Simple Networking Tips-n-Tricks...

Im sure that most of you have experienced the frustration of trying to link up your modem to the new wireless router you just purchased. In this posting, you will go through wireless routing 101 and these simple steps will ensure that you can connect to your wireless router, even if you have never thought of yourself as "a technical person".
To begin, you must be sure that all the obvious steps are out of the way.

1. Make sure you have a good internet connection, via cable modem or dsl etc.

2. Be sure that the machine (computer) you plan to network with the wireless router has a wireless nic card installed or if you are going to use a laptop, be sure the built in wireless card is enabled. ( If you have an older laptop that doesnt have a built in network card, you should be able to purchase network adapters that could be inserted into the pcm slot or open usb ports).

3. Once the network cards have been installed or enabled, be sure that you become familiar with how the computer will search for your router. (You can check this through your network connections on your computer.
a. Start > Control Panel > Network Connections

You will see the various types of connectivity available on your computer. What you will be looking for is the icon that says "Wireless Network Connection"















This is an example of Windows XP



Vista users have a different view and you will need to follow this...
a. Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing


Ok, so after you have verified that you have a wireless network connection available on your computer, you can go on to these simple steps to log into your wireless router.

First of all, the important thing to remember when you are attempting to hook up all your equipment, you should unplug the power from your modem. Doing this, will reset the IP address connection between the modem and the router.

The router should have come with an ethernet chord, a power supply, (sometimes a usb chord) and an installation cd with an instruction manual.

Next, you will need to unplug the ethernet chord from your computer if this is how you have been connecting to the internet before. Plug one end of the ethernet chord into the back of the modem and the other into the back of the wireless router. *there are several different types of routers on the market, so be sure the ethernet chord gets plugged into the port labeled "Internet", like this example below.




If you are unsure still and this is the type of router you have, notice the single port and the then the group of four ports together... It goes into the single port.

Now you are ready to power up the modem and the router. Be sure to give them approximately 2 - 3 minutes to ensure connectivity between the two.
Once this has been done, for Windows XP users, the wireless utility will notify you of wireless networks that are available and Vista users will see the network icon on the start bar located on the bottom right corner show the two computers with a globe between them. If you don't see this, then revert back to the above section for Vista Network and Sharing.

A side note for making wireless connections...
Some routers require you to configure them the first time it is being set up. Its always best to make sure that when you go through this step, to connect your computer with an ethernet chord because you cannot effectively manage your router with a wireless connection. (If you plan to setup a password on the router, this is very important to have the ethernet connection because when you save the changes on the router, it will disconnect you and make it difficult to reconnect).
To troubleshoot your wireless connection, follow these steps again, or simply revert to the instruction manual to reset the router back to factory settings and start from the beginning.

We hope this helped you make the wireless connection you need. Thanks for stopping by...