[LordOpie]

My girl has a laptop and a Linksys wireless router. Until I moved my PC in, she was wired from laptop to router. Now I want to set my desktop PC as the main computer and make her wireless-ready laptop, umm, wireless.

She doesn't have the packaging for the Linksys and doesn't know what the network key is.

How can I find it?

What would happen if I pressed the "reset" button on the router? Could I enter in a new key?

TIA!

 

[BurlyShirley]

just get a new one

 

[LordOpie]

uhh, no?

It's pretty wierd to see neighbors on the wireless system. Some guy 9 blocks away is in my network list. Also, there's an unsecured network available to me... do ya think it's a neighbor or a local business, like a coffee shop with WiFi?

I'm new to this, so neato.

 

[BurlyShirley]

We stole it from an apartment complex behind our house for a while. It was great, but spotty. Eventually ended up just getting our own.

Tell her to fix it, and then get you a beer.

 

[bpatterson6]

uhh, no?

It's pretty wierd to see neighbors on the wireless system. Some guy 9 blocks away is in my network list. Also, there's an unsecured network available to me... do ya think it's a neighbor or a local business, like a coffee shop with WiFi?

I'm new to this, so neato.

If you press reset, all it will do is default the Router back to factory presets and you can reconfigure the network with a new key along some other things you or may nor be using already. To not share your network ID with everyone, after pressing rest and logging into the router using the admin console, Disable the Advertise SSID, Choose Custom SSID, and then use encryption so you are encrytping your signal between the computer and router.
Good Luck.

 

[syadasti]

Hold down the reset button for 30 seconds to reset the router to factory defaults. Go to linksys.com for the manual. The last router I worked on I think the linksys had no username and the password was admin from the factory (or sometimes the routers have the default password and IP written on the router). Setup the router again how you like. I suggest downloading the latest firmware from linksys.

Afterwards you can upgrade to better third party firmware (depending on model) if you want more features/better performance or find good tips at linksysinfo.com.

 

[LordOpie]

If you press reset, all it will do is default the Router back to factory presets and you can reconfigure the network with a new key...

do i need anything special to reconfig? Like the OEM CD? Cuz, ya know, we don't ahve that either. If I need some software, what do I download? I ask cuz linksys.com didn't have anythign to dl

relationships are harder than I remember

 

[bpatterson6]

do i need anything special to reconfig? Like the OEM CD? Cuz, ya know, we don't ahve that either. If I need some software, what do I download? I ask cuz linksys.com didn't have anythign to dl relationships are harder than I remember

You dont need any CD. Most times when you reset it, the default IP is something like: 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1 hit that ip in your browser by typing http://192.168.1.1 or http://192.168.2.1 or whatever the IP might be. Most of the time, by default the DHCP server is enabled. Do you have any ethernet ports in your computer that you can use to reconfigure the router by directly connecting to it and then once it's reconfigured, you can disconnect the cable and go wireless? The Wireless Router/Firewalls of today are designed to be stand alone appliances that have a DHCP server built in to accomodate more than one computer at a time.

 

[syadasti]

Just pressing the reset button will only reboot the router, you must hold it for 30 seconds to reload factory defaults. You need no CD, just connect your laptop directly into one of the router LAN ports to configure the router. Bring up Internet Explorer and type 192.168.1.1 for the address and put no username, and password admin - that should work for most linksys. If not, check the linksys site for the manual or join the forum at linksysinfo.org

 

[Transcend]

ya hold and reset for 30 secs.

If it is older:
no user, password is admin.
192.168.1.1

If it is newer:
admin, admin
192.168.15.1

 

[syadasti]

BTW, disabling the SSID broadcast doesn't do jack for security - most sniffers can pick up the router regardless and makes things a hassle to configure with some wireless clients. WEP encryption sucks, so only use that if its your only option to prevent casual wardriving. For consumer routers WPA-PSK (WPA2-PSK if available and you don't mind patching windows and your Wifi drivers) is most desirable.

 

[LordOpie]

yeah, no clue what most of what y'all said. I think I'll buy a shotgun instead and use the router as skeet.

Then buy a new one like BS said.

 

[syadasti]

Getting a new one will only mean you don't have to hold the reset button for thirty seconds, pretty expensive and time consuming shortcut.

Press and hold reset button for 30 secs.

Wait a minute or two for it to reload defaults.

You can stop here if you don't mind people possibly using your open wireless internet connection.

Otherwise take an ethernet cable and plug one end into your notebook and the other into the back of the router were it says LAN1. Wait like 30 seconds for the notebook register on your router.

Most likely do this...
Go to http://192.168.1.1
no username, password is admin
Reconfigure the router


If it is newer:
Go to http://192.168.15.1
username admin, password admin
Reconfigure the router

Goto linksysinfo.org if you want more detailed guides.

 

[narlus]

syadasti, why is WEP encryption junk? it's a ten character password; that's not good enough for my neighbors?

 

[syadasti]

syadasti, why is WEP encryption junk? it's a ten character password; that's not good enough for my neighbors?

Short answer - if you neighbors are dumb and the casual wardrivers around your neighborhood are too, nothing. If it was important data (such as a corporate environment) its piss poor and not acceptable. WPA with AES is acceptable (basically thats what WPA2-PSK is) especially when used with a RADIUS server (w/RADIUS is WPA2-Enterprise) plus the encryption is in hardware (both WPA2-PSK and WPA2-Enterprise) so you don't see a drop in network performance like you do with some of the other wireless encryption methods.

Read more here.

 

[splat]

If it is Just a Linksys access point ( no router in it ) the default addy is 192.168.1.246

 

[hooples3]

call up linksys.. they will give u a site to visit and walk through everything you need to do to get it hooked up correctly... out of nowhwere my wireless router stopped working.. one call 15 minute conversation everything was fixed.. you cant beat their customer service

 

[LordOpie]

thanks everyone. I'm an idiot, so I'm calling a friend to help.

The key problem is, for some reason, I can't access the internet through 10 Base-T/Ethernet eventho my modem has a port. So I'm using USB.

The router doesn't have USB, so I tried to run the system Modem-(USB)-PC-(ethernet)-Router-(wireless)-OtherComputers, instead of Modem-Router-AllComputers.

But that's not working eventho I thought I was hooking and setting it up properly.

 

[narlus]

what model router is it? if it's a dinosaur, it might be a better idea to just upgrade anyway.

 

[hooples3]

thanks everyone. I'm an idiot, so I'm calling a friend to help.

The key problem is, for some reason, I can't access the internet through 10 Base-T/Ethernet eventho my modem has a port. So I'm using USB.

The router doesn't have USB, so I tried to run the system Modem-(USB)-PC-(ethernet)-Router-(wireless)-OtherComputers, instead of Modem-Router-AllComputers.

But that's not working eventho I thought I was hooking and setting it up properly.

can u call linksys??? mine was set up right... for some reason when you originally set it up you need to set it up a certain way... if you dont it will work for a long time <mine was about a year> but then suddenly stop working.. linksys will set you straight...