RangeMax™ Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNDR3700 User Manual

Configuring Your Internet Connection

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v1.3, October 2009

Table 1-1.

Basic Settings screen fields

Settings

Description

Does Your ISP Require a Login?

• Yes

• No

These fields

appear only if no

login is required.

Account Name

(If required)

Enter the account name provided by your ISP. This might also

be called the host name.

Domain Name

(If required)

Enter the domain name provided by your ISP.

These fields

appear only if

your ISP

requires a login.

Internet Service Provider

•

PPTP

(Point to Point Tunneling Protocol). This is used

primarily in Austrian DSL services.

•

Telstra Bigpond

. This setting is only for older cable modem

service accounts that still require a Bigpond Login utility.

Telstra has discontinued this type of account. Those with

Telstra DSL accounts and newer cable modem accounts

should select

No

for

Does Your Internet Connection

Require A Login?

.

•

Other

. This is the default setting. It is for PPPoE (Point to

Point Protocol over Ethernet), the protocol used by most

DSL services worldwide.

Login

The login name provided by your ISP. This is often an e-mail

address.

Password

The password provided by your ISP.

Service Name

If your ISP provided a Service Name, enter it here.

Connection Mode

Specify when the router will connect to and disconnect from

the Internet.

•

Always On

. The router logs in to the Internet immediately

after booting and never disconnects.

•

Dial on Demand

. The router logs in only when outgoing

traffic is present and logs out after the idle time-out.

•

Manually Connect

. The router logs in or logs out only when

you click

Connect

or

Disconnect

in the Router Status

screen.

Idle Timeout (In minutes)

If you want to change the Internet login time-out, enter a new

value in minutes. This determines how long the wireless router

keeps the Internet connection active after there is no Internet

activity from the LAN. Entering an Idle Timeout value of 0

(zero) means never log out.

RangeMax™ Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WNDR3700 User Manual

Configuring Your Internet Connection

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Internet IP Address

•

Get Dynamically from ISP

. Your ISP uses DHCP to assign

your IP address. Your ISP automatically assigns these

addresses.

•

Use Static IP Address

. Enter the IP address that your ISP

assigned. Also enter the IP subnet mask and the gateway IP

address. The gateway is the ISP’s wireless router to which

your wireless router will connect.

Domain Name Server (DNS) Address

The DNS server is used to look up site addresses based on

their names.

•

Get Automatically from ISP

. Your ISP uses DHCP to

assign your DNS servers. Your ISP automatically assigns

this address.

•

Use These DNS Servers

. If you know that your ISP does

not automatically transmit DNS addresses to the wireless

router during login, select this option, and enter the IP

address of your ISP’s primary DNS server. If a secondary

DNS server address is available, enter it also.

This field

appears only if

no login is

required.

Router MAC Address

The Ethernet MAC address that will be used by the wireless

router on the Internet port. Some ISPs register the Ethernet

MAC address of the network interface card in your computer

when your account is first opened. They will then accept traffic

only from the MAC address of that computer. This feature

allows your wireless router to masquerade as that computer

by “cloning” its MAC address.

•

Use Default Address

. Use the default MAC address of the

router (normally the LAN MAC address).

•

Use Computer MAC Address

. The wireless router will

capture and use the MAC address of the computer that you

are now using. You must be using the one computer that is

allowed by the ISP.

•

Use This MAC Address

. Enter the MAC address that you

want to use.

Table 1-1.

Basic Settings screen fields

(continued)

Settings

Description

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v1.3, October 2009

Chapter 2

Safeguarding Your Network

For a wireless connection, the SSID, also called the wireless network name, and the wireless

security setting must be the same for the wireless router and wireless computers or wireless

adapters. NETGEAR strongly recommends that you use wireless security.

This chapter includes:

•

“Planning Your Wireless Network

”

•

“Manually Configuring Your Wireless Settings” on page 2-4

•

“Using Push 'N' Connect (WPS) to Configure Your Wireless Network” on page 2-13

•

“Connecting Additional Wireless Client Devices After WPS Setup” on page 2-18

•

“Restricting Access to Your Router” on page 2-20

Planning Your Wireless Network

For compliance and compatibility between similar products in your area, the operating channel

and region must be set correctly.

To configure the wireless network, you can either specify the wireless settings, or you can use Wi-

Fi Protected Setup (WPS) to automatically set the SSID and implement WPA/WPA2 security.

•

To manually configure the wireless settings, you must know the following:

–

SSID. The default SSID for the wireless router is NETGEAR.

Warning:

Computers can connect wirelessly at a range of several hundred feet. This can

allow others outside of your immediate area to access your network.

Note:

For information about restricting access to USB storage devices, see

“Configuring

USB Storage Advanced Settings” on page 7-7

.

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Safeguarding Your Network

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–

The wireless radio frequency (2.4GHz or 5GHz) that each wireless adapter supports.

–

Wireless security option. To successfully implement wireless security, check each

wireless adapter to determine which wireless security option it supports.

See

“Manually Configuring Your Wireless Settings” on page 2-4

.

•

Push 'N' Connect (WPS) automatically implements wireless security on the wireless router

while, at the same time, allowing you to automatically implement wireless security on any

WPS-enabled devices (such as wireless computers and wireless adapter cards). You activate

WPS by pressing a WPS button on the wireless router, clicking an onscreen WPS button, or

entering a PIN number. This generates a new SSID and implements WPA/WPA2 security.

To set up your wireless network using the WPS feature:

–

Use the WPS button on the side of the wireless router (there is also an onscreen WPS

button), or enter the PIN of the wireless device.

–

Make sure that all wireless computers and wireless adapters on the network are

Wi-Fi

certified and WPA or WPA 2 capable, and that they support WPS configuration.

See

“Using Push 'N' Connect (WPS) to Configure Your Wireless Network” on page 2-13

.

Wireless Placement and Range Guidelines

The range of your wireless connection can vary significantly based on the physical placement of

the wireless router. The latency, data throughput performance, and notebook power consumption

of wireless adapters also vary depending on your configuration choices.

For best results, place your wireless router according to the following guidelines:

•

Near the center of the area in which your PCs will operate.

•

In an elevated location such as a high shelf where the wirelessly connected PCs have line-of-

sight access (even if through walls).

•

Away from sources of interference, such as PCs, microwave ovens, and 2.4 GHz cordless

phones.

•

Away from large metal surfaces.

Note:

NETGEAR’s Push 'N' Connect feature is based on the Wi-Fi Protected Setup

(WPS) standard (for more information, see

). All other Wi-

Fi-certified and WPS-capable products should be compatible with NETGEAR

products that implement Push 'N' Connect.

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Safeguarding Your Network

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•

Put the router in a vertical position to provide the best side-to-side coverage. Put the router in a

horizontal position to provide the best up-and-down coverage.

•

If using multiple access points, it is better if adjacent access points use different radio

frequency channels to reduce interference. The recommended channel spacing between

adjacent access points is 5 channels (for example, use Channels 1 and 6, or 6 and 11).

The time it takes to establish a wireless connection can vary depending on both your security

settings and placement. WEP connections can take slightly longer to establish. Also, WEP

encryption can consume more battery power on a notebook computer.

Wireless Security Options

Indoors, computers can connect over 802.11g wireless networks at a maximum range of up to 300

feet. Such distances can allow for others outside your immediate area to access your network.

Unlike wired network data, your wireless data transmissions can extend beyond your walls and

can be received by anyone with a compatible adapter. For this reason, use the security features of

your wireless equipment. The WNDR3700 router provides highly effective security features which

are covered in detail in this chapter. Deploy the security features appropriate to your needs.

There are several ways you can enhance the security of your wireless network:

•

WEP.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption provides data security. WEP Shared

Key authentication and WEP data encryption block all but the most determined eavesdropper.

This data encryption mode has been superseded by WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK.

•

WPA-PSK (TKIP), WPA2-PSK (AES)

. Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) using a pre-shared

key to perform authentication and generate the initial data encryption keys. The very strong

authentication along with dynamic per frame re-keying of WPA makes it virtually impossible

to compromise.

Figure 2-1

Wireless data security options

Range: up to 300 foot radius

1) Open system: easy, but no security.

2) WEP: security, but some performance

impact.

3) WPA-PSK: strong security.

4) WPA2-PSK: very strong security.