User's Manual

Preparing Your Network C-1
July 2004 202-10036-01
Appendix C
Preparing Your Network
This appendix describes how to prepare your network to connect to the Internet through the 54
Mbps Wall-Plugged Router WGX102 and how to verify the readiness of broadband Internet
service from an Internet service provider (ISP).
What You Need To Use a Router with a Broadband Modem
You need to prepare these three things before you begin:
Cabling and Computer Hardware
To use the WGX102 router on your network, each computer must have an 802.11g or 802.11b
wireless adapter or an installed Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) and an Ethernet cable. If
the computer will connect to your network using an Ethernet NIC at 100 Mbps, you must use a
Category 5 (Cat 5) cable such as the one provided with your router. For an explanation of Ethernet
cabling, see “Ethernet Cabling“ on page B-11. The cable or DSL broadband modem must provide
a standard 10 Mbps (10BASE-T) or 100 Mbps (100BASE-Tx) Ethernet interface.
Computer Network Configuration Requirements
The WGX102 includes a built-in Web Configuration Manager. To access the configuration menus
on the WGX102, your must use a Java-enabled Web browser program which supports HTTP
uploads such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Use Internet Explorer or
Netscape Navigator 4.0 or above.
Note: If an ISP technician configured your computer during the installation of a
broadband modem, or if you configured it using instructions provided by your ISP, you
may need to copy the current configuration information for use in the configuration of
your firewall. Write down this information before reconfiguring your computers. Refer
to “Obtaining ISP Configuration Information for Windows Computers” on page C-21 or
“Obtaining ISP Configuration Information for Macintosh Computers” on page C-22 for
further information.