Setup Help, Wireless Router

RP McIntosh said:

mvnsnd said:

You are correct. You only need the setup CD if you do not configure it manually. You do not need to run any more software once the router is set up either. The setup CD just does the same thing with a software interface instead of the web based interface.

When the wireless is configured ( use WEP or WEP2 security ) and given a SSID name, you just go to your other PC with the wireless card and search for networks to connect to. You should see the SSID name of your router and then choose to connect to that. You will have to enter the WPA2 passkey that you entered into the router to make the connection.

Let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions, just ask!

Just when I thought I was beginning to understand. Now I'm lost in the issue of WEP or WEP2, SSID, and WPA2 passkey. I've looked through the manual again, an can find no mention of any of these, except the SSID (which the technical specifications says is NETGEAR). There IS a mention of WPS, but a notation that the device being connected to must be WPS capable. I DO note in the default configuration settings, under 802.11 Security, it says "40 bit (also called 64 bit) and 128 bit WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK." And at what point in the process have I input this WPA2 passkey that you mention? I'm assuming that this is NOT the username/password combination used to log in to the router to do things like update the firmware.

Sorry to be so ignorant about all of this. But do appreciate your patience and expertise.

Those are the various encryption types available on your router, each has their own pros and cons. If you will be the only user who connects the PC's to your router and use them for online banking etc. I would suggest the WPA2-PSK since most banks are moving to 128K encryption which. My Belkin uses this and a 12 character set of alpha numeric characters which you need to provide when getting any PC connected to the router the first go around as it will remember the PC connecting to it from then on and retain the characters in the configuration, your router generates the key and you supply it when your PC connects to the router the first time, hope this helps.

fishnbanjo said:

RP McIntosh said:

mvnsnd said:

You are correct. You only need the setup CD if you do not configure it manually. You do not need to run any more software once the router is set up either. The setup CD just does the same thing with a software interface instead of the web based interface.

When the wireless is configured ( use WEP or WEP2 security ) and given a SSID name, you just go to your other PC with the wireless card and search for networks to connect to. You should see the SSID name of your router and then choose to connect to that. You will have to enter the WPA2 passkey that you entered into the router to make the connection.

Let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions, just ask!

Just when I thought I was beginning to understand. Now I'm lost in the issue of WEP or WEP2, SSID, and WPA2 passkey. I've looked through the manual again, an can find no mention of any of these, except the SSID (which the technical specifications says is NETGEAR). There IS a mention of WPS, but a notation that the device being connected to must be WPS capable. I DO note in the default configuration settings, under 802.11 Security, it says "40 bit (also called 64 bit) and 128 bit WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK." And at what point in the process have I input this WPA2 passkey that you mention? I'm assuming that this is NOT the username/password combination used to log in to the router to do things like update the firmware.

Sorry to be so ignorant about all of this. But do appreciate your patience and expertise.

Those are the various encryption types available on your router, each has their own pros and cons. If you will be the only user who connects the PC's to your router and use them for online banking etc. I would suggest the WPA2-PSK since most banks are moving to 128K encryption which. My Belkin uses this and a 12 character set of alpha numeric characters which you need to provide when getting any PC connected to the router the first go around as it will remember the PC connecting to it from then on and retain the characters in the configuration, your router generates the key and you supply it when your PC connects to the router the first time, hope this helps.

Thanks. That does help. I've looked at the capabilities of both the router and the wireless adapter, and both say that they support the WPA2-PSK, so that is what I'll use. I think that what I'll try is using the Setup Wizard first, since the documentation says it goes through updating the firmware, etc. But if that doesn't completely do the trick, or if I get lost in the process, I think I now have enough info to attempt the manual setup, thanks to the helpful folks on this forum.

mvnsnd said:

You are correct. You only need the setup CD if you do not configure it manually. You do not need to run any more software once the router is set up either. The setup CD just does the same thing with a software interface instead of the web based interface.

When the wireless is configured ( use WEP or WEP2 security ) and given a SSID name, you just go to your other PC with the wireless card and search for networks to connect to. You should see the SSID name of your router and then choose to connect to that. You will have to enter the WPA2 passkey that you entered into the router to make the connection.

Let us know how it goes and if you have any other questions, just ask!

Well, the deed is done. I did try using the Setup Wizard on the theory that if I had problems, I could always start over, and do it manually. The wizard was actually pretty clear in its instructions. The only glitch I ran into was at the very end, when the wizard tested the connections and the ability to communicate with the router. It said the connections were correct, but that the router did not respond. It suggested that a reason might be antivirus software, or a firewall, and it suggested that I turn these off, if they were on, and try again. So I turned off my Norton Internet Security firewall, and the antivirus auto protect, and tried again. This time, it succeeded, and then led me through setting my wireless name (had to do two of them, one for 2.4 GH and one for 5 GH), but only one Passphrase. I then rebooted to be sure that the connection would still work with the firewall and antivirus back on, and am here to vouch for the fact that it does. Tomorrow, I tackle the wireless adapter on the other computer, and then see if I can get them talking to each other.

Many thanks to you and others here who provided valuable hand holding through this process.