When you connect your wireless router to the Internet and provide a wireless local area network (Wireless Local Network) for local connection, it is important that you first have a broadband DSL connection to the Internet through a DSL modem. Many non-technical people confuse the difference between a wireless router and an Internet gateway router, which has a built-in modem and therefore does not need a standard DSL modem.
Suppose you already have a DSL modem, and you have tested your Internet connection via a PC modem. Now we need to connect the wireless router to the DSL modem, and also set up a local wireless local area network so that local devices can connect to the wireless network using the device. If you have a cable modem, because your broadband service from your ISP is a cable service, then the setup is very similar, having already tested the functionality of the cable modem. To connect to a wireless router, your PCs, laptops, or even gaming consoles must support IEEE 802.11 wireless standards. In other words, they must have a wireless NIC card embedded in the motherboard, or you will need to purchase a wireless adapter, the most common of which is a USB wireless adapter, which is extremely Plug and Play.
Another important thing to remember when purchasing a wireless router is to make sure that it is not a wireless access point, otherwise it will not have the routing function that is required to connect your wireless devices to the Internet.
We are almost ready to start connecting our wireless device, so it would be nice to have a copy of any setup instructions included with the device. They will be very similar, regardless of manufacturer, but there will be subtle differences.
Turn off or turn off an existing DSL modem or cable modem. If it is a DSL modem, it will be connected to the telephone point using the supplied telephone cable, usually via an ADSL filter. Then connect the network cable that came with your wireless router and plug one end into an RJ-45 outlet on a DSL modem (there will usually only be one). Connect the other end of the cable to the WAN port on your wireless router. Most wireless routers also have 4 ports that allow you to connect 4 separate PCs via cables. The WAN port is usually different from the computer ports by my color-coding tools or because it is separate from the other 4 ports.
The next step is to connect and turn on the DSL modem and wait a few minutes so that it can boot and then synchronize with the service provider’s network via a telephone cable. Your DSL modem usually has a visible LED that indicates a successful Internet connection.
Now turn on the wireless routing device you previously connected to the DSL modem, and soon the green LED usually indicates a successful connection to your modem. Now we are almost ready to start setting up the wireless router itself.
Use a network patch cable to connect your desktop PC to one of the usually 4 network ports on the wireless device. The built-in DHCP server in the wireless router must assign the appropriate IP address of the PC that is used for the configuration. Open a browser window on your PC and enter the URL specified by the manufacturer in the address bar. For example, Linksys routers typically use the URL
Success should make the router's default configuration page visible in your browser window. Router instructions should provide you with a default username and password required to access the basic configuration of your wireless router. These will often be the administrator and the administrator, or whatever your router instructions say. After you have successfully entered your username and password, go to the section in which you can change the settings and configure the username and administrator password that you can remember. Save your settings!
Now you can check the Internet connection by disconnecting the cable and connecting to the wireless network using your PC's wireless connection. Raise the browser window and try to connect to your favorite site, perhaps a search engine such as Google. If successful, the last step will be to protect your wireless network by configuring the security settings of the wireless network, usually WPA or WPA2.
Either through a wireless connection, or by reconnecting the cable between the PC and the wireless router, return to the default configuration page for the wireless router and look for the wireless security settings section. You will need to configure the SSID of your wireless router. Your router will have a default SSID, but you must change it to a name you remember. When you or your family try to connect your PC to a wireless router in the future, this name ensures that they try to connect to the correct wireless network and not their neighbors' network. Now select the WPA or WPA2 settings from the configuration (WPA2 is more secure if it is available). Configure a unique missed phrase that you can remember, and the wireless router will use this phrase to create a secure network key that is used to authenticate devices and to encrypt data transmitted over the wireless network. Remember to save this configuration again.
Now you will need to reconnect your wireless-enabled PC to the wireless network, and you will be prompted to use the same phrase when your PC tries to connect to the wireless network using the SSID that you set up earlier.
If there were no errors, you should now connect to the Internet from a wireless-enabled PC. Any other PCs that require wireless access simply need to be configured with the correct SSID, and the phrase to transmit and connect must be fast and efficient. Good luck.
