How do I put a password on my wireless internet base?

[jrv3034]

Hello all. I set up a Netgear wireless 802.11b router for use with my fiancée's iBook w/airport. Right now, she can just turn on her computer and is automatically logged on to my internet connection, and so can anyone else. I want to set up a password so that only she can use it, not the people in the apartment next door. I have no idea how to do this, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[krimson]

it should be in the manual.. i can't remember what i did when i set up my gf's router, but it should be in there somewhere.

 

[cpjakes]

Web Configuration

I have an 802.11b Netgear router also, and if you haven't set up your router, you should. The address should be http://192.168.0.1 - the username is "admin" and the password is "default" (I think...). Change the administration password, otherwise, people who check up on your unconfigured network could take over your router...

There is a WLAN page for configuring the wireless access. That's where you can set a password for wireless access. There is also a MAC address filter that will keep unwanted MAC addresses from accessing your internet connection. A MAC address is a unique identification number for each network device on your network. You can get these from your System Preferences -> Network pane. This is not foolproof because there are programs that can spoof MAC addresses, but it's a good first line of defense along with a password.

I think you can also specify if the router is visible to anyone or just those who know its name. This might not be a feature of yours or any Netgear, but I remember this feature from somewhere.

Good luck!

cpjakes

 

[jrv3034]

Yeah, I just changed the admin password, so that's good. And I also clicked off the "make router visible to anyone" box. But I still can't figure out where to go to set a password for other laptops... The iBook that's sitting here just sees the router by default when it turns on and is automatically logged on, which means others next door could potentially do that. I might be missing a step here, but I'm new to Macs in general, so bear with me

 

[hugemullens]

You want to enable WEP (wired equivelency protection or something like that) . Often it requires its a 10 digit hex key instead of a true password. (for non airport routers) Enable MAC filtering, WEP, and make sure the SSID is set not to be broadcast (most likely that make router avalible to anyone box)

 

[jrv3034]

Excellent! I think I got it to work. The iBook asked me to put in the name of the router and the 20+ digit hex key. After that, it logged on successfully. Then I turned off the laptop, turned it back on, and it instanty recognized the router and loggedd on automatically! I assume that if someone else wants to log on, they'd have to put in the hex key, which is almost impossible to crack, right? Thanks all for your input!

 

[TheFallGuy]

This is really great information here. I'm glad you started this thread. I'm going to be getting an airport base station soon for my apartment. I want to limit the use so only me and possibly my roomies can use it.

Is this essentially the same process for the airport? (I'm new to macs too) I'm just trying to get a little headstart on the information gathering. Does the manual in the airport explain all this?