Type in 192.168.1.1 and this
screen will come up.
Often it will take a while. There is no
user name and
the default password is admin (This needs to be changed)
There are
some known hacks for this. Also if it
locks up
and you need to press the reset button it will revert back
to this setting and then you can restore your config.bin.
Right out
of the box this is the first screen that you will see.
(With the exception of the Time Zone)
Settings standard for Cable Modems and Fiber to the Home and
a router that has already been programmed with user name and password.
You are
getting an Address from those services to get on the internet.
For DSL
customers that need to Authenticate
(Your modem is bridged or you have what they call a "Dumb modem")
No need
to change optional settings. If you use
more than one of these boxes and
want to make sure what one you are in you can change the router name.
Once and a while you may have some MTU issues with PPPoE and
tweaking it to limit fragmented packets.
I would only change that with guidence from a
support person.
If your internal network needs to be different that the
192.168.1.1
under the Network setup is where you change this. The DHCP numbers will also change when you
make any changes.
You must either reboot your connected PC or flush the current IP address
with a ipconfig /release and
ipconfig /renew so will will
follow the new internal IP scheme.
You Don't have to put DNS in but you can. ComSouth's DNS servers are: 206.74.254.2 and 64.53.33.2
They will be obtained automatically.
The next
screen over is Wireless. This is the
default settings and very insecure.
This is why they want you to run the CD.
You need to manually change the SSID to something that
makes no sense. Kind of like a password
to your Wireless so that you can let you and others on it.
This is the first step to securing it.
Changing the SSID
Here is
an example of Odd capitalization, spacing and name.
Next you
want to look at the frequency. Channel 6
may be fine but you may also own a cordless phone that interferes with it.
2.4 and 5.8 phones both may cause some problems as
well as other wireless devices using those frequencies.
Then once
your laptop is connected (time saver hint) Then disable the broadcasting.
Second step is to hide the network. If
they don't see the lock and don't know the name it makes it that much harder.
Step 4 of
securing (optional
because the first 2 take out most of the problems and
WEP has it's own set of new problems, including the fact that it broadcasts the
key first)
Under the sub-menu of Wireless - Security you can drop down to WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol).
Leave the key at 1 and the 64 Bit unless you are an advanced user
(if that was the case you would not be reading this).
I don't use a Passphrase .. but put in a manual Key ...
it's 10 digits: Phone numbers are 10
digits they work great
to remember, because this is sort of the second password in the protection
scheme of things.
The forth
step in securing wireless and probably one of the strongest is MAC
filtering.
It is the 3rd line under Wireless settings. Enable MAC filter and you will get
the menu above.
If you have a specific problem of someone you know the MAC of ... you can keep
them out with prevent.
The average user will list all of the PC's, laptops
or other devices they want to permit.
In setting this up I would get all the units on and
then look at the list.
Typo's of of MAC addresses is real easy. Click on Edit MAC filter list.
You can
add up to 40 devices. Way more than a
small home office should have.
Click on Wireless Cient MAC list at the top to see
those connected.
This will also populate the list.
Check the
ones you want. Often the names of each
machine will show up as well.
This MAC can be found on each device:
Wireless card, USB controller, network card, Etc.
Then click on Update Filter list.
Now they
are populated and you click on save.
This will mean: Any Computer or
device will need to have the SSID, the 10 digit WEP key
programmed into it's configuration and it's MAC address programed
into the router. 4 Things before it can
attach to your network.
I am not going to say that no one can get in your system, just that they will
look for somewhere easier.
The next
thing I do is click on Advanced Wireless Settings. And at the bottom I turn off the "Secure
Easy Setup".
This will turn off the Bridge Light on the front of the router. As well as keep someone from
pressing that button and resetting all of the things you spent an hour
programming.
Click save changes and the light will go out.
Under the
Security sub-settings Firewall and VPN I leave that alone.
Any changes should only be made by someone who knows what these will affect.
Access
Restriction is one of those that you can experiment with. Limiting household use of
the internet to certain hours.
Blocking certain web sites:
www.myspace.com, www.facebook.com, www.youtube.com, etc. I have not found that the
keyword is all that effective but they may have fixed that (or will in the
future firmware updates)
Backup settings before experimenting.
Applications
and gaming Subset is an advance area and should only be in when instructed
(or you should really not need to read this).
Also for Port Triggering, DMZ, and QoS.
This is
where you change that password I mentioned in the beginning.
If you forget it... you can press and hold reset and put it back to the factory
settings.
and don't use password or 1234 for your password.
In most
cases you would not change anything other than that.
Enable
the log gives you the ability to look at what is going on in your network but
it is information overload.
Here is a
log from just going to gmail.com. It
shows my machine, the IP of all of the things on that page and services.
I did not
even log on yet... this is what came on from one click.
Firmware
upgrade is when Linksys would send out a new software to do more things, fix a known problem, or
just make it work better.
This is a reasonably advanced thing. If
you have a failure it may make a nice doorstop.
If you don't have battery backup the device when you do this I would recommend
not being in this screen.
Config Management - This is where you save all of your hard
work.
Backup
the Config.bin file to a
place where you can get to if you have to hit reset on the back.
Also the
place you go to restore that file.
The
Status screen shows a lot of information:
Firmware
- used to figure out what version is on there:
www.linksys.com/download for the most recent ones
Date and Time: That the router thinks it
is
It's MAC address: every network item has a MAC and
they are all different.
Router Name: that you programmed in
Login
Type: in this case it's PPoE rather than DHCP
Login Status: Connected
IP Address: What you look like on the
internet
Subnet Mask: for that single IP
Default Gateway: At your ISP
DNS1: from the ISP
DNS2: from the ISP
DNS3: most often blank
MTU: 1492 unless changed for technical reasons.