Making Router Changes

Hello all-I have a couple questions with making changes to my router settings. First of all I am pretty good with managing my own computer issues but networking IS my weak point and I am not good at trouble shooting. Both my modem and router are going six yrs old. I have around 30 devices that can access the internet but only around 10 do so on a daily basis.

Question 1:

If I change the channel on my router will I have to reconfigure/reconnect any of the devices on the network?

Question 2:

I am currently still using WEP for my security settings (don't laugh) although I do not share any printers or drives between devices I am thinking of changing to WPA or WPA2 for better security. Again if I do this will I have to reconfigure/reconnect each device on my network?

My router is a Linksys wrt54gr.

Q1 - a = No

Q2 - a = YES - and depending on the copmuter/ethernet adpater - it might not work lit it did.

techmonkey74 said:

Hello all-I have a couple questions with making changes to my router settings. First of all I am pretty good with managing my own computer issues but networking IS my weak point and I am not good at trouble shooting. Both my modem and router are going six yrs old. I have around 30 devices that can access the internet but only around 10 do so on a daily basis.

Question 1:

If I change the channel on my router will I have to reconfigure/reconnect any of the devices on the network?

Question 2:

I am currently still using WEP for my security settings (don't laugh) although I do not share any printers or drives between devices I am thinking of changing to WPA or WPA2 for better security. Again if I do this will I have to reconfigure/reconnect each device on my network?

My router is a Linksys wrt54gr.

First question, no you do not need to reconfigure your devices when you change wireless channels on your router. This setting is automatic as far as other devices are concerend.

Second question, if you change the security level from WEP to WPA or WPA2 you will need to reconfigure your wireless connections to work with the added security. It's best to use WPA2-PSK with AES encryption, preferibly not mixed. This also assumes that your wireless devices are WPA2 capible. As it stands your WRT54GR can only support WPA security.

I might also point out that you can do much better with a wireless N capible router.

[QUOTE=chev65;1155424]

techmonkey74 said:

This also assumes that your wireless devices are WPA2 capible.

That is one reason I have not done this earlier. I THINK most are OK with WPA but not sure if all will play nice with WPA2. I know WEP is not that great when it comes to security but I would really hate to "break" anything. As I said I do not share any drives, folders, or printers between devices so I am wondering if better wireless security is really needed.

chev65 said:

As it stands your WRT54GR can only support WPA security.

I might also point out that you can do much better with a wireless N capible router.

Ok thanks I was not sure. I will be going to a wireless N router when I do upgrade. I have had to power cycle my modem and router twice in the past month, although doing this did fix my problem I am wondering if one of them is dying. I hate trouble shooting network issues since it can be many things causing the problem.

Golden said:

Hi,

I' not sure if this is correct, or maybe a different model, but the Linksys WRT54GR appears to support WPA2-PSK according to this http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/bc/hardwa...w&model_id=566.

It's worth cross-checking. This is the router IP 192.168.1.1

Regards,
Golden

I was going by the reviews at Newegg from people who purchased this router.

Cons: No WPA 2 support. Slow speeds. Needs restarted often. While this is supposed to be a upgrade over the wrt54g, it doesn't have the same features, reliability or support. The firmware has never and will never be updated by Linksys.

Newegg.com - Linksys WRT54GR IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11b/g Wireless Router

In either event it may be possible to upgrade this routers security using the DD-WRT firmware or the tomato firmware but either way this router is a relic as far as connection speed goes.

techmonkey74 said:

chev65 said:

As it stands your WRT54GR can only support WPA security.

I might also point out that you can do much better with a wireless N capible router.

Ok thanks I was not sure. I will be going to a wireless N router when I do upgrade. I have had to power cycle my modem and router twice in the past month, although doing this did fix my problem I am wondering if one of them is dying. I hate trouble shooting network issues since it can be many things causing the problem.

This is a fairly common complaint about this router according to the reviews at Newegg. You would be way better off with a more modern wireless N capible router.