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In this example installation, the router was placed in the home office where the cable modem is located. Details of the wired and wireless network connections as well as software setup to the router are shown. In the example installation, cable modem is used, however any home broadband connection will essentially work the same way. This feature is based on a common installation and is meant to help you understand home Internet sharing in general.
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Initial Setup - A Look At The Wizard |
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 Note: Before physically connecting the router, the setup CD should be run on the desktop computer which is connected directly to the cable modem.
The "Setup Wizard" and the user guide are two of the items accessible on the first screen. After printing and reading the user guide, I pressed "Setup" to begin.
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| This next information screen indicates that the computer used should be connected to the Internet. I pressed "Next". |
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The wizard displayed a progress bar as it checked the Internet connection for it's settings. |
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When the check completed, it displayed a small diagram to show the network connections that needed to be made before continuing. |
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This photograph shows the Internet jack located on the left side of the back of the router. I connected one end of a standard Ethernet cable into the router jack labeled "Internet" and the opposite end into the Ethernet jack of the cable modem. |
| I continued by plugging in both the nearby desktop station using a standard Ethernet cable (shown in blue) and the uplink Ethernet cable (shown in red). The uplink cable is a special crossover cable used to connect from the router's switch to the switch located in the whole-house wiring panel. This allows me to extend the network and Internet sharing to the additional ports that had been previously wired throughout the house. The black wire on the right is for the router's power transformer. |
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The cable service company provides the unit with an IP address automatically and has no required host or domain name settings. I clicked next. |
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On the next screen, I set the router password. For security reasons, never keep the default password. |
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On this page I set the SSID name;this name is shared by all of the wireless devices on the network. I kept the default channel setting "6" and I changed the "Device Name" to "homerouter". |
| This page can be used to configure the optional security settings. I chose the default "Disable". I planned to configure those settings later. |
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This page allowed me to review the settings before saving them to the router. |
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The wizard displayed a progress bar as it saved the settings to the router. |
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The router was now ready for use. Additional desktops attached to the whole-house wiring panel switch had to be checked to make sure TCPIP was installed and set correctly (to receive an address automatically). Most desktops are set this way by default. |
Wired PC Network Settings |
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Check to make sure that TCPIP is installed by looking at the "Properties" page of the Ethernet card you are using. You can find this in the "Control Panel" under "Network". Under the "General Tab" it should be set to "Obtain an IP address automatically". (the windows shown are from Windows® XP) |
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A useful tool that checks your TCPIP settings in Windows® 2000 or XP is "ipconfig /all", launched in a command prompt window. Windows® 95, 98 and ME use the command "winipcfg /all" instead. See the example output below. The output shows that the computer has properly received the address, gateway and other information needed to connect to the home network and Internet. |
Connecting To The Router Using A Browser |
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With the web browser, I typed "192.168.1.1" in the address bar and clicked "enter". The page below shows the setup screen and other configuration tabs. The setup wizard configured most of our basic settings however, this screen allows for manual setup as well as changes. The cable provider required an "Internet Connection Type" of "Automatic Configuration (DHCP)", however some broadband providers require a different type such as static IP or PPPoE. |
Enabling The Basic Firewall |
| By enabling the Block WAN Request feature, you can hide you network ports and prevent people from "pinging". This makes it more difficult for outside users to work their way into your network. |
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This screen shot below shows the security page. I enabled the firewall protection and checked off "Block Anonymous Internet Requests". |
Connecting A Wireless Laptop |
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I used a Linksys model WPC51AB notebook adapter. After inserting the wireless card into the PCMCIA slot, the driver disk was requested. Once the driver loaded, the laptop was connected to the home network and accessing the Internet through the router. |
When connected to the router, there is a dialog box that momentarily appears over the icon in the system tray to indicate that there is a wireless connection established.
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To make the wireless connection more secure, there are many options available. I chose to use WEP encryption and MAC address filtering for some basic security. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) is a basic encryption that uses a key that is generated or typed in manually. MAC (Media Access Control) address filtering gives the ability to prevent or permit a connection based on the unit's unique MAC address number. |
Setting WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) |
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This screen shot below shows the page used to set up WEP security. I entered a random passphrase "kryptonite" and pressed the Generate button. |
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This screen shot below shows the keys generated for use both on the router and on the wireless laptop. I chose key one. |
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On the wireless laptop, I opened the window for network connections, and with "homessid" highlighted, clicked the properties button. |
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This screen shot below shows the screen to check off "Data encryption (WEP enabled)" and type in the key number one that is generated by the router. I Restarted the router and laptop to test the settings. |
Setting Up MAC Address Filtering (Media Access Control) |
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I opened a new browser session to the router and clicked on "Wireless" "Wireless MAC filter". The screen shot below shows how to set "Enable" on the filter and choose "Permit only" which allows only listed addresses to access the router. Next I clicked "Edit MAC Filter List".
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| This page shows the MAC address filter list where addresses need to be entered to permit access to the wireless network. Since the wireless laptop was connected, I clicked on the "Wireless Client MAC List". |
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The router shows the connected unit's name, IP address, MAC address and enable button. "Enable MAC Filter" is checked and then "Update Filter List" will enter this address into the list.
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| The laptop MAC address is now included in the list and is the only wireless device permitted, once the settings are saved. |
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There are many additional options for setting up this router but they are beyond the scope of this feature. Check the user guide and the LINKSYS® web site for additional information. |
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