Linksys Router

The Linksys Cable/DSL router is a very versatile piece of equipment that makes setting up a small network easy.  The configuration is very simple and can be done by a novice user in just a few minutes. 

The first thing you have to do is establish a connection between your computer and the router itself. This can  be done by simply plugging a CAT5 cable into the router and the other end into your computer.  Next you need to change the TCP/IP settings on your computer to an IP address of 192.168.1.2,the default address assigned to the router by Linksys is 192.168.1.1.  Restart your computer and then open a web browser and type in the address 192.168.1.1 into the address bar.  Hit enter and a password box pops up asking for a user name and password.  By default there is no user name so tab down and enter a password of "public".  This may be different so check the book that came with the router to see what the password is for your machine.

One you are past the login screen you will see the configuration page open in your browser.

Here you need to check with your ISP and see what is required to use their service.  Most ISP's use DHCP to hand out IP addresses so just select "Obtain IP automatically" and you are in business.  You can change the IP address that your internal network uses on this page.  Simply change the LAN IP settings to anything you would like to  use and hit apply.  You will lose connection with your router as soon as you hit apply until you change your IP address on your computer to place you back into the same subnet as the router again.  If you need help with IP please see my tutorial on TCP/IP.

Now connect a cable to your cable or DSL modem and the WAN port on the router.  Click the status button and you will see this page:

Press the DHCP Renew button and your router will draw it's IP configuration infomation from your IPS's servers.  You are now ready to use your network.  Only one more step to go to make it useable.

At this point you have to decide whether or not you want to assign the IP addresses to your computers on your network yourself or have the router do it for you automatically.  DHCP is the easiest.  Simply change your computer settings back to automatic and reboot and you will be up and running.  If you want to assign them yourself, you will need to provide the IP address, the IP address of your router as the gateway and the DNS servers which you get from the status page in your router set up.

I hope that this article is helpful to you and good luck with your network.

Fred