does anyone know how to set a password for your router?

Question

I have a Linksys wireless router & I know there's a way to set a password so that neighbors & such can't be using your internet connection. Anyone know how?

Answer 1

Run your Linksys CD again on your computer. It'll guide you through this.

If you need help, send me an email. I will jump on my other computer and guide you through it. It can get very confusing.

Answer 2

Most replies above are good and relevant, but it should be made clear that there are 2 passwords: One for your LAN access to the Internet, also known as the Pre-shared key (PSK). This one is required for each computer, to allow it to go to the Internet. Commonly called the "password". The second, would be to access the Administration of the router itself. This is for protecting the settings the owner gives to the various behaviors of the router. It would be found in the webpage interface, Administration section, and prevents anyone but the owner from making changes to the router (an important security step). The WAN access to the Administration of the router (where a person could access the control of the router, from the Internet) should be disabled. That way, only a cable connection, directly to the router, can be used to make changes.

Answer 3

It's not setting a password for your router (which is necessary too by the way) but an encryption key that you are after.

Once you have set an encryption key so no-one can get on your network, only people within the network have access to your router to be able to change the password.

Think of it like this:

Router IP address - Your street address
Router password - Your door key
Encryption key - An electric fence around the house with a specific code to gain access

Answer 4

Using an internet browser, type the ip address of the router in the address bar. It is usually 192.168.1.1 but you should be able to find that in the documentation.

Go to the wireless section and turn on security enabled access. Again, the documentation should be very helpful.

Answer 5

Yes. First off check the manual. You can download manuals from most manufactures support pages. You need to be using WSPKA or WPSKA2 encryption and your password will be the key phrase you set.

Answer 6

Use this link to access the wireless products. Find yours and open it. Use the User manual provided. Normally Chapter 2 deals with your question.

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1115416939789&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=3978991233B01

You could also call Linksys and they will assist you.

Answer 7

Yes you have to go to Linksys website and enter in your Router's # and model # and then you'll be able to access it's password and all it's info on the website then hit save and your router with load that info..

Answer 8

you have to logon to your linksys router first (try http://192.168.1.1), usually the password is "admin" by default, then you go to the "admin" page, and change the password there

Answer 9

This is the encryption security you are talking about, not the Administrator password which should be created for logging onto your router's configuration pages.

There are several things you need to know prior to actually setting up your security method. The first thing you need to know is when you configure your choice of security in your routers configuration pages you will temporarily lose your internet connection. Just until you can configure your adapters to use the security as well. Once you do this in each system connecting to the router wirelessly, you will get those connections back. So, just make sure you have a good viable connection before you configure the security, otherwise you could accidently lock yourself out of your wireless and need to reset it to factory specs, which would mean redoing your entire network configuration once again.

OK, there are currently three types of encryption security available to home networks: WEP, WPA and WPA2.

Which one you choose is basically determined by the fact that every node on your network must be compatable with the one you wish to use. Currently, most are compatible with WPA, fewer for WPA2, and all for WEP.

Now, each is stronger than the next. WEP is better than nothing at all, and will keep less savvy neighbors off your connection and out of your network, but somebody with some degree of knowledge can crack this much fairly easily. WPA is much more difficult to crack, though it is possible if somebody is very good at this sort of thing. WPA2 is harder yet to breech. So, WPA2 is the best security method available for home use, but not everyone can use it because not all of their nodes, (every item which connects to the network, printers, computers, game consoles, entertainment devices, etc) are compatible with this protocol.

After you decide upon an encryption method, you need to go into the router's configuration pages and then to the security pages there. In order to access your router's configuration pages, you use a browser. Every router has an IP address, and this is what you use to enter the configuration pages. You are using Linksys, so the IP address you enter into the browser is: 192.168.1.1 and then hit Enter or Go, whichever you are most comfortable with.

Once inside the configuration pages take a few moments to set an Administrator password. The default is either blank, or Admin. Just click as though you already entered a password, and go to the pages which allows you to change the Administrator password. Enter one which will not be easily guessed, but which you can easily remember. Use a phrase, a word, upper case, lower case, one number and one symbol, to create a very strong password. Such as 4Myfamily#5 or anything which is meaningfull for you, but not easily guessable by others who know you. There are many who failed to set this password and had people go into their configuration pages, change the password and locked them out of their own network! Just look around Yahoo! Answers and you will find several questions on how to get back into their routers configuration pages after somebody else changed it all. No kidding!

So, you have now changed the Administrator password. Next, go to the pages which allows you to configure security.

There, select the protocol of your choice, or what you have to use for compatability reasons. If it is WPA, you will need to create a passphrase. It is the same as a password, but you can create a phrase for easy remembering instead of having to enter a bunch of unrelated words and numbers as you do with WEP. If you are using WEP, make sure you write down your password and put it is a safe location where others won't get access to it.

Now, after you have created your password/passphrase, just click on the button which allows your router to configure the changes. At this point you will lose your internet connection to all systems which use wireless. Your wired connections will not be affected by this as they are not accessing the internet via the wireless access point.

On each system connecting via wireless, and even those with wired connections but also with a wireless adapter, and you wish to use both wired and wireless from time to time, you need to configure each systems adapter to connect using the password/passphrase you entered.

This is easily done by running the Wireless Connection Wizard in XP, or going into Network Connections in Vista and following the prompts to connect to a router. Just enter all the information asked for on each page. Now, in XP, it is important that each system be on the same Workgroup. Each computer name needs to be different, but the Workgroup name must be the same. I use my familiy last name in all caps for ours. With Vista it doesn't matter if it has the same Workgroup name, but it still is a good idea to do so anyway, just for uniformity. You don't have too with Vista, it is your choice.

Towards the end of the Wizard you are asked to enter the password/passphrase you created in the router. You enter it twice.

Now, there is a technology called Connect Now, which uses USB thumb drives to transport configuration settings from node to node. All you have to do is plug it in, allow each system to read the data, and then write it to the registry, and you are good to go.

Here are a few links which may be of help to you:

Now, this is the Windows Vista Help and How-to center, with the Network center pulled up. It has several networking issues and instructions on how to do certain tasks, including setting up the security. Just look down the list and locate the link for security, and read the instructions. It is simple. Also, most of this applies to XP, but I will pull up the XP Networking center for you next, OK?

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/networking.mspx

Here is the XP Networking Center, the security pages are in the middle:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/networking/default.mspx

Good luck and it really is not difficult to do these configurations. Look in the Setting up your network link and locate Use Connect Now technology and read that, it is very interesting and simple to use and you can use it on some of your devices if not all of them support it cutting down on your work. Don't get bogged down in the big picture, take it a step at a time, and before you know it you will have created a safe network.

Good day and a happy Holiday Season.