Router Setup

Read below to get detaild setup instructions for your router.

Click Your Router Brand For Setup Help

If you’re still having trouble setting up your router after reading these guides, please call our Technical Support line at 540-389-7924 option 1.

Apple AirPort

How to set up your AirPort router

  1. Plug your Airport Base Station into a power outlet.
  2. Connect the modem provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to your AirPort Extreme using an Ethernet cable. Use the- wire to the bottom-most port on the back of the AirPort Base Station. (Don’t worry if you make a mistake. You’ll be prompted to fix things, if needed, during set up).
  3. Launch AirPort Utility on your Mac.
  4. Click on Other WiFi Devices in the upper right corner.
  5. Click Other Options to setup the AirPort for additional capabilities.
  6. Select Create a new network
  7. Click Next.
  8. Enter a Network Name and a Base Station Name. (You can leave them as is or change them to whatever you prefer.)
  9. Enter your preferred Password. You can choose to have one password for both your Wi-Fi network and to configure the AirPort itself by checking Use a single password. (I recommend you have separate passwords for added security.)
  10. If you purchased a Base Station with an internal hard drive — i.e., a Time Capsule — you can also choose a separate password for that by checking “Secure disk with separate password”.
  11. Click Next.
  12. If your Airport has the option for Enabling a Guest Network you can enable that option here (see below, start at step 5)
  13. Click Next.
  14. Click Done.

How to create a guest network on your AirPort Base Station

If you have frequent visitors and don’t fancy the idea of giving them your AirPort password, you can create a Guest Network for them to connect you. This gives your friends, family, and associates a working Wi-Fi connection but also gives you some security.

  1. Launch AirPort Utility on your Mac.
  2. Click on your Base Station at the bottom.
  3. Click on Edit.
  4. Click on the **Wireless* tab at the top.
  5. Check Enable Guest Network.
  6. Enter a new Network Name. The guest network name should be something easy to discern from your regular “secured” network.
  7. Select your desired level of Guest Network Security. Choose None if you want it completely open, WPA2 if you want it secure.
  8. If you have decided to have WPA2 Personal as your security level, enter your Guest Network Password and verify it.
  9. Click Update
  10. Restart your Base Station.

If you wish to protect your network from general access WPA2 Personal offers a good level of encrypted connectivity. You may want to provide an open access point if you want people to connect to your network without a password. You can select None to do just that. You should avoid WPA as that encryption level is easily compromised.

Belkin

This guide will take you step by step to setup wireless security on a Belkin wireless router. You can also follow these same steps to find your wireless network security key.

To begin we will need to connect a computer with an Ethernet cable directly to the Belkin router. You can do this setup connected to the wireless but you will be disconnected from your wireless router at least twice during the setup without using an Ethernet cable. Note: If using Windows Vista or older it is highly recommended to use an Ethernet cable for this setup. 

First, we will need to use the computer that we have wired directly into the LAN port on the router. Once you are on this computer, please open your Internet browser (We will be using Internet Explorer for this example).

  1. First, we will need to use the computer that we have wired directly into the LAN port on the router. Once you are on this computer, please open your Internet browser (We will be using Internet Explorer for this example).
  2. Once you have opened your Internet browser, you will need to clear out the Address Bar across the top. Here you will need to type in http://192.168.2.1 into the Address Bar, and then press Enter on your keyboard.

Now you will click on Security on the left side of the screen under Wireless. Then from the drop down box on the right, select WPA/WPA2-Personal(PSK). Next click Apply Changes.

You may now be prompted for a password. By default the password is blank, so simply press Submit.

Here you should see a box that is labeled Password(PSK) >. In this box is where you will type what you would like your wireless password to be. Once you have entered your password, click on Apply Changes at the bottom.

After you have saved your settings, the router will now broadcast a secure wireless broadcast. Any of your wireless devices will initially have to type in the passphrase which was entered into the wireless router.

D-Link

Securing Your D-Link Router

It is recommended to enable encryption on your wireless router before your wireless network adapters. Please establish wireless connectivity before enabling encryption.

Note: Your network will slow down and wireless signal may degrade when enabling encryption due to the added overhead.

Step 1: Log into the web configuration of the router by opening up a web browser and typing in the IP address of the router (192.168.0.1).

Step 2: Enter your username (admin) and your password (blank by default).Click OK. Click on the Home tab and then click on the Wireless button on the left hand side of the screen.

WEP Encryption

Step 3: For Security Mode, select WEP. For Authentication, select Open or shared Authentication. For WEP encryption select 64bit, or 128bit.

Step 4: Select Key 1. Enter a Hex encryption key that you make up. The length of the encryption key will depend on what you selected under WEP Encryption from the drop down menu. The key must match between your router and your wireless clients.

  • 64-bit encryption 10 characters
  • 128-bit encryption 26 characters

The encryption key is HEX, meaning 0-9 and A-F are valid characters. For example, A4583DFF1A (64-bit HEX key) would be a valid key.

Step 5: Click on the Apply button then click on the Continue button to save your settings.

WPA-PSK Encryption

Step 3: For Security Mode, select WPA-PSK. For WPA mode, select WPA, WPA2 or WPA2 Only. For Cipher Type select TKIP, AES or TKIP and AES.

Step 4: On Passphrase, type in your desired key. Re-type this key in the Confirm Passphrase field.

Step 5: Click on the Apply button then click on the Continue button to save your settings.

Note: If using non-D-Link adapters, please refer to the manufacturer´s documentation on enabling encryption.

Netgear
  1. Use an Ethernet cable to connect a computer to any one of the four LAN ports of the NETGEAR router.
  2. Log in to your NETGEAR router by browsing to
    http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.0.1 or http://www.routerlogin.net or http://www.routerlogin.com.
    Note: The URL changes by the product model. You can sometimes find the login URL and default login information on a sticker on the bottom or back of the router.
    Enter the username (admin) and password. By default, the password is password or 1234 (for older router models) unless it was previously changed.
    Select Wireless from the Setup menu in the left-hand navigation bar. Note: The option may be called Wireless Settings on some older routers.
  3. Under Wireless Network, enter your desired network name in the Name (SSID)
  4. Under Security Options, select WPA2-PSK [AES].
  5. Under Security Options (WPA2-PSK), enter your desired network password into the Passphrase
    • WRITE DOWN or KEEP NOTE of your network name, security option and passphrase – you will need them to connect wireless computers and devices to your network.
  6. Click Apply to save the settings.

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