Basic Router Setup and Maintenance 

As stated on the previous page regarding the use of a firewall to keep unwanted internet traffic from getting into your computer, a router will do the same job.  If you have a high-speed Internet connection, you should get a router for one simple reason:  It keeps the existence of your PC hidden from the outside world. It can, literally, run in stealth mode as far as the rest of cyber world goes.   If you have just one computer, you can go with a hard-wired, non-wireless, unit.  If you have two or more PC’s, and want to share your connection, you can certainly get one of the wireless units and wireless cards for the other computers in your network. 

Follow along with the installation instructions that are packaged with your router to get connection to the Internet.  Then there are wizards in Windows XP that will allow you to network your PC’s together so you can share files between units. 

If your router is a wireless unit, do one thing right away.  That one thing is to change the password and login of your router.  I have a Linksys wireless and the password was “admin”.  It is the same for every Linksys router in existence.  Change the Login and password using “strong” attributes.  By that, I mean to use passwords that aren't’t your pet’s name or any other word that can be found in the dictionary.  Use both letters and numbers as well as special characters. My router password, for instance, uses around 24 characters that are letters, numbers and special characters.  This will make it tough for your neighbor to crack into your router and then start using your Internet connection to download movies and music.  Don’t say it can’t happen because it does happen all of the time.  

Also, you will need to “encrypt” your signal so your neighbors cannot see what sites you are visiting no be able to read your e-mail.  Once your log into your router, there will be a page titled “wireless security” or something similar.  Set up your wireless router to use WPA encryption as it more secure, and write down the shared keys displayed there so your other PC’s can use them to log into the router to access the Internet.  They will only have to do that one time so it’s no big deal.  But without the shared key, it’s not going to happen. 

After I followed the setup instructions for my router, changing the password to a strong one, and establishing WPA encryption, it’s been running for over a year with no other adjustments needed. 

I can, however, see my new neighbor’s computer network when I boot up my laptop’s wireless care.  I haven’t met him yet but his pet’s name must be admin…

Links for Router Setup for a few large Router Makers:

Linksys~ Netgear~D-Link~Belkin

You should be able to find much more detailed information about your particular router on these links. Remember, all of the trouble you may have setting up these units is well worth the effort. But, other than resetting your password and encryption, the rest is usually very easy.