First timer with a wireless router

[Guest]

Hello,

Just bought a netgear3700 wireless router. I am hooking it up to a dell xps420 Desktop running Vista home premium. This will be connected via ethernet.I have cable modem. (i will be hooking up a laptop after i get the desktop hooked up) I am searching online before i hook up the router to see what to expect or be aware of as far as security etc ..

I noticed there are many things to do.
Change administrative passwords and usernames
Turn on wpa/wep encryption
Change the SSID
Enable MAC address filtering
Disable SSID broadcast
Do not autoconnect to open wi-fi networks
Assign static IP addresses to devices
Enable Firewalls on each computer and router

So, the question is where do i find these settings on my Desktop? What exact settings do i click on? I do know about the firewall settings as far as the Desktop is concerned. Does the router need the exact level of firewall protection? I am sure once i set this all up i'll "get it". But today i am totally lost. I wish there was a baby step by baby step video of everything i'll see and what to expect.

 

[derrickwmartin]

Hello,

Just bought a netgear3700 wireless router. I am hooking it up to a dell xps420 Desktop running Vista home premium. This will be connected via ethernet.I have cable modem. (i will be hooking up a laptop after i get the desktop hooked up) I am searching online before i hook up the router to see what to expect or be aware of as far as security etc ..

I noticed there are many things to do.
Change administrative passwords and usernames
Turn on wpa/wep encryption
Change the SSID
Enable MAC address filtering
Disable SSID broadcast
Do not autoconnect to open wi-fi networks
Assign static IP addresses to devices
Enable Firewalls on each computer and router

So, the question is where do i find these settings on my Desktop? What exact settings do i click on? I do know about the firewall settings as far as the Desktop is concerned. Does the router need the exact level of firewall protection? I am sure once i set this all up i'll "get it". But today i am totally lost. I wish there was a baby step by baby step video of everything i'll see and what to expect.

To access the routers user interface you are going to want to do te following:

-Connect your PC to the router with a regular internet cable
-Open up your web browser (IE, Firefox, Google Chrom, etc..)
-Type in 192.168.1.1 that is your routers default local IP Address in the address bar and hit enter.
-When prompted to you will enter in the user login info provided to you in the instruction manual. Sometimes they have both a user and a password or sometimes the default will just be apassword with a blank user name.
-This user interface you will see will be the main way to access and configure your routers settings to your likings.

Turning on WEP/WPA encryptions:
-This is used for wireless connections only. There should be a menu or link somewhere on that main page of the interface that says something along the lines of "Wireless Securit" or just "Security"
-After clicking on that there should be a drop down box that has all the different security measures you can enable and use for that router. Select the one you would like to use and the rest is usually self explanitory.
-Also in that same "Security" area there should be an option to broadcast your SSID or not to. Click wether you want to or not.
-(Note: that if you turn it off, you have to manually go into your network settings on your computer nd click on "Add Connection" and then enter your SSID (Wireless Network Name) into the correct fields and then enter your encryption key.)

Not auto connecting to open/unsecure networks is set in your computers network settings. Enabling your firewall should be in the same area, or in the Windows Alert area where you can enbale or disable your firewall.

If you browse through the routers user interface you will see tons of different options to choose from to use on your network. I'm not exactly sure about Netgear, but my old Linksys router gave me bits of info on what each otion did and what it would do if I enabled or disabled it.


Hope this was somewhat helpful, if you need more in depth information feel free to post back.

 

[Guest]

Hello derrickwmarti,

Thanks for the response to my question. The wireless router came today, and i will be hooking it up within a day or two. It came with no instructions in the box, just a CD with instructions. So all the security settings that have to do with the wireless router i THINK (hope) i understand. But will there be any desktop security settings i need to match up or alter? Again the desktop will be connected via ethernet. I guess my fear is missing a setting, or something not matching up and causing either the desktop to not be connected to the internet or leaving my desktop vunerable to a**holes. Thanks again for the help.

To access the routers user interface you are going to want to do te following:

-Connect your PC to the router with a regular internet cable
-Open up your web browser (IE, Firefox, Google Chrom, etc..)
-Type in 192.168.1.1 that is your routers default local IP Address in the address bar and hit enter.
-When prompted to you will enter in the user login info provided to you in the instruction manual. Sometimes they have both a user and a password or sometimes the default will just be apassword with a blank user name.
-This user interface you will see will be the main way to access and configure your routers settings to your likings.

Turning on WEP/WPA encryptions:
-This is used for wireless connections only. There should be a menu or link somewhere on that main page of the interface that says something along the lines of "Wireless Securit" or just "Security"
-After clicking on that there should be a drop down box that has all the different security measures you can enable and use for that router. Select the one you would like to use and the rest is usually self explanitory.
-Also in that same "Security" area there should be an option to broadcast your SSID or not to. Click wether you want to or not.
-(Note: that if you turn it off, you have to manually go into your network settings on your computer nd click on "Add Connection" and then enter your SSID (Wireless Network Name) into the correct fields and then enter your encryption key.)

Not auto connecting to open/unsecure networks is set in your computers network settings. Enabling your firewall should be in the same area, or in the Windows Alert area where you can enbale or disable your firewall.

If you browse through the routers user interface you will see tons of different options to choose from to use on your network. I'm not exactly sure about Netgear, but my old Linksys router gave me bits of info on what each otion did and what it would do if I enabled or disabled it.


Hope this was somewhat helpful, if you need more in depth information feel free to post back.

 

[derrickwmartin]

Your windows security center should tell you what you have enabled and what you don't through windows. It will tell you if you have Windows firewall active or not and it will tell you if you have a virus/spyware scanner active or not. If you have both of those on and in working order(updated) then you're PC will be fine, as long as you don't go to any "supicious" websites that could launch some type of new backdoor trojan to gain access. Some routers have a built in firewall as well that is a "software firewall" kinda like windows firewall.

If you have any of the settings turned off or turned on in any combination you will be good to go if you hook up the computer through a network cable to the router. If you hook it up wirelessly after setting the router up then you will need the WEP or WPA key, whichever security method you deem best, to input into your computer to logon to connect to the network.

Once you do it once or twice, it's like riding a bike, you really never forget how to.

Feel free to post any other questions you may have.

 

[Guest]

Your windows security center should tell you what you have enabled and what you don't through windows. It will tell you if you have Windows firewall active or not and it will tell you if you have a virus/spyware scanner active or not. If you have both of those on and in working order(updated) then you're PC will be fine, as long as you don't go to any "supicious" websites that could launch some type of new backdoor trojan to gain access. Some routers have a built in firewall as well that is a "software firewall" kinda like windows firewall.

If you have any of the settings turned off or turned on in any combination you will be good to go if you hook up the computer through a network cable to the router. If you hook it up wirelessly after setting the router up then you will need the WEP or WPA key, whichever security method you deem best, to input into your computer to logon to connect to the network.

Once you do it once or twice, it's like riding a bike, you really never forget how to.

Feel free to post any other questions you may have.

Thanks for responding. I hooked up my wireless router (it took me a while, but got it done) On the topic of security. The netgear router allows you to change the admin password but NOT the admin username (which is admin) So i changed the password. I am using the WPA_WPA2 encryption setting. Netgear uses a "passphrase" up to 64 characters long for security in signing in and using the network, I used a very long "passphrase" for that. The SSID is in broadcast mode. Otherwise it seemed my laptop wasn't finding my network to log in to. Now comes MAC addressing. I have NOT done that. Do you recommend i do that? Is that something you have done? Any other suggestions would be helpful. Thanks again.

 

[derrickwmartin]

MAC address filtering is pretty much up to you. Some people like it some people don't. Some people say there are security risks in using it, and some say their aren't. Personally I've never encountered a risk with using MAC address filtering. I've also never really found the effort to go to all my machines and get their MAC Address either to add to the routers config for them ot access the Network. Like I said it's up to you. It will allow you to more effectively monitor and control who does and does not access your network.


As for the SSID broadcasting, if you turn it off it will not broadcast your network openly. You will have to go in and manually connect to the network by entering the networks name and then the security you have chosen. This is how to do it:

-Right Click on the network icon in the system tray and click on Network and Sharing Center.

-Click on the "Manage wireless networks" link

-Click "Add"

-Follow the on-screen instructions to add your wireless network if you have the SSID broadcast turned OFF.

I hope this clarifies it a little more. Let me know if you get it to work or not.

 

[Guest]

Hello Derrick,
thanks for the response. Before I turn off ssid broadcast. I was wondering, when I do turn it off and I add the network name and passphrase on the laptop, do I need to add the network name and passphrase everytime the laptop "tries" to find the network? Or once I do this once the router and laptop will know it's ok to connect together. Of course I did turn off the auto connect function on the laptop. Thanks again for the help.

 

[derrickwmartin]

No you shouldn't need to input it every time because windows will save the network information on the laptop.

 

[Guest]

No you shouldn't need to input it every time because windows will save the network information on the laptop.

Thanks Derrick, i turned the SSID broadcasting off. I went into network and sharing, the network name was already there so i didn't have to "add" a new one. All i did was click into the network name, go to settings, and one of the choices was to always show the network even though it isn't being broadcast. I clicked on that, saved the settings and it's done. The only difference is now the signal strength showing is "no bars". But once i click on the network and connect, the bars show up. It takes about 15 seconds to connect instead of 10. But it works and works great. i want to thank you. I will keep you in my short list incase something comes up. Is there any ratings or something i can give you so Toms hardware ranks you higher? Take care.

 

[derrickwmartin]

Outstanding. Glad I could help. And yes, anytime you have any questions feel free to PM me on here or contact me.

I think there is somewhere on my posts that only you can see to "select the best answer." I think that's how the rating system goes around here as it's based on a point system or something of the sort.


Again, I'm glad I could resolve your issue.

Take care,
Derrick