Bought a laptop and cannot get security code for internet

[Simonswain]

Hello,
I have just bought a Lenovo Z570 laptop. I have a desktop and wireless internet with Talktalk.
I have no idea what my original security code was - how do I find it.
I am also a complete laptop novice and this is probably a very stupid question but what was the dongle thing that currys tried to sell me. I did not buy it as I had no idea what it was

 

[Saga Lout]

Hello and welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums.

TalkTalk usually print the security key on a label underneath the router but if it isn't there, carry out the following steps to find and if you wish to, alter it. As top Currys, they'll try to sell you anything but if it was a w-ifi dongle and your laptop already has a built-in wireless chip, they ought to be reported to Tradibng Standards.

Connect your router to the computer with the cable that came with the router then go Start then Run in XP - Windows key plus R in Vista and Windows 7 - then type in the following, including all the spaces:-

cmd /k ipconfig /all

then press Enter and from the black form that shows up, take a note of the numeric code beside the Default Gateway icon - something like 192.168.0.1.

Type exit to close the black form.

Open Internet Explorer and enter that code into the URL address bar as though it was a website. You're then at the login page to the router's settings utility and admin will usually be the login with either admin or password as the password.

If you're in, seek out Wireless and then Security and take a note of the key. Sometimes it may be a passphrase, some a simple set of letters and others a hexadecimal code. You also may as well note which level of security it is - WEP, WPA or WPA/PSK 2 and then either AES or TKIP. Your computer will already know this but it's handy information to store. Note also that hexadecimal only contains numbers from zero to 9 and letters a to f so there's no confusion of I and O with 1 and 0.

It's best to keep a note of that security key in your Documents folder and also outside the computer.