home-routerYour home router connects your home network to the Net.

Most home routers as well function as Wireless Access points and are commonly chosen wireless routers.

Domicile routers are usually supplied by an Isp (Isp) equally role of your Internet package.

In this tutorial I volition explicate the various ports bachelor on nearly routers, and how to set up your router and modify common settings.

Router Interfaces and Physical Connections

All routers have two interfaces:

  • Local – This is the local,home,office network
  • External – The Internet

On the Net side the router will may have a unmarried connection labelled DSL which uses a RJ12 telephone connectedness.

This connects to the telephone network via a broadband filter.

Y'all may likewise have a broadband/WAN connector. This is used for connecting to a cablevision modem or fibre modem as shown below:

broadband-router-connections

On the Local side the router will have a Wi-Fi interface and Ethernet ports.

The router shown to a higher place is my home router which has 4 Ethernet ports for wired clients, as well as supporting WI-Fi admission.

In add-on near besides take a USB socket for connecting the router to a reckoner for initial set up.

Wireless Router Setup and Configuration

Physical Setup

The router volition have a port labelled DSL this connects using a RJ12 connector to a microfilter and so to your telephone line. (ADSL and VDSL)

Always retrieve to use the microfilter equally without it it may not work or may only work intermittently.

Note: newer connection points have the filter built in.

For fibre and cable use the WAN port on the Router to connect to your cable or fibre modem using an Ethernet cable.

Router Configuration

To modify the configuration settings of the router you will need to login to the router.

In that location are several ways yous tin do this,they are:

  • Using a computer connected with a USB cablevision.
  • Using a computer connected with an Ethernet cablevision and a web interface.
  • Using a computer connected using Wi-Fi and a web interface.- Most common

Using Wi-Fi and The Spider web Interface

Almost all domicile routers can be setup and managed using a Web interface. i.e a web browser.

To use this you lot volition need to connect to the router using  the Ethernet port or Wi-Fi .

To connect using Wi-Fi you lot will demand to know:

  • the SSID of the router, which should come with the documentation. (you tin can change the SSID afterward).
  • The Wi-Fi password.

The BT Dwelling Hub that I use comes with an handy pull out menu with the details printed on information technology, equally shown beneath

BT-HUB-passwords-card

Footstep one- Setting up Wi-fi

The outset pace is to setup Wi-Fi access on your Laptop/PC using the Wi-Fi details (SSID and countersign).

Now yous should be able to connect to the router, and the router should assign you an IP address.

Y'all tin can check your IP address and find the IP address of the router by using the ipconfig command.

Open a command prompt an enter Ipconfig/all. Look for the default gateway. This is the address of your router.

Step 2 Connecting to the Router

To connect to the router you need to know:

  • The router IP accost
  • The router default admin username and countersign

Common default addresses are: 192.168.1.254 , 192.168.one.ane and 192.168.0.ane.

Mutual default admin user business relationship name and password are admin and administrator and countersign is password

This site has a comprehensive listing of admin business relationship names and passwords

To login open a web browser and enter the IP address of the router e.k. 192.168.1.254.

router-home-page

You lot should get a welcome screen or an overview screen equally shown above.

If you attempt to make changes you volition exist prompted to login.

home-router-login

Common Configuration Changes

Once yous are logged in you can change the router configuration.

There are several things that you usually need to configure to improve usability and  security.

  • A Network SSID for the wireless clients. (wireless router only)
  • Wireless channels (wireless router only)
  • Admin password for router management
  • Password for the DSL link.
  • Internal IP address ranges.
  • Port Forwarding
  • DDNS

Note 1: I would recommend that you lot modify the WiFi SSID and password and also the router admin password every bit a basic security consideration.

Annotation 2: Irresolute some of the settings will cause yous to lose the connection to the router, and and so y'all may demand to reconnect and login again using the new settings.

Changing the Network SSID and Password

It is a good idea to change this to a name and password that are easy to remember for y'all, but not like shooting fish in a barrel to guess.

In restaurant,hotels etc you often see the eating house or hotel name as the SSID.

Important! -When you alter it yous volition lose the connectedness and you will need to change your laptop Wi-Fi settings to match the new settings.

On the BT home Hub you lot will find the Wi-Fi settings in the Advanced department.

BT-HUB-WI-FI-settings

Irresolute the Admin Password for Router Direction

It is important that yous change this from the default value as if yous don't you go out your network open for security hacks.

bt-hub-password

Password For DSL- Third Party Router

If you lot use a router that was not provided by the Internet access provider and so you lot will also need to configure the settings for the DSL connectedness to the ISP.

Well-nigh of the time the Router tin can detect the connections type and volition configure itself.

All of the home network connections I have come beyond apply PPPoe ( PPP over Ethernet).

There is no need to worry about what it means, simply the result is that you will need to provide a user name and password in order for the router to connect to the Internet access provider.

This user name and password is supplied in you lot Isp setup details.

To find the information you may need to go online. Try a search using the search query:

Provider (e.chiliad. BT,talktalk )  dsl password  third political party router.

Here is an case from talktalk

INotation: A common trouble is that people confuse the two username/countersign combinations:

1 allows y'all to connect to the router (supplied by the router manufacturer) and the other allows the router to connect to the Isp (supplied by the ISP)
.

Secure Wireless Setup

Wireless networks are insecure, and if you live in a densely populated area you may find that you can come across and admission the wireless networks of your neighbours and vice versa.

Because of this yous should always encrypt your wireless connections.

However if you take setup issues then setup the router to use unencrypted connections to start, and once you are happy that your network is functioning OK then change the router and clients to employ encrypted connections. see How to Setup A Secure Wireless Network

Frequency Bands

Most modern routers are dual band which means that they support both 2.4GHz and 5Ghz frequency bands.

The 5 GHz frequency band isn't as populated as the 2.4GHz band every bit it is newer, and older Wi-Fi devices don't support it.

The 5 GHz frequency band offers faster speeds merely shorter distances.

Wi-Fi Channel Selection

Wi-fi (two.4GHz ring has 14 bachelor channels however the standard channels used are channels 1,6 and eleven.

When choosing a aqueduct for your Router/admission betoken you lot need to have into account what channels are already being used in your location.

If y'all live in a densely populated areas you volition have many other access points with various signal strengths and may meet interference.

There are a number of test tools that you can use for viewing the Wi-Fi activity in your location.

The ane I prefer is the InSSIDer tool that runs on Android and Windows.

Yous can download the complimentary tool hither for Windows and Mac and here for Android.

The general idea is to choose a aqueduct that has the to the lowest degree interference from other channels.

Nigh wireless routers today will auto detect and choose the best channel.

DHCP Setup

This is usually enabled by default, and if information technology isn't enabled then you should enable it unless yous are providing a DHCP service from another router.

Generally  you should stay with the default configuration. The settings on mine are shown below and they are the default ones:

DHCP-Settings-Home-Router

Note: Yous should only accept ane DHCP server on a dwelling network.See Agreement DHCP on Home Networks

Port Forwarding Setup

This is a very common setting if you have someone playing computer Games of if you need to provide external admission to your home network.

This setting can be potentially dangerous as it opens your home network to the Internet and it is covered in more particular in the understanding port forwarding tutorial.

However yous should take an appreciation of IP addresses and the different types, and so I recommend y'all read the Internal and External IP addresses tutorial first.

Disable UPnP

UPnP is a protocol used by applications (east.g games) tol automatically open ports on your router without you lot needing to manually configure a port forwarding dominion.

About routers have it enabled by default as shown below for my BT Hub

UPnP-BT-HUB

It is recommended that yous disable it. However if you exercise come across issues with games and y'all can't resolve them using port forwarding and then you may need to re enable it.

Here is a very good write up for anyone who takes part in online games and is worried about UPnP security.

Disable WPS

WPS is a very useful feature that allows you to add devices to the network without having to enter a password.

From a security standpoint information technology is a weakness and and then you should disable it.

When you lot are involved in a network restructure you lot tin can enable it so disable it subsequently.

Dynamic DDNS

If yous need to admission devices on your domicile network from the Internet then you volition usually use DDNS.

Almost dwelling house routers tin can be configured to auto update the DDNS servers automatically when the external IP address changes.

The screen shot below shows my router settings for noip.

ddns-router-settings

Come across Understanding DDNS

Wireless Router Placement

There are 2 things to consider when looking to position your home router.

  • Coverage
  • Security

Where you place a wireless router is important particularly if you lot have a big home.

A router needs mains power and also access to the Internet connection point.

However to obtain the best Wi-Fi coverage it should ideally exist placed in a central location and not obstructed by big objects or place in a cupboard next to electrical devices with motors.

If your Wi-Fi coverage is bad because of the electric current location you will demand to extend the coverage see –How to extend a habitation network or have the Internet connection signal moved to some other location past your Internet access provider.

From a security perspective you should try to restrict your Wi-Fi betoken to your house, and so it is non brash to place information technology on a windowsill facing the street.

Using a 3rd Party Router

Although you tin apply a third party router rather than the router supplied past y'all ISP it is non always a skilful idea.

In the UK my provider BT volition simply troubleshoot a line if you are using their router.

In addition you lot may notice equally I did that the connection was much slower with a tertiary party router than the internet access provider router.

Having said that it is a proficient idea to have a spare router in case yours fails.

If y'all do use a third political party router then y'all may need to swap in the Internet service provider provided i if y'all have Internet problems.

Mobile Routers

A mobile router is a device that uses the mobile/cell network( 3G,4G, 5G etc) to connect to the Internet.

They can exist used when travelling and tin can besides exist used to provide backup Internet access in case the main connection fails. See mobile routers

Router Firmware

Most ISP routers volition update automatically but you should check.

If you demand to do information technology manually by checking for updates then you lot should.

Common Questions and Answers

Question- I want to setup VLANs simply my iSP router doesn't support VLANs can I use a 3rd party router?

Answer- Yes but you need to choose the correct type for your Net connections run across Beginners guide to dwelling house routers

Question – I can't ping my home router from the Internet is information technology online?

Respond – The router must respond to the ping and responses are disabled by default on most routers.

Question – Does my Home router support NAT and what is NAT?

Answer – NAT stands for network address translation and is a technique for sharing an IP accost on IPv4 networks. All home routers back up NAT.

Question -I disabled Wi-Fi on my router and now port forwarding doesn't work?

Reply – My BT domicile hub seems to disable port forwarding if Wi-Fi is disabled. It could be a feature or only a fault.

Summary

On Abode routers information technology is mutual to change the.

  • Wi-fi name (SSID)
  • Wi-Fi Password
  • Admin Countersign
  • Disable UPnP

Resources:

How to find the best Wi-Fi channel for your router

Related Tutorials :

  • Mobile Routers
  • Wireless Mesh Networks
  • Internet and Home Network Parental Controls
  • How to ready up and build a home network
  • Wi-fi and Wireless networks
  • Setting up a Homeplug Power line network
  • Agreement and Configuring VLANS
  • ii Routers on a Home Network

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