Three Basic steps To Setting Up A Wireless Network

Setting up a secure wireless network isn't necessarily as easy as manufactures of wireless network gear would like you to believe. When trying to follow the setup CD many people can become baffled and irritated. Many times people just simply throw in the towel and wind up having to have somebody else do it for them or even worse having to pay to for someone to get it done for them.

The setup CDs may look convenient but they are usually perplexing if you don't know what you're doing, and in many cases if you do they don't always work. The CDs also stop you from becoming familiar with what is actually going on in the background, so you've got no idea what you're actually doing. Make a simple mistake and you've got no idea what exactly went wrong or how to deal with it. Time to get professional help or call your nerdy pal.

The objective of this post is to help you be aware of the process so its possible to do it yourself and get it right everytime. When you're d one reading this article and viewing the videos below you will know how to setup just about any wireless device without needing to depend on the installation CDs or outside help. I provide links to vidoes on my blog which show exactly how to do this.

Once you fully understand how to set up a wireless router you will also be able to setup just about any wi-fi device on the market such as printers, game consoles, iPads and so forth.

You will find only 3 basic things you need to know to setup virtually any wifi device

Give it a name that means something to you and nothing to others. An abbreviation or name of your favorite team is a good example.

Security - A knowledge of what security is may help here. WEP or Wired Equivalent Privacy is the first and least effective form of wifi security. As time went by and computers became faster WEP turned out to be much easier to crack. Something else was needed. WPA and WPA2 came out next and are are both much more advanced and hard to break into than WEP. WPA2 was released only a few short months after WPA. WPA2 uses an even more robust form of security named AES. Some older operating systems and video games will only work with WEP. Only use WEP if you need to. If your router provides the choice to use both choose it when you have a mix and match of devices. If everything you have will work with WPA2, select WPA2 only. This is usually a very popular option when setting up security on a wireless router.

Passphrase - also know as "security password" or "security key". It's often confused with the router password. You use your router username and password to log on to the router not connect to the wireless network. The encryption key is what enables a computer, printer or other network device to connect or "associate" with the wi-fi router. You do not really pick what your WEP password is going to be. It is created for you after typing in a password you make up.. The result is normally scrambled into something such as "E321D567AF". You then need to type these hexidecimal characters into all of your wifi devices. User-friendly this isn't.. WPA and WPA2 don't generate difficult to memorize hex numbers like WEP does.. Any word, group of words or sentences will work. The spaces between the words in your sentence count as characters. Pass phrases are case sensitive so if a letter is capitalized on the router it needs to also be capitalized on all your devices or it's not going t o work.

Now that you are aware of the basic principles involved with wifi networking we should put them to use.

The next step is to access the wireless routers web user interface.You need three pieces of information so that you can access your wireless routers web user interface.

1. It's IP address. Commonly something like 192.168.1.1

2. The routers logon password.

3. Whether your computer or laptop is on the same network as the router.

IP Address

Your routers IP is more than likely something like 192.168.1.2 or 0.1 or 2.1. You can get this information from the guide which came with the wireless router or Googling your routers brand name along with the words "default IP address".

Username And Password

If you don't know your routers password try various combinations of "admin" and "password". Sometimes throwing in a blank in the login name or password field helps. If nothing works do a search on Google precisely like you did with the default IP address. A hard reset of the wireless router may be required in case it is previously owned and the password has been changed. You'll need a paper clip or small pin to reset the router. Simply push something in the little hole in the back of the wireless router and hold it there for about 30 seconds with the router still powered on. Once you release it the router wil l restart and return to it's factory default configuration settings and you will be able to use it's default account information to log on.

Are The Router And Laptop or computer On The Same Network?

Both the Computer and the wireless router have to be on the very same network to connect. Your router and PC need to be on the same network to talk. The rule is all network devices are required to be on the same network to communicate unless there is a specially configured router or switch set up to allow them to see each other.When you know your routers IP address you'll be able to compare it with your computers IP by going to the command prompt and typing in "IPCONFIG". The video lessons below demonstrate how to do this.

So if your computer or laptop isn't on the same network as the wireless router what now?

This is easily solved by using a network cable and a reboot of your computer.

The built-in DHCP server in the router will automatically send the pc an IP address that is on the same network as the router and they'll have the ability to connect!

Since the difficult parts are taken care of you're ready simply connect to the router and enter in our security information.To do this simply:

1.Start your favorite browser and type in the routers IP address. Hit ENTER.

2. Enter in the password.

3. Sift through the menus until you find the "Wireless Security" section of your router and key in what ever you prefer for the SSID and passphrase.

You're all done. Your router is now secure!

Now it's a simple matter of entering the very same information into all of your wireless devices. Of many devices it is just a simple matter of finding your SSID, simply clicking on it and typing in your pass phrase.

You now know the fundamentals you can setup a wireless network without any help and connect just about any wifi product to it. No matter whether you are setting up a Wireless G router, a Wireless N Router, a wi-fi printer, an ipad device or iPod the concepts are identical.

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