wireless router question

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

Ok, I was given a Netgear 54 Mbps wireless router WGR614 v6 by a co-worker of mine, and am getting ready to use it. All that he game me was the router and the power cord. I've never set up a wireless router before, and really am not sure where to begin, can anyone help me out?

[adanedhel9]

Depending on your connection... there might not be that much to do.

I have the exact same model, 'cept only v2 instead of v6. So if you have any really specific questions, you can PM me.

I don't know how much you know, so I'll start with the real basics:

Aside from the power jack, there are 5 jacks on the back of the modem. The one off to the side is for your internet connection. Any wired computers can plug into any of the other four jacks.

Also on the back is the reset button, which is a tiny recessed button. This button resets everything on the router. I recommend using this right away to get rid of your buddy's settings. With the router plugged into power, use a pen or toothpick or something to push the reset button. Hold it in until lights blink.

If you really don't know what you're doing, start with just a single computer plugged in to the router and the router not connected to the internet. This'll simplify things to begin with.

From a computer that's plugged into the router, open up any web browser and enter as the address:

192.168.0.1

This should bring up the router's admin page. You'll be asked for a username and password, the defaults are... admin and password ... I think. From within the admin page, you can change all sorts of settings. The big ones you'll want to do are Set Password (so the admin password isn't "password") and Wireless Settings (give the network a name and setup security).

Now you can try to connect wirelessly.

Adding internet connectivity may or may not be really easy. It depends on what sort of connection you have. Where do you normally plug your computer into for internet?

[Manga Shoggoth]

Try and get hold of the manual for the router (it will be on the CD, and failing that should be available on the net).

Pay particular attention to the sections about securing the Router - the big problem with wireless networks is that anyone can access them if they are in the transmission range (which is a lot larger than the range in the specs). The big advantage of a wired network is that you have to splice into a cable to get access.

Also make sure that the network traffic is encrypted - even if someone can't connect they can still sniff packets.

Just Too Good (http://www.just2good.co.uk/) might be a good site to browse - I seem to remember he had a fairly good (general) section on Networking.