User Manual for the NETGEAR WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

Basic Setup

3-5

4.

Enjoy your Internet gaming!

Note:

Follow the instructions in your PS2 or Xbox manual to configure the IP, DNS, and other

parameters of your game console. If you want to change the default IP address or configure the

WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter from a Web browser, see

“Planning the WGE111 Wireless

Game Adapter Configuration” on page 3-6

and

“Using the NETGEAR Smart Wizard

Configuration Assistant” on page 3-9

.

Personal Computer Plug-and-Go Scenario

Figure 3-3:

Personal Computer Scenario

What you need.

•

Broadband Internet access through a router with an 802.11b or 802.11g wireless access point

(built in to the router or separate) without any security features enabled.

•

A computer to run the initial configuration.

What you do.

1.

Connect the Ethernet cable from your WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter (

A

) to the Ethernet

port on your computer (

B

).

2.

Make sure that the switch on the back of the WGE111 is set to the left side (labeled Internet),

which corresponds to Infrastructure Mode.

3.

Connect the power adapter to the WGE111 and verify the following:

•

The power light goes on.

•

The Internet light is lit.

WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

User Manual for the NETGEAR WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

3-6

Basic Setup

•

The Ethernet light is lit.

4.

Enjoy your Internet gaming!

Note:

If you want to change the default IP address or configure the WGE111 Wireless Game

Adapter from a Web browser, see

“Planning the WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter Configuration”

on page 3-6

and

“Using the NETGEAR Smart Wizard Configuration Assistant” on page 3-9

.

Planning the WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter Configuration

The WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter is plug-and-go so you do not need to configure it unless you

want to change the wireless security settings to match your network, or change the default IP

address of 192.168.0.202.

•

Windows management — the Smart Wizard configuration assistant installs the NETGEAR

WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter software on your computer. You can change your IP

configuration using the Smart Wizard as described in the next section,

“Using the NETGEAR

Smart Wizard Configuration Assistant” on page 3-9

.

•

Web management — use a Web browser, like Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape, to

configure your NETGEAR Wireless Game Adapter. Web browser configuration is described

in

Chapter 4, “Web Configuration”

.

Note:

Troubleshooting information on basic functioning, TCP/IP settings, Web configuration

interface, restoring the default configuration and password is described in

Chapter 5,

“Troubleshooting”

.

Planning for TCP/IP Configuration

If you are planning to use TCP/IP configuration of the Wireless Game Adapter, you need to

determine whether to use a DHCP server-assigned address or a static IP address. This section

describes the advantages of these options.

Dynamic IP using DHCP

You can select Obtain IP Address automatically for a dynamic IP address. If you have a home

gateway/router, it comes with a DHCP server. When you select this option, the gateway/router

assigns the IP address.

User Manual for the NETGEAR WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

Basic Setup

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Fixed IP

NETGEAR recommends you set up a fixed IP address for the WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter so

you can use a Web browser for configuration.

If you are using a NETGEAR router with the default settings, the following settings should work

for the Wireless Game Adapter:

•

IP address:

192.168.0.202 (The first three sections of numbers — 192.168.0 in this example

— should match the first three sections of the IP address of your router. Make sure the last

three digits in the fourth section are unique on your network.)

•

Subnet mask:

255.255.255.0

•

Gateway IP address:

192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 (the address of your router)

Understanding WEP Authentication and Encryption

Restricting wireless access to your network prevents intruders from connecting to your network.

However, the wireless data transmissions are still vulnerable to snooping. Using the WEP data

encryption settings described below will prevent a determined intruder from eavesdropping on

your wireless data communications. Also, if you are using the Internet for such activities as

purchases or banking, those Internet sites use another level of highly secure encryption called SSL.

You can tell if a Web site is using SSL because the Web address begins with HTTPS rather than

HTTP.

Authentication Scheme Selection

The WGE111 lets you select the following wireless authentication schemes.

•

Automatic

— the router detects the authentication scheme.

•

Open System

— allows any device to join the network, assuming that the device SSID

matches the access point SSID. Alternatively, the device can use the “ANY” SSID option to

associate with any available Access Point within range, regardless of its SSID.

•

Shared Key

— only those computers that possess the correct authentication key can join the

network.

Note:

The authentication scheme is separate from the data encryption. You can

choose an authentication scheme which requires a shared key, but still leave the

data transmissions unencrypted. If you require strong security, use both the

Shared Key authentication scheme and WEP encryption settings

.

User Manual for the NETGEAR WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

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Basic Setup

Be sure to set your wireless adapter according to the authentication scheme used on your router or

access point. Please refer to

“Authentication and WEP” on page C-2

for a full explanation of each

of these options, as defined by the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication standard.

Encryption Strength Choices

Please refer to

“Overview of WEP Parameters” on page C-5

for a full explanation of each of these

options, as defined by the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication standard.

•

Disable.

No encryption will be applied. This setting is useful for troubleshooting your wireless

connection, but leaves your wireless data fully exposed.

•

64-bit or 128-bit WEP.

When 64-bit or 128-bit is selected, WEP encryption will be applied.

If WEP is enabled, you can manually or automatically program the four data encryption keys.

These values must be identical on all computers and access points in your network.

There are two methods for creating WEP encryption keys:

•

Passphrase

. Enter a word or group of printable characters in the Passphrase box and click

the Generate button. These characters

are

case sensitive.

•

Manual

. For 64-bit WEP, enter 10 hexadecimal digits (any combination of 0-9, a-f, or

A-F). For 128-bit WEP, enter 26 hexadecimal digits (any combination of 0-9, a-f, or A-F).

These values

are not

case sensitive.

User Manual for the NETGEAR WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

Basic Setup

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Understanding WPA-PSK Encryption Security

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is wireless security with far greater protection than WEP.

WPS-PSK (pre-shared key) uses encryption of a shared key as the starting point. WPA has a

significant advantages over WEP — an encryption key differing in every packet. It is extremely

difficult for hackers to read messages even if they have intercepted the data.

The Passphrase must be 8 to 64 characters in length. The 256 bit key used for encryption is

generated from this passphrase. Please refer to

“WPA Wireless Security” on page C-8

for more

information on WPA-PSK security.

Using the NETGEAR Smart Wizard Configuration Assistant

The Smart Wizard configuration assistant works for WGE111 Wireless Game Adapters used in a

Microsoft Windows networking environment. To install and set up your network and the

NETGEAR Wireless Game Adapter, you can use a PC with a Microsoft Windows (95, 98, NT 4.0,

ME, 2000, or XP) operating system and with the TCP/IP protocol enabled.

You can use the NETGEAR Smart Wizard configuration assistant to change the IP settings of the

router. Configuring the WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter to use a fixed or dynamic IP address will

allow you to access the wireless game adapter configuration from a Web browser.