How to Set up a WiFi Router to Use with Your Laptop

In general, the process of installing a WiFi device to use with your laptop begins by connecting the router to the same computer that is attached to your broadband modem (in this example, your laptop); this allows automated configuration software to obtain the information it needs without any intermediary devices along the way.

Here is a typical setup:

1. Turn off the power to your broadband modem.
   If there isn’t an on/off switch, remove the power supply to the device.
2. Connect the power adapter to the back panel of the wireless router.
3. Plug the adapter into an AC outlet.
   Check that the power LED illuminates.
4. Connect an Ethernet cable to the broadband modem.
5. Restore the power to the modem.
6. Insert the other end of the Ethernet cable into the WAN (wide area network) port on the back panel of the wireless router.
7. Insert another Ethernet cable between LAN Port 1 (on the back panel of the wireless router) and any available Ethernet port on the NIC (network interface card) of the laptop, which you’re going to use to configure the WiFi system.
8. Shut down the laptop.
9. Restart the laptop connected to the WiFi router.
   Let Windows fully load.
10. Open your Web browser.
11. In the address bar of the browser, type the URL for the built-in setup screen of the wireless router.
    For example, type http://192.168.0.1 for most D-Link routers.
12. Press the Enter key.
    The below table shows a list of the standard addresses for setup screens as well as default usernames and passwords from several major makers.

    Router Manufacturer	URL	Default User Name	Default Password
    3com	http://192.168.1.1	admin	Admin
    D-Link	http://192.168.0.1	admin
    Linksys	http://192.168.1.1	admin	Admin
    Microsoft	http://192.168.2.1	admin	Admin
    Netgear	http://192.168.0.1	admin	password

    Depending on your device maker, you may have to enter a user name such as admin (for administrator), and you may have to enter a password.
    
    The opening screen of the setup utility for a Linksys wired router.
    Consult the instructions for details. Once you log in, the home screen of the built-in setup system appears.

How to Connect Your Laptop to a Router

Very often, a device called a router sits between the DSL or cable modem and your laptop or the rest of the network. The router (rhymes with chowder) is designed to provide an interface between the Internet and your local network. The router takes care of most of the more confusing networking options for you; plus, it provides firewall protection between the computers on your network and the rest of the wild, nasty Internet.

Physically, the router is situated between your laptop and the Internet connection or broadband modem. In the above setup, your laptop would connect directly to the router, not to the modem. (In fact, all computers on the local network connect to the router, not directly to the modem.)

Yea, verily, even in a wireless setting, the connection is the same. In fact, a wireless router connects by wire to the high-speed modem.

Then the rest of the computers on the wireless network connect wirelessly to the router. The figure above illustrates the shocking, wireless difference.

Routers are configured by logging in to them. The router has an IP address, and you use your Web browser software, such as Internet Explorer, to connect to the router, log in, and set the configurations. Instructions for doing this come with the router.