in the top three most common, it offers the same options but it's not very user friendly and recommend for more advanced users as it's basic setup and options can be quite difficult and time consuming. Most routers come with a setup CD but I have found them to be more troublesome than helpful so this guide will be for setting up your network manually. If you choose to use the CD then it will be an interactive guide.

The first step is to connect your modem and ensure that you are receiving the signal, most will have four lights which should all be lit. They can be a quick way to detect any network problems. Each light will tell you that is receiving a signal, it's detecting a pc, its connected to the cable or dsl, and that it has activity over that line. This setup will usually be taken care of by your ISP as most will send a technician out to hook it up. If you have cable internet it is advised that you choose a location in your home that does not have a TV in it as you will have to use a splitter which will greatly reduce the signal quality received by the modem. If there are no available outlets then your best choice would be to have an additional outlet wired in.

Once you have your modem up and running, the next step is to connect your router. You will need the first piece of ethernet cable to connect the router to the modem. It will only take a few moments for the router to initialize itself. You will need the first piece of ethernet cable to connect the modem to the router. For placement, it is best to choose a location in the room away from any interfering sources such as desktop computers, cordless phones operating on the same frequency, microwaves etc. A small bookshelf about four feet high is the ideal place for your modem and router to call home. The antenna should be placed at a 45 degree angle to ensure maximum signal strength and quality.

Once the router has initialized itself you will need to connect it to your notebook via ethernet cable as the wireless function is disabled by default. It is advised that you do not having any software firewalls enabled when going through your intial setup. Some firewalls will block internet access so this can make it more difficult when troubleshooting. Once connected to the router, you will need to open up your internet browser and enter in the routers IP address which will allow you access to the routers setup page. This number is typically 192.168.0.1, although the last two digits can vary. You can find this number on the bottom of your router.

After you enter in the correct number, simply hit enter at which point you will be provided with a username and password dialog box (pictured below) where you will need to supply the default information. Typically the username will be admin and the password will either be admin or password. You can find this information in your routers manual. It is highly advised that you change this password the moment you enter the routers setup page for the first time.





Once you have gained access the to the router, you will be presented with the main page. These pages will vary by router brand but will generally have a similar layout and options. Some routers will automatically take you to the Setup Wizard, which you can simply cancel. Once here you will generally not have to change any of these options. Most ISP have dynamic IPs and DNS so this information will be filled in automatically. All other options should be left to default.





The next thing you need to do is enable the wireless option for your router. The location for this and other options will vary. But will usually be called Wireless Setup. You will simply need to put a check on the box for Enable Wireless Access Point and click apply. Typically, you will also find the Enable SSID Broadcast option here as well. You should leave this option enable for now until you have completely set up your router and ensured that everything is working properly. Once everything is in working order, it is highly recommended that you disable this option. This hides your network name which helps prevent unauthorized access to your network. Once enabled, your pc should then detect your new network, you may at this point, disconnect the ethernet cable and attempt to connect to your wi-fi network to ensure everything is working properly. Once verified, you should then complete the remaining steps below.





The next thing you need to do is change a few options that will improve your wi-fi connectivity and make your network more secure. You will need to access the Wireless Settings page. Here you will typically find the most common options to change. The first one is your networks name or SSID. You should change this from the default name to anything you like, you don't have to be too unique since once hidden, no one will see your network anyway. As you can see from mine, I went for unique anyway.

If you have multiple wi-fi networks in your area or are simply experiencing connection issues, you can also change the routers default channel. The further away your channel is from other networks, the better. You may just go ahead and change this option now too but usually it is not needed. A lesser used option but one that is available is the Mode option. By default most routers have B and G enabled, but you can set this to B or G only which would prevent other pc's operating on the mode you exclude from gaining access.

The next option, and MOST important, are your security options. Is is highly advised that you enable a minimum of WEP, but I recommend WPA as it is much more secure and experiences far less connectivity issues. Simply select WPA and then enter in a password of your choice, the more complex the better. You may also see a Key Lifetime option. This determines how often the encryption key is changed. Shorter periods provide greater security, but will effect performance. The default settings should suffice and as always, click apply before switching pages.





Another overlooked option for some routers, is ensuring that the Connect Automatically option is enabled. This option should be on by default but you will usually find this in the WAN Setup page. Most other options here should not be changed.





You should also make sure that your router has the most updated firmware. You can obtain the current version from the manufactures website and verify the version numbers are the same by going to the Router Status page. If different then simply download the new version, visit the Router Upgrade page and browse for the downloaded file.


Once you have set all the previous options, you may then disconnect the ethernet cable and attempt to connect to your new wi-fi network. You will have to supply the WPA key you created previously in order to connect, this key is case sensitive. Once connected you should then enable MAC Address filtering, for Netgear, this option is located in the on the Wireless Settings page. Click on Setup Access List, then click add. Specify a name and the type in your wireless card MAC address and then click add. You can find the number by going to Start>Run>type in cmd>hit ok>then type ipconfig /all. The number you need will be the Physical Address number located under the Wireless adapter. Select the Turn Access Control On box and click apply. This will prevent any other wireless pc's from accessing your network, so if you have more than one connecting then you will need to enter the number listed on their pc as well.

At this point you should fully setup and ready to go. I highly recommend that you use a third-party software firewall rather than XP's. They offer much better options and security and most are very user friendly. Choices of firewalls are numorous but it really boils down to personal preference, most will do an equally good job at protecting you. It should be noted that some firewalls will actually block your web browsers access, and sometimes even your internet access entirely. This problem is simply a matter of fine tuning the settings or allowing certain programs full access rights.

There are multiple problems that can arise when setting up a network, but most can be avoided by taking your time settings things up as well as verifying that all your hardware has the most updated drivers. I hope this guide has made the process a bit less daunting and lot easier. If all went well then you should be surfing the net from your couch in no time at all, if not, then you've come to, IMO, the best place around to get the help you need from people that have been there, and with Wi-Fi, they've probably been there many, many times.


Brought to you by your local moderator

Anubis

 

Go NetGear!!

Remember to add Port Triggering/Forwarding. It was so annoying for newbies(like me) to modify/change around it.

+rep

 

Looks great and will be very useful for the newbies

I agree...go Netgear

 

nice Anubis!!!!!...how many more of the parts are there??...and just to add one more thing...i think u should include the link to the pics as a website link instead of posting the huge pic there...for 56k users....cuz other than that it is great!!!!!

 

Well I really don't want to have a bunch of stickys taking up space so I may try to squeeze VPN, ICS and other things like that into it, I haven't decided yet. There are still a few tweaks left to do here and there as well. The pics are going to be resized to shorten the load times and overall length of the post, I just left them as is to get it up and running. As always, suggestions are welcomed and appreciated.

Anubis

 

ok...coool..no problem