Re: Network Key.

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Malke, so many thanks for your excellent reply. I now know that I had
not given the correct info in my first post. The situation is as
follows.

1). I have three PCs on a home wireless network. Two are XP and one is
Vista.

2). Until recently all three had normal access to the 'Net and e-mail.

3). Now ONE of the XPs cannot connect to the 'Net, etc.

4). If I use a manual IP address the connection icon on the task bar
indicates that I have a connection to the 'Net etc at good signal
strength and speed but I cannot access the 'Net or e-mail from this
XP. When I use the default Auto selection I get an icon with a small
yellow moving dot but no internet connection.

5). Both connected PCs accept the default password. The non connected
XP is asking for an 8 character password.

6). From the above I assume the router is OK and the problem is
somewhere in the XP.

If you can help I would certainly appreciate it. My wife will kill me
soon if I don't restore her e-mail connection.

Peter.

"Malke" <malke@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OMwjLj$0JHA.2656@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
PVR wrote:

OK, did that. Now I have a box saying that I must enter a username
and
password. The name/model of the router is given (Linksys). Must I
now
go to Linksys for these?

The username is left blank and the default password is admin. See
below for
general information about setting up a wireless network securely. It
will
also help you understand the whole wireless key thing better.

Have a computer connected to the router with an ethernet cable.
Examples
given are for a Linksys router. Refer to your router manual or the
router
mftr.'s website for default settings if you don't have a Linksys.
Open a
browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox and in the addressbar
type:

http://192.168.1.1 [enter] (this is the router's default IP address,
which
varies from router to router so check your manual)

This will bring you to router's login screen. The default username
is left
blank and the Linksys default password is "admin" without the
quotes. Enter
that information. You are now in the router's configuration utility.
Your
configuration utility may differ slightly from mine. The first thing
to do
is change the default password because *everyone* knows the default
passwords for various routers.

Click on the Administration link at the top of the page. Enter your
new
password. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT. Re-enter the
password to confirm it and click the Save Settings button at the
bottom of
the page. The router will restart and present you with the login box
again.
Leave the username blank and put in your new password to get back
into the
configuration utility.

Now click on the Wireless link at the top of the page. Change the
Wireless
Network Name (SSID) from the default to something you will
recognize. I
suggest that my clients not use their family name as the SSID. For
example,
you might wish to name your wireless network "CastleAnthrax" or the
like. ;-)

Click the Save Settings and when you get the prompt that your
changes were
successful, click on the Wireless Security link which is right next
to the
Basic Wireless Settings link (where you changed your SSID). Most
computers
purchased within the last 4 years have wireless hardware that will
support
WPA2-Personal (also called WPA2-PSK). This is the encryption level
you
want. If your wireless hardware is older, use WPA. Do not use WEP as
that
is easily cracked within minutes. So go ahead and set the Security
Mode to
WPA2-Personal. Do that and enter a passphrase. For example, you
might use
the passphrase, "Here be dragons, beware you scurvy dogs!". The
passphrase
is what you will enter on any computers that are allowed to connect
to the
wireless network. WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE YOU WILL NOT LOSE IT.

At this point, your router is configured and if the computer you
were using
to configure the router is normally going to connect wirelessly,
disconnect
the ethernet cable and the computer's wireless feature should see
your new
network. Enter the passphrase you created (exactly as you wrote it
with all
capitalization and punctuation) to join the network and start
surfing.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/#FAQ



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