The first thing I would do is to change the default administrator password. for example most “Linksys” brand routers come preset from the factory with password of admin. That means anyone can access the router if it is left on the default password! So definitely change and remember your new username and password. If you forget it, you can always push the reset button on the router. but that means you need to re-configure all specific settings again.
I would highly recommend that you do the initial setup while connected by WIRE.
- Dont use the WAN/Internet port on the wireless router, use the uplink (or standard port if it has auto detect for uplink).
- Connect the wireless router to a wired computer, access it’s config page and change it’s IP addess to the same format as the existing router (EX: If existing is 192.168.0.1, use 192.168.0.2) and also change the password (defaults are not a good idea).
- Enable wireless, set SSID and enable WEP. Choose 64bit encryption if given the choice – for now, this should be enough. Enter a “passphrase” to generate a set of different keys. Note down the first one.
- Setup all your clients with the SSID and WEP. On your laptop’s settings, choose encryption WEP and enter the same key as found in previous step.
- For better security, once everything is setup, disable the SSID so that other computers will not “see” your wireless router easily.