NETGEAR RangeMax™ NEXT Wireless Router WNR834B User Manual

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•

Region

. This field identifies the region where the WNR834B can be used. It may not be legal

to operate the wireless features of the wireless router in a region other than one of those

identified in this field.

•

Channel

. This field determines which operating frequency is used. It should not be necessary

to change the wireless channel unless you notice interference problems with another nearby

wireless network. For more information on the wireless channel frequencies, see

“Wireless

Communications” in Appendix B

.

•

Mode

. This field determines which data communications protocol is used. You can choose

from:

–

Up To 54 Mbps

. Legacy Mode, for compatibility with the slower 802.11b and 802.11g

wireless devices.

–

Up To 130 Mbps

. Neighbor Friendly Mode, for reduced interference with neighboring

wireless networks. Provides two transmission streams with different data on the same

channel at the same time, but also allows 802.11b and 802.11g wireless devices. This is

the default mode.

–

Up To 270 Mbps

. Performance Mode, using channel expansion to achieve the 270 Mbps

data rate. The WNR834B router will use the channel you selected as the primary channel

and expand to the secondary channel (primary channel +4 or –4) to achieve a 40MHz

frame-by-frame bandwidth. The WNR834B router will detect channel usage and will

disable frame-by-frame expansion if the expansion would result in interference with the

data transmission of other access points or clients.

•

Security Options

. The selection of wireless security options can significantly affect your

network performance. The time it takes to establish a wireless connection can vary depending

on both your security settings and router placement.

Note:

The region selection feature may not be available in all countries.

Note:

The maximum wireless signal rate is derived from the IEEE Standard 802.11

Specifications. Actual data throughput will vary. Network conditions and

environmental factors, including volume of network traffic, building materials

and construction, and network overhead, lower actual data throughput rate.

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WEP connections can take slightly longer to establish. Also, WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK

encryption can consume more battery power on a notebook computer, and can cause

significant performance degradation with a slow computer. Instructions for configuring the

security options can be found in

“Choosing Appropriate Wireless Security” on page 2-1

. A full

explanation of wireless security standards is available in

“Wireless Communications” in

Appendix B

.

Viewing the Advanced Wireless Settings

To view the advanced wireless settings:

From the main menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click Wireless Settings.

The available settings in this menu are:

•

Enable Wireless Router Radio

. If you disable the wireless router radio, wireless devices

cannot connect to the WNR834B.

•

Enable SSID Broadcast

. If you disable broadcast of the SSID, only devices that know the

correct SSID can connect. Disabling SSID broadcast nullifies the wireless network ‘discovery’

feature of some products, such as Windows XP.

•

Wireless Card Access List

. When a Wireless Card Access List is configured and enabled, the

WNR834B checks the MAC address of any wireless device attempting a connection, and only

allows connections to computers identified on the trusted computers list. For instructions on

configuring the Wireless Card Access List, see

“Restricting Wireless Access by MAC

Address” on page 2-11

Figure 1-9

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.

Setting up a Vista WPS Network

If you have configured your router from a Windows Vista PC using Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)

or if you configured your router using the NETGEAR wizard and selected no security, WPA,

WPA2 or WPA+WPA2 as your security, you can expand your network map and add additional

clients by using the following features in the Vista Settings menu.

•

Allow a Registrar to Configure This Router

. A Windows Vista PC can configure the router

using WPS. This is the default configuration until the router has been configured (see

Figure 1-10 on page 1-15

). Once a Windows Vista PC has configured the router, this feature

becomes inactive. To reconfigure the router using a Windows Vista PC, this option must be

enabled

•

Enable Built-In Registrar

. The router becomes the registrar and can easily add additional

wireless clients into your network by automatically assigning the router’s Wireless Network

Name (SSID) and WPA/WPA2-PSK security to the client. The client is added by entering the

client PIN (which is promoted from the client utility) in the Add a Wireless Client dialog

field..

To configure the router from a Windows Vista PC:

1.

If there is no check mark in the

Allow a Registrar to Configure this Router

checkbox, check

the radio box and click Apply.

2.

On the Windows Vista PC, click the Network icon on your desktop to view a dialog that

displays your network devices.

3.

From the Network dialog box, click the Add a wireless device menu button and follow the

instructions displayed by the Windows Vista registrar.

Once a Windows Vista PC has configured the router, the

Allow a Registrar to Configure this

Router

feature becomes inactive.

Note:

The Fragmentation Threshold, CTS/RTS Threshold and Preamble Mode options

are reserved for wireless testing and advanced configuration only. Do not change

these settings.

Note:

When using the Vista Settings, all devices in your network must use the same

security settings and Wireless Network Name (SSID) in order to interoperate

with each other.

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To add a WPS client using the built-in registrar:

1.

Select Vista Settings under the Advanced section of the main menu. The Vista Settings screen

will display.

2.

Select the

Enable Built-in Registrar

checkbox and click Apply. The Enable Built-in

Registrar will be enabled.

3.

Click Add a Wireless Client. The dialog box will prompt you for the client’s PIN which is

prompted from the client utility. (You should be able to view the client’s PIN using the client’s

configuration utility.)

4.

Click Add. The Wireless Client will be added to your network

Figure 1-10

Note:

The device name should be set to a name that is easy to identify in your

network. You can see this name in the Vista network map and network

explorer.

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Figure 1-11

WNR834Bv2