- Using the "Quick Installation Guide", follow the instructions in step 1 to
set up your new wireless router. You may also need to restart your computer in
order to see the router.
Note: If you normally use a static IP address, you will have to
reconfigure your internet connection to use DHCP. Go into the control
panel and open your network connections. Edit the properties of your current
network connection, and make sure that "Obtain an IP address automatically" is
enabled.
- Connect to the router using your web browser by typing
"http://192.168.1.1" into the URL address box.
- Leave the Username field blank, and enter the password "admin" to access
your router when the login prompt appears.
Note: You will notice immediately a list of menu options (Setup, Wireless,
Security, etc.), and as you click on each of these submenus appear. This
document will refer to a menu-submenu combination as Menu -> Submenu.
- Setup -> Basic Setup. In the "Internet Setup" section, choose
"Static IP" from the drop down menu. Fill in the appropriate values that
describe your network. (You don't need to change anything in the optional
section just below that.)
- In the "Network Setup" section, you should at least set your timezone to
Eastern Time, although you may make changes to the DHCP server as well if you
anticipate more than 50 users connecting to your network at once.
- Wireless -> Basic Wireless Settings. Set the Wireless network
mode to "Mixed" if you would like both B and G clients to be able to connect to
your network. Otherwise you can just select "B-only". The "Wireless Network
Name" will be provided by CNS. Make sure that you disable "Wireless
SSID Broadcast" to give a little extra security.
- Wireless -> Wireless Security. CNS recommends that you use at
least WEP based security to protect your network. Choose WEP from the drop
down menu and then select "128 bits 26 hex digits" for the "WEP Encryption".
Enter a passphrase into the "Passphrase" field and click "Generate" to generate
the corresponding HEX keys. Distribute key 1 to your users as the WEP key for
your network.
- Wireless -> Wireless MAC Filter. CNS also recommends that you
use a MAC address list to filter access to your network. Click the "Edit MAC
Filter List" and add all the MAC addresses that are going to be accessing your
network. Any time a new user requires access, you will have to add them to
this list.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Make sure that you add the MAC address of the
computer you are using to set up your router first, before enabling this filter.
Otherwise you will be unable to access the router and will have to reset the
router. If you do have to reset the router because you have locked yourself
out, there is a small reset button on the back of the router that will reset
the router.
Once the appropriate MAC addresses have been added, "Enable" the filter, and
choose the option "Permit only PCs listed to access the wireless
network".
- Administration -> Management. You should make sure you change
your password on this screen. "admin" is not a secure password! Also,
you should disable "Remote Router access" so that your router cannot be
configured from outside your network. UPnP is a protocol that opens ports in
your firewall on the fly, and can post a security threat. We recommend that
you disable this, but if you are running applications like MSN video chat, you
may have to have this enabled.
- Administration -> Log. If you would like to keep a log of
connections to your network, enable the logging here.
- That's it! You should be on the air!
