5. SECURING YOUR CONNECTION

At this point, consult the routers instruction manual or the some of the read me files on the CD. Warning: This is about as interesting as watching paint peel. It will, however, help you avoid headaches later.

One way to make sure only who you want on your Internet can access it is to open your browser and type http://192.168.0.1 in the address field. This is a general router IP address (Internet Protocol) that is pretty universal. Yours may be different so consult the manual.

This will bring you into the router settings so you can customize how your router works. Click on wireless settings. It will ask you for a username and password. Don't freak out, this also has a universal code (which is one thing that you should change cause if you don't hackers may be able to get in easily and change your router settings.) The universal codes are 'admin' and 'password' respectively, or any combination of these with the other field left empty, such as an empty username and 'password' for the password.

Once you are in your wireless settings, go to Wireless Card Access List and click Setup Access List. Check the Turn Access Control On box and then click Add on the list.

Now you need the Mac Address for your wireless adapter. If you have an external adapter, look for a barcode and the Mac Address will be right there with it. If you have an internal modem, go to properties for your wireless connection and it should be in there.

Enter in a name so you know which computer it is and the Mac Address and BAM; you have a list of the only computers that have access to your network. This means you will have to go back into this list to add a computer, but it also is a very effective way to make sure your neighbors can't piggy back your signal and possibly infect your network with something nasty.

Your house is not a Wi-Fi Starbucks environment yet, but if you want that sort of setup consult the router manual and enable wireless encryption protocol (WEP), which you can also find in the wireless settings screen of your router. Is your head still on straight? Did everything work out? If not, look around for troubleshooting specific to your hardware and operating system, or just hit up the Geek Squad at Best Buy. Sometimes Do-It-Yourself is fun, sometimes it can be a headache. Good Luck!

Resources

Microsoft support

Mac support

Best Buy Geek Squad