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I am switching to broadband (was using a laptop card) and need to set up a wireless router.
A friend gave me a Linksys router and told me to look up the model number on the internet. But I am not sure what else I need to do. Do I need to download something onto my computer in order to use this?
You don't need anything other than broadband service, there is no software to install for a router. Just download and read the manual. Probably a good idea to reset it before you mess with it as well. Keep in mind that this is a very old router, only does wireless B/G, no N, but it was a decent quality. Also check that the routers firmware is current.
You don't need anything other than broadband service, there is no software to install for a router. Just download and read the manual. Probably a good idea to reset it before you mess with it as well. Keep in mind that this is a very old router, only does wireless B/G, no N, but it was a decent quality. Also check that the routers firmware is current.
I will use it to get started and if it doesn't work, will have to buy something newer. My laptop is old too, so it should be OK for now.
How do I know if the router's firmware is current? I see they have a place to download a firmware update off that link - should I do that? How does it get updated on this router? I admit, I am basically clueless about these things, but trying to learn!
To access the router once you have it plugged in, you use a web browser and type in it's IP address, the manual will explain how to to that. Somewhere in there will be a status page that will tell you the routers current firmware revision, just look at the lates one available for download to see if it's newer than what you have. For example the latest version is 4.21.5, any number lower than that (like 4.21.1)will be older and you should update. Also you will want to configure encryption for your wifi signal, the manual will discuss that as well.
Ok, now I am confused again. I am reading the "quick installation" guide from that site, and for the first step, its saying I need to plug ethernet cables from the PC into this router, and then also plug the router into the modem. Why do I have to plug this into my computer AND the modem?
The second page of these instructions describes using the IP address.
Currently, I only have one ethernet cable, so I would have to go buy another one to do this.
You don't really have to, you can connect and configure using wifi, maybe they're assuming you'd be hooking up a desktop PC? The only thing to remember is once you put a password on your wife you'll get disconnected and will have to reconnect using the password.
You don't really have to, you can connect and configure using wifi, maybe they're assuming you'd be hooking up a desktop PC? The only thing to remember is once you put a password on your wife you'll get disconnected and will have to reconnect using the password.
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