Configuring a wireless router

[OrmRenewed]

Can anyone help me understand what to do with my netgear router please. We had a speedtouch router that doesn't seem to have wireless capacity. I work from home part of the time and for that I have netgear router that I want to use instead of the speedtouch one. If I just plug the netgear in how do I tell it to use a different ID and password - ie the one supplied to us by the ISP?

Sorry if this is basic stuff.

Isn't this the sort of thing that men are for?

Not mine sadly Give him a saw, a chisel and a hammer drill and he's a marvel!

I am actually the geeky one as I program the stupid things. But we have techy people to do all the set up stuff at work

The netgear router should have a config web page that you can get at, very often it's at 192.168.1.1/

The first time you connect to it it's often easier to use a cable.

First sort out the Internet Access part of it, it will need to know the username and password provided by your ISP.

Then once the internet is working sort out the Wireless Access to the router. You certainly want a password to access the wireless network and I'd also consider locking the router down to only accept connections from known machines using their MAC address (ask for more help on this if you want it).

Exactly how to do those steps will vary a lot by Router so you'll need to consult your manual.

Right. Thanks badgerspaw.

You mention a manual.....erm

Do you have a manual?

Routers usually come with a quick start guide too that explains what you need to know to get it running.

If you know the exact model you can probably find a manual on Netgear's web site.

The Netgear routers are normally on IP addres 198.168.0.1. When you've plugged the router in, connect your computer to it with a network cable, open a browser and type that IP address into the address bar. This will get you into the management pages for the router. From there you need to follow the instructions in the manual. You should be able to find the manual here - Netgear

Yes, I'll have a look. The router was supplied to me from work with no manual.

Netgear have the manuals for all their toys on their website.

Thanks everyone.

I got the router working with the ethernet cable but not wirelessly. It couldn't detect any networks but it seems there is a wireless button on the laptop ...ahem which I failed to spot.

However I couldn't log on to the netgear webpage because they default password has been changed. So I wasn't able to change to the new ID and password supplied by the ISP. Techy chap here tells me in that case I shouldn't have been able to connect to anything but oddly I was surfing happily on my home laptop and checking emails on my work one .

Very odd, that would appear to mean that your ISP doesn't authenticate who you are when letting your router connect to the internet....

There should be some way of resetting the route back to it's "factory settings", which will loose that password on the config screen and allow you to set your own password up.

But the old speedtouch modem required me to change the ISP logon and password. it was suggested that I might have been inadvertently connecting via someone else's wireless network. I am going to call work when I next try so they can talk me through it all.

Thanks for your help badger.

There will be a factory reset button somewhere on the router. On most netgears it's on the back: press and hold for 10 seconds, then the thing reboots.

You wouldn't expect a router to detect a wireless network (other than your neighbours'): the whole point is that you're creating one from scratch, with the router as the base station for it.

BP, there are ISPs that don't use authentication, mostly the ones using rfc1483. O2 (or Be) is an example. But that wouldn't work for the OP, because you have to do fairly significant configuration to get a Netgear router working on O2.

Try disabling your wireless card in your laptop and connecting to the router with a cable.

Can you see the interent?

If not then you probably have been hopping on to someone else's wireless network.

If it does then that router is somehow connecting...

One of my neighbours runs an open wireless network. Handy when there's a problem with mine .

In theory it's a criminal offence (dishonestly obtaining a communications service, I think it's a part of the Communications act of 2003) to use a neighbours WiFi connection without permission.

I know that people have been arrested for it, I don't know if anyone's ever been charged.

So be careful out there....

Went home at lunch time. When I disconnect laptop from router I get no internet. So I guess it isn't hijacking someone else.

does that hinge on the word 'dishonestly'?

That's really a surprise....not that I'm doubting you, just surprised....

"does that hinge on the word 'dishonestly'?"

Not sure...

I know of two cases of people being arrested.

One was two people using their neighbours WiFi connection for seemingly "normal" internet usage.

The other was someone who parked outside someone's house and tried to block their car windows with cardboard. No idea what they were using the connection for.

"I know of two cases of people being arrested.

One was two people using their neighbours WiFi connection for seemingly "normal" internet usage.
"

I'd be interested to know more details about that. It strikes me that the level of investigation required to actually get to the point of an arrest is quite substantial. It's not that it can't be done - I've done such investigations in a corporate environment to find mis-configured equipment - but I'm slightly surprised that (a) the legitimate user noticed and (b) the police showed any interest at all and (c) the police were willing or able to narrow it down to an individual. Do you have a write-up of it?

Here's one story: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/6565079.stm