Wireless Router Setup Manual NETGEAR, Inc. 4500 Great America Parkway Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA November 2007 208-10149-01 v2.
Trademarks NETGEAR and the NETGEAR logo are registered trademarks, and RangeMax and Smart Wizard are trademarks of NETGEAR. Inc. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.
Contents Getting to Know Your Wireless Router ................................................................................ 1 Unpacking Your New Router ............................................................................................. 1 Hardware Features ............................................................................................................ 3 Positioning Your Wireless Router ......................................................................................
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Getting to Know Your Wireless Router Congratulations on your purchase of a NETGEAR® high-speed wireless router, the RangeMax™ Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNR3500. Before you begin installing your router, check the package contents (see “Unpacking Your New Router” on page 1). Become familiar with the front and back panels of your router—especially the status lights—and the important information on the router label (see “Unpacking Your New Router” on page 1).
To prepare your router for installation: 1. Carefully peel off the protective film covering both sides of your router (see Figure 1). Figure 1 2. Set up your wireless router by inserting the tabs of the stand (supplied with your router) into the slots on the bottom of your router as shown in Figure 2. Then, remove the protective film covering the front panel of the router. Figure 2 3.
Hardware Features Before you install and connect your router, take a moment to become familiar with the front and back panels of the router—especially the status lights on the front panel. Front Panel The lights on the front panel indicate the operating status of the router. A description of status light behavior is included in Figure 3. (For more information on interpreting the status lights, see “Checking Basic Router Functions” on page 30.
1. Antenna light on/off push button. The lights on top of the router identify the activity of the eight internal antennas, flashing to show which combination of antennas is receiving the strongest signals. These antenna lights are off by default but can be turned on. 2. Factory Default Reset button. Press the reset button with a sharp object for approximately 20 seconds to reset the router to the factory default settings. 3.
connection can vary significantly depending on the physical placement of your router. For example, the thickness and number of walls the wireless signal must pass through may limit the range. For best results, place your router: • Near the center of the area where your computers and other devices will operate, preferably within line of sight to your wireless devices. • Accessible to an AC power outlet and near Ethernet cables for wired computers.
– The Smart Wizard requires a PC running Microsoft Windows. Before running the Smart Wizard on a corporate PC to set up your home router, check with your company’s network support staff. Corporate network settings or Virtual Private Network (VPN) client software may conflict with the default settings of a home router. If you are unsure about whether there might be a conflict, use a different computer.
These options are discussed later in “Accessing Your Router After Installation and Checking for New Firmware” on page 10.
8 Getting to Know Your Wireless Router
Installing Your Router Using the Smart Wizard To use the Smart Wizard, you must be using a PC with Windows Vista, or Windows 2000 or Windows XP with Service Pack 2. The Smart Wizard setup procedure should take about 15 minutes to complete. Before using the Smart Wizard to set up your router, ensure that: • You have an Internet service connection through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). • You have the configuration information provided by your ISP.
you can always access the router’s user interface later to select a security option (see “Accessing Your Router After Installation and Checking for New Firmware”). To ensure optimum performance of your high-speed wireless router, the wireless adapter card for each computer in your network should support the same technology as your router (see the online User Manual for more information).
Figure 6 2. When prompted, enter the default User Name and Password (admin for the router User Name and password for the router Password), both in lowercase letters. If you changed the User Name and Password from the defaults, then enter your new User Name and Password. The router User Name and Password are unique to the router and are not the same as any other User Name or Password you may use to log in to your Internet connection. The Firmware Update Assistant screen will display. 3.
To upgrade your router: 1. If the Firmware Update screen does not display automatically, select Firmware Update under Management on the main menu. The Firmware Update screen will then display. 2. Click Browse and locate the unzipped firmware image that you downloaded to your PC (the file will end in .img or .chk). 3. Once you have selected the file, click Upload to send the software to the router. The upload process will take several minutes.
6. Under Downloads, check the most recent Firmware Version offered against the Firmware Version shown on your Router Status screen. 7. If the version on the NETGEAR website is more recent, click on the version number. Then, click Right-click and Save to Download and save the file to a location on your hard disk. 8. Follow the procedure in “To upgrade your router:” to complete the upgrade process.
14 Installing Your Router Using the Smart Wizard
Manually Installing Your Router Before installing and connecting your router manually, review the list below and make sure that you have all of the necessary information. Use the procedures in this topic if you are an advanced user, or a user of Macintosh and Linux systems. • • Internet service connection through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The configuration information your ISP gave you.
Connecting Your Wireless Router Before you install your wireless router, make sure that the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Property settings on your computer are set to “automatically obtain an IP address” using DHCP and “Obtain DNS server address automatically.” You can check these settings by looking at the TCP/IP Properties of your Internal Network Connections, which are accessible through the Control Panel of your computer.
C Figure 8 6. Locate the Ethernet cable (D) that is attached to your computer (see Step 3). Securely insert that cable into a LAN port on the router, such as LAN port 1 (E), as shown in Figure 9. E D Figure 9 7. Connect any additional wired PCs to your router by inserting an Ethernet cable from a PC into one of the three remaining LAN ports. When your network cables are connected as shown in Figure 9, you are ready to start your network. Start your network in the correct sequence, as described below.
To start your network: 1. Plug in and turn on the cable or DSL modem. Wait 2 minutes. 2. Plug the power cord into your wireless router and into a power outlet. Wait 1 minute. 3. Turn on your computer. It will take several minutes for your router to establish a connection with your computer and your Internet provider. For DSL customers, if software logs you in to the Internet, do not run that software.
Setting Up Your Router for Internet Access When configuring your wireless router manually, you must log in to your wireless router to set it up initially and to make any changes to your wireless router’s settings later. The factory default state is reset when you use the Restore Factory Settings button. See “Restoring the Default User Name and Password” on page 38 for more information. To access the router using its login name and password: 1. Type http://www.routerlogin.
3. From the menu options in the left navigation pane, click Setup Wizard. The Setup Wizard screen will display. Figure 12 4. Select one of the following options: • Select Yes to allow the Setup Wizard to detect your Internet connection. When prompted, click Next. The wizard will assist you with configuring your wireless router to access the Internet. If you cannot connect to the wireless router, check the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) properties in the Network Connections section of your Control Panel.
Checking for New Firmware After installing your router, you must open a browser window and log in to the router to complete your wireless setup. At that time, you will also be prompted to check for new router firmware. To log in to the router after installation: 1. Open a browser window and type http://www.routerlogin.net in the address field of your browser. Press Enter. . You can enter either of these addresses to connect to your wireless router: http://www.routerlogin.net or http://www.routerlogin.com.
the message “No New Firmware Version Available” will display. (If you selected “No,” you can check for new firmware later; see “To manually check for new router firmware:” on page 23.) 5. If new firmware is available, you will be directed to the new firmware version on the NETGEAR website. Click Right-click and Save to Download and save the file to a location on your hard disk. Usually the firmware image is an .img or .
To manually check for new router firmware: 1. Open a browser window and type http://www.routerlogin.net in the address field of your browser. Press Enter. 2. When prompted, enter the default User Name and Password (admin for the router User Name and password for the router Password), both in lowercase letters. If you changed the User Name and Password from the defaults, then enter your new User Name and Password. 3. Select Router Status under the Maintenance menu on your router interface.
• The Smart Wizard offers to guide you in setting up security at initial setup (see “Installing Your Wireless Router” on page 5) • If you have any devices (a notebook, adapter, or other device) that supportWi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS), you can enable WPS security (see “Back Panel” on page 3 and “Using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)” on page 24).
2. Push the wireless router’s push-button for 5 seconds, then release. The push-button light should begin to blink.. While the router is in WPS enable mode (a maximum of 2 minutes), wireless security is not enabled. Indoors, computers can connect over wireless networks at a range of several hundred feet.
2. Select Wireless Settings under Setup on the main menu. The Wireless Settings screen will display showing the default wireless network settings for this router. (Use the help screens or the online User Manual if you require assistance to change your wireless settings.) The Service Set Identifier (SSID) of any wireless adapter, which is the device’s wireless network name, must match the SSID you configured in the router. If they do not match, you will not get a wireless connection. 3.
3. Check that the security settings on each wireless device match the security settings of the router. For example, if you selected a Security option requiring a passphrase, then the same passphrase must be used for each wireless computer. 4. Check that each wireless computer has a wireless link and is able to obtain an IP address by DHCP from the router. For a Windows PC, go to the Control Panel and select Network Connections.
28 Manually Installing Your Router
Troubleshooting If you have difficulties accessing the Internet, use the Basic Setup Checklist to make sure that you have connected and set up your router correctly. If your basic setup is correct, then look for your problem in one of the subsequent sections. Basic Setup Checklist The following items are the most common errors made when initially setting up a router. Carefully review the checklist to make sure that you have followed the recommended procedures.
• Check the router status lights to verify correct router operation. If the Power light does not turn solid green within 2 minutes after turning the router on, reset the router according to the instructions in “Restoring the Default User Name and Password” on page 38. Checking Basic Router Functions After you turn on power to the router, check that the following sequence of events has occurred: 1.
b. Clear the router’s configuration to factory defaults. This will set the router’s IP address to 192.168.1.1. This procedure is explained in “Restoring the Default User Name and Password” on page 38. If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical support. • Internet Light Stays Amber. When the router is turned on, the Internet light turns amber for about 20 seconds and then turns green. If the light does not turn green, the router has a problem.
Troubleshooting Login Problems If you are unable to log in to the wireless router, check the following: • If you are using an Ethernet-connected computer, check the Ethernet connection between the computer and the router as described in “Checking Basic Router Functions” on page 30. • Make sure you are using the correct login information. The factory default login name is admin and the password is password. Make sure that the Caps Lock is off when entering this information.
• Wireless Router Internet Light Off. If the Internet light is off, verify that the Ethernet cable is securely connected between the cable or DSL modem, and that both the modem and wireless router are turned on. Obtaining an Internet IP Address If your wireless router is unable to access the Internet, and your Internet light is amber, check the wireless router to see if it is able to get an Internet IP address from your service provider.
Troubleshooting PPPoE If you are using PPPoE, try troubleshooting your Internet connection. To troubleshoot a PPPoE connection: 1. Log in to the wireless router. 2. Select Router Status under Maintenance on the main menu. 3. Click Connection Status. If all of the steps indicate “OK,” then your PPPoE connection is up and working. If any of the steps indicate “Failed,” you can attempt to reconnect by clicking Connect. The wireless router will continue to attempt to connect indefinitely.
Testing the Path from Your Computer to Your Router You can ping the wireless router to verify that the LAN path from your computer to your router is set up correctly. To ping the wireless router from a Windows PC: 1. From the Windows task bar, click Start and select Run. 2. In the field provided, type ping followed by the address of the router, as in this example: ping www.routerlogin.net 3. Click OK. You should see a message like this one: Pinging www.routerlogin.
2. In the field provided, type cmd. A command screen will display. 3. At the > prompt, type the following: ping -n 10 where is the IP address of a remote device such as your ISP’s DNS server. 4. Press Enter. If the path is working correctly, replies as in the previous section will display. If you do not receive replies: • Check that your PC has the IP address of your router listed as the default gateway.
Default Configuration Default Configuration Settings You can use the Restore Factory Settings button located on the back of your device to reset all configuration settings to their factory defaults. This is called a hard reset. • To perform a hard reset, push and hold the Restore button for approximately 5 seconds (until the POWER status light blinks rapidly). Your device will return to the factory configuration settings shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1.
The factory default settings will be restored so that you can access the router from your web browser using the factory defaults.
40 Default Configuration
Related Documents This section provides links to reference documents that you can use to gain a more complete understanding of the technologies used in your NETGEAR product. Document Link Internet Networking and TCP/IP Addressing http://documentation.netgear.com/reference/enu/tcpip/index.htm Preparing a Computer for Network Access http://documentation.netgear.com/reference/enu/wsdhcp/index.htm Glossary http://documentation.netgear.com/reference/enu/glossary/index.
42 Related Documents
Registration and Certifications Product Registration, Support, and Documentation Register your product at http://www.NETGEAR.com/register. You must register before you can use our telephone support service. Product updates and Web support are always available by going to: http://kbserver.netgear.com/. Setup documentation is available on the CD, on the support website, and on the documentation website.
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