Wireless Router Setup Manual NETGEAR, Inc. 4500 Great America Parkway Santa Clara, CA 95054 USA December 2006 208-10074-01 v2.
© 2006 by NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.
Contents Getting to Know Your Wireless Router ................................................................................ 1 Unpacking Your New Router ............................................................................................. 1 Hardware Features ............................................................................................................ 3 Positioning Your Wireless Router ......................................................................................
Related Documents.............................................................................................................. 35 Registration and Certifications............................................................................................
Getting to Know Your Wireless Router Congratulations on your purchase of a NETGEAR® high-speed wireless router, the RangeMax™ NEXT® Wireless Router. 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 LEDs—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 LED 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 LEDs on the front panel. Front Panel The various lights on the front panel indicate the operating status of the router. A description of LED behavior is included in Figure 3.
1. Factory Default Restore setting. Press Restore for approximately 5 seconds to reset the router to the factory default settings. 2. Four Local Area Network (LAN) 10/100 Mbps Ethernet ports for connecting the router to your local computers. 3. Internet/Wide Area Network (WAN) Ethernet port for connecting the router to a cable or DSL modem. 4. AC power adapter outlet for connecting the power adapter.
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.
– 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.
Installing Your Router Using the Smart Wizard To use the Smart Wizard, you must be using a PC with 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.
The Smart Wizard guides you through installing your router, connecting your router to the Internet, configuring your wireless network settings, and selecting the optimum security protection for your network. If you choose not to select a security option during installation, 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”).
A login window similar to the one shown below will display. 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. 3.
To upgrade your router: 1. If the Router Upgrade screen does not display automatically, select Router Upgrade under Maintenance on the main menu. The Router Upgrade 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”). 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 a 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.
12 Installing Your Router Using the Smart Wizard
Installing Your Router Manually (Advanced, Mac, and Linux Users) Before installing and connecting your router manually, review the list below and make sure that you have all of the necessary information. • Internet service connection through an Internet Service Provider (ISP). • The configuration information your ISP gave you.
of your computer. If you are unsure about this, refer to the documentation for your computer or see the link to TCP/IP Addressing in “Related Documents” on page 35. If you are replacing an existing router, disconnect it completely from your network and set it aside before starting to install your new router. To connect the wireless router, the computer, and the modem: 1. Turn off your computer. 2. Turn off and unplug the cable or DSL broadband modem. 3.
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 restored when you use the Factory Restore button. See “Restoring the Default User Name and Password” on page 34 for more information. To access the router using its login name and password: 1. Type http://www.routerlogin.
3. The Main menu will display. 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.
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 any one of two 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 21.) 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” file and does not need to be decompressed before you can use it to upgrade your router.
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.
To set up wireless connectivity and enable wireless security: 1. Log in to the router at http://www.routerlogin.net with its default user name of admin and default password of password. (If you have changed the User Name and Password from the defaults, use what you have set up). 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.
settings you selected in “Configuring Your Wireless Settings and Security Options” on page 21). To ensure optimum performance of your high-speed wireless router, each computer’s wireless adapter card should support the same technology as your router (see the online User Manual for more information). 3. Check that the security settings on each wireless device match the security settings of the router.
24 Installing Your Router Manually (Advanced, Mac, and Linux Users)
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 specific 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 34. 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 34. If the error persists, you might have a hardware problem and should contact technical support. • Internet or LAN Port Lights Not On. If either the LAN or Internet lights do not light when the Ethernet connection is made, check the following: a.
• Internet Connection. The cable or DSL modem status lights indicate if the modem connection is successful or not. Check your modem documentation or call your Internet service provider for help with verifying that the modem has a successful connection. • Wireless Router Internet Light is Green or Blinking Green. If your Internet light is green or blinking green, then you have a good Internet connection and your wiring is correct. • Wireless Router Internet Light Off.
– Configure your router to spoof your computer’s MAC address. On the Basic Settings screen in the Router MAC Address section, select “Use this Computer’s MAC Address” and click Apply. Then restart your network in the correct sequence (see “Basic Setup Checklist” on page 25). 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.
Using the Ping Utility to Troubleshoot Most computers and routers have a diagnostic utility called ping that sends a request to a target device. The device then replies. The ping utility makes it easy to troubleshoot a network. 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.
Testing the Path from a Computer to the Internet After verifying that the path between your computer and the wireless router works correctly, test the path from your PC to the Internet. To test the path using ping from a Windows PC: 1. From the Windows task bar, click Start and select Run. 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.
32 Troubleshooting
Default Configuration Default Configuration Settings You can use the reset 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 reset button for approximately 5 seconds (until the TEST LED blinks rapidly). Your device will return to the factory configuration settings shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1.
Related Documents This section provides links to reference documents 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.
36 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.
FCC Statement FCC Caution: Any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate this equipment. This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
