Setting up a secure wireless network with the NetComm NB5540.
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.
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Please visit our Default Router Passwords page if the username and password shown above do not work for you.
Turn on the option called Wireless.
In the box called SSID put a name that you make up. You will need to remember this name because it will be used to connect to your wireless network. Do not make it obvious to guess, the network name should be difficult for your neighbors to guess. If you can not think of anything, simply use your first name.
Turn off the option called SSID Broadcast. This turns off the broadcast of your networks name making it more difficult for other people to find your network. You do not want to broadcast your networks name.
In the box called Channel, pick a random channel number. Channels make it so that you and your neighbors can use your own wireless networks without interfering with each other. By picking a random channel you reduce the chance of your neighbor using the same channel as you.
Put a dot into the Mandatory radio button.
Click the WEP Key Setting button.
Select 128Bit from the drop down box.
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.
Select 1 from the Default TX Key drop down box.
When you are finished, click the Apply button.
When you are finished, click the Apply button.
Click the Wireless link near the left side of the page.
Select Open System from the Authentication Type drop down box.
When you're finished, click Apply near the bottom of the screen to save your changes.
And that's it! You're done!
