Setting up a secure wireless network with the BenQ AWL500.

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Open a web browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox. Enter the internal IP address of your router in the address bar of your browser. If you do not know your routers internal IP address please read our How To Find Your Routers IP Address guide.

In the picture above the address bar has http://www.google.com in it. Just replace all of that with the internal IP address of your router. By default the IP address should be set to 192.168.1.1.

You should see a box prompting you for your username and password. Enter your username and password now. By default both the username and password are admin. Click the Ok button to log in to your router.

Please visit our Default Router Passwords page if the username and password shown above do not work for you.

Click the Security Setup link near the left side of the page.

Put a dot into the WEP128 radio button.

Put a dot into the Key 1 radio button.

Now you need to make up your network key. It doesn't matter what this key is, as long as it is random. A network key is a password that is 26 characters long, and made up of only the letters A,B,C,D,E,F and the numbers 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. If you are using 128 bit WEP, then your key must be exactly 26 characters long, and the more random it is, the better it is. Here is an example of a random 128 bit network key:

7F5B3FD23A8EC290AC682DF8FA
Once you have made up your key, write it down somewhere. You will need it at each computer that you are going to connect to your network.

Now put the key you made up in the box called Key 1.

Put a dot into the Open System radio button.

When you are finished, click the Apply button.

When you're finished, click Save Setting near the left side of the screen to save your changes.

And that's it! You're done!

Wireless Filters

Now that you have secured your wireless network, you may want to check out our guides on how to setup some wireless filters. Filters will help keep people out of your network who are smart enough to figure out your wireless keys. Wireless filters are the final step in securing your network. A wireless filter guide for your router is located here.

Connecting to your Secure Wireless Network

You may want to read our guide on how to Configure Windows XP to connect to your wireless network.

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