Howto: set a password for your wireless router

[woodsmoke]

I've never particularly thought I needed a password on the wireless router but, because of changed circumstances in my lifestyle I now need one.

Basically, every time that I've asked how to do it, or searched the net, I got instructions that had me going around my back to get to my elbow.

This is pretty straightforward.

One will need TWO sites, I'm going to copy the text from the first just in case it gets shut down:

It is not EXACTLY right in some particulars because the actual website where things get done has been updated.

One may also get a FIRMWARE update from the sub-site(a pass through) for one's particular router.

But, before one goes to THAT site, one must go to THIS site if one does not happen to have the administrator name and the password for one's particular device.


http://thepcsecurity.com/http192-168...t-and-details/

I would GREATLY SUGGEST that one copy down the admin name and password for one's router and then EMAIL it to one's self just so it will be available in the future, if one has lost same.

Next follow the instructions below, clicking the link, and providing the admin name and password from the list from the previous site.

Here’s a simple guide to protect your Wireless or Wi-Fi router from unauthorized access of your Internet connection using Windows, Mac or Linux/Ubuntu.

1. Type http://192.168.1.1 on your favorite internet browser
2. By default, the Connection status will be displayed. Most Linksys routers will display all the computers and laptops either using a wired or wireless access.
3. Click the Advance Setup
4. Before you can proceed to the Advanced Setup, you will be asked first for the User name and Password. By Linksys default, leave the User name blank and the Password is admin.
5. Once you have accessed your wireless router, Click Wireless
6. Click Wireless Security
7. Set Security Mode to WPA Personal
8. Set WPA Algorithms to TKIP
9. Type your password at the WPA Shared Key textbox
10. By default, set Key Renewal to 3600
11. After setting everything, Click Save Settings then wait for 10seconds to refresh your wireless router.

Note:

* Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) is a certification program created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks.
* Temporal Key Integrity Protocol or TKIP is a security protocol used in the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard.

One will have to, of course, at the end of the operation enter one's password in the wireless setup in panel.

The whole operation took about five minutes, which included a firmware upgrade.

AS A NOTE: I ticked TKIP but the NetGear site said that if I used that I would not get "full n range"...so... one might consider that, one can also go back and change things.

Those who are more expert in this PLEASE comment if anything has been missed or changed.

BTW.............for a bit of humour at the password site go down to the comments below and note the number of posts from people who can't seem to find "user" and "password" .... No wonder the malware/virus people have such an easy time.

woodsmoke

[arochester]

Some, but not all, routers can be accessed by 192.168.1.1 . Sometimes it is different.

If you search for the name and model of your router you can usually find the way in.

[Snowhog]

And, if the 'default' password on the router was already changed (highly recommended!), then you will use that password.

[woodsmoke]

Thanks guys, if there are any other comments PLEASE post them because it would seem, at least to moi, that this is a topic a few people would peruse.

woodsmoke

[SteveRiley]

1. Type http://192.168.1.1 on your favorite internet browser

There is, unfortunately, no "standard" default IP address. While the above is a common one, others might use 192.168.0.1, 192.168.0.254, 192.168.1.254; these are just some of the defaults I've seen.

One way to find out your wireless router's IP is to check your routing table:

steve@x1:~$ [B]route[/B]
Kernel IP routing table
Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
default         [B]192.168.0.1[/B]     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 eth0
192.168.0.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     1      0        0 eth0
192.168.0.0     *               255.255.255.0   U     2      0        0 wlan0

Look in the row that begins with default and observe the value in the Gateway column. That's your router's address.

But in more sophisticated networks, your wireless access point might not actually be your Internet gateway. This is true in my house: my Internet gateway is a high-speed Cisco router (to keep up with my 60 mbps Internet connection) that sits in my first-floor [strike]closet[/strike] data center. I have a separate wireless access point in the exact center of the house: the middle of the second floor's ceiling.

To find the IP address of the access point in this situation, you first need to find the AP's MAC address:

steve@x1:~$ [B]iwconfig[/B]
eth0      no wireless extensions.

lo        no wireless extensions.

wlan0     IEEE 802.11abgn  ESSID:"NGWLAN50"  
          Mode:Managed  Frequency:5.28 GHz  Access Point: [B]30:46:9A:02:47:D3[/B]   
          Bit Rate=6 Mb/s   Tx-Power=0 dBm   
          Retry  long limit:7   RTS thr:off   Fragment thr:off
          Power Management:on
          Link Quality=47/70  Signal level=-63 dBm  
          Rx invalid nwid:0  Rx invalid crypt:0  Rx invalid frag:0
          Tx excessive retries:0  Invalid misc:3   Missed beacon:0

(I'm actually using the Ethernet now, so there's no wireless traffic.) The MAC address is indicated by Access Point.

Using the tcpdump utility, you can capture some packets; eventually you'll see an ARP request, which contains the nugget you need.

tcpdump is not installed, so install it:

sudo apt-get install tcpdump

Then run it with this format:

sudo tcpdump -i [i]wireless-interface-id[/i] -s 0 -v -n ether port [i]access-point-mac[/i]

Look for a line with the following format:

[i]timestamp[/i] ARP, Ethernet (len 6), IPv4 (len 4), Request who-has [i]access-point-ip[/i] ([i]access-point-mac[/i]) tell ...

In my case, the command would be:

sudo tcpdump -i wlan0 -s 0 -v -n ether port [B]30:46:9A:02:47:D3[/B]

And the output of interest would be:

[i]timestamp[/i] ARP, Ethernet (len 6), IPv4 (len 4), Request who-has [B]192.168.0.2[/B] ([B]30:46:9A:02:47:D3[/B]) tell ...

And from this, I can learn my AP's IP address. What that information, I can login and configure it appropriately.

[Detonate]

If you lose your password, either the router password or the wireless password, you can easily reset the router to it's default settings and start all over. This is usually done by pressing the reset button on the router and holding it down for 30 seconds. The button is recessed, but can be pressed with a pointed object such as a ball point pen.

[dibl]

Right -- do that, and then this site comes in handy to work with a router that you've not previously used.

[arochester]

@dibl - Oops! Link does not work.