TL-WR542G

54Mbps Wireless Router User Guide

27

Internet connection to remain active at all times, enter 0 in the

Max Idle Time

field. Otherwise,

enter the number of minutes you want to have elapsed before your Internet connection

terminates.

Caution

: Sometimes the connection cannot be disconnected although you specify a time to

Max Idle Time, since some applications are visiting the Internet continually in the

background.

¾

Connect Automatically -

Connect automatically after the router is disconnected. To use this

option, click the radio button.

¾

Connect Manually -

You can configure the router to make it connect or disconnect manually.

After a specified period of inactivity (

Max Idle Time

), the router will disconnect from your

Internet connection, and you will not be able to re-establish your connection automatically as

soon as you attempt to access the Internet again. To use this option, click the radio button. If

you want your Internet connection to remain active at all times, enter "0" in the

Max Idle Time

field. Otherwise, enter the number in minutes that you wish to have the Internet connecting

last unless a new link is requested.

Caution

: Sometimes the connection cannot be disconnected although you specify a time to

Max Idle Time, since some applications are visiting the Internet continually in the background.

4.4.3 MAC Clone

You can configure the MAC address of the WAN port on this page, Figure 4-13:

Figure 4-13 MAC Address Clone

Some ISPs require that you register the MAC Address of your adapter, which is connected to your

cable/DSL Modem or Ethernet during installation. Changes are rarely needed here.

¾

WAN MAC Address -

This field displays the current MAC address of the WAN port, which is

used for the WAN port. If your ISP requires that you register the MAC address, please enter

the correct MAC address into this field. The format for the MAC Address is

XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX (X is any hexadecimal digit).

¾

Your PC's MAC Address -

This field displays the MAC address of the PC that is managing

the router. If the MAC address is required, you can click the

Clone MAC Address

button

and this MAC address will fill in the

WAN MAC Address

field.

TL-WR542G

54Mbps Wireless Router User Guide

28

Click

Restore Factory MAC

to restore the MAC address of WAN port to the factory default

value.

Click the

Save

button to save your settings.

)

Note:

1)

Only the PC on your LAN can use the

MAC Address Clone

feature.

2)

If you click the

Save

button, the router will prompt you to reboot.

4.5 Wireless

Figure 4-14 Wireless menu

There are three submenus under the Wireless menu (shown in Figure 4-14):

Wireless Settings

,

MAC Filtering

and

Wireless Statistics.

Click any of them, and you will be able to configure the

corresponding function. The detailed explanations for each submenu are provided below.

4.5.1 Wireless Settings

The basic settings for the wireless network are set on this page, Figure 4-15:

TL-WR542G

54Mbps Wireless Router User Guide

29

Figure 4-15 Wireless Settings

¾

SSID -

Enter a value of up to 32 characters. The same name (SSID) must be assigned to all

wireless devices in your network. The default SSID is TP-LINK, but it is recommended

strongly that you change your networks name (SSID) to a different value. This value is

case-sensitive. For example,

TP-LINK

is NOT the same as

tp-link

.

¾

Region

- Select your region from the pull-down list. This field specifies the region where the

wireless function of the router can be used. It may be illegal to use the wireless function of

the router in a region other than one of those specified in this field. If your country or region

is not listed, please contact your local government agency for assistance.

The default region is United States. When you select your local region from the pull-down list.

Click the

Save

button

,

then the Note Dialog appears. Click OK.

TL-WR542G

54Mbps Wireless Router User Guide

30

Note Dialog

)

Note:

Limited by local law regulations, version for North America does not have region selection

option.

¾

Channel -

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

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

access point.

¾

Mode -

Select the desired wireless mode. The options are:

•

54Mbps (802.11g) -

Both 802.11g and 802.11b wireless stations can connect to the

router.

•

11Mbps (802.11b) -

Only 802.11b wireless stations can connect to the router.

)

Note:

The default is "54Mbps (802.11g)", which allows both 802.11g and 802.11b wireless stations to

connect to the router.

¾

Enable Wireless Router Radio -

The wireless radio of this Router can be enabled or

disabled to allow wireless stations access. If enabled, wireless stations will be able to

access the router. Otherwise, wireless stations will not be able to access.

¾

Enable SSID Broadcast -

If you select the

Enable SSID Broadcast

checkbox, the Wireless

Router SSID will broadcast its name (SSID) on the air.

¾

Enable Bridges

–

If you select the

Enable Bridges

checkbox, you can input MAC address

of other APs to communicate with them wirelessly in Bridge mode.

•

MAC of AP (1-6): Input the MAC address of the AP which you want to communicate

with. There are six entries can be configured.

The APs can communicate with each other in Bridge mode unless they know each other’s

MAC address. For example, if the router whose MAC address is 00-13-56-A8-9E-1A wants

to communicate with an AP whose MAC address is 00-13-56-A8-9E-1B in Bridge mode, you

should do as following:

1.

Select

Enable Bridges

and input 00-13-56-A8-9E-1B as following screen shown.

TL-WR542G

54Mbps Wireless Router User Guide

31

2.

Access the AP's Web-based utility and configure the AP under Bridge mode, then input

00-13-56-A8-9E-1A in corresponding Blank.

¾

Enable Wireless Security

– The wireless security function can be enabled or disabled. If

disabled, the wireless stations will be able to connect the router without encryption. It is

recommended strongly that you choose this option to encrypt your wireless network. The

encryption settings are described below.

¾

Authentication Type -

You can select one of the following authentication types:

•

WEP -

Select WEP authentication type based on

802.11 authentications.

•

WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK

-

Select WPA/WPA2 authentication type based on pre-shared

passphrase.

•

WPA /WPA2 -

Select WPA/WPA2 authentication type based on Radius Server.

¾

Authentication Options -

You can select one of the following authentication options:

•

When you select

WEP

for authentication type you can select the following

authentication options:

•

Automatic -

Select Shared Key or Open System authentication type automatically

based on the wireless station request.

•

Shared Key -

Select 802.11 Shared Key authentication.

•

Open System -

Select 802.11 Open System authentication.

•

When you select

WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK

for authentication type you can select

Automatic

,

WPA –PSK

or

WPA2-PSK

as authentication options.

•

When you select

WPA/WPA2

as an authentication type you can select

Automatic

WPA

or

WPA2

as authentication option.

¾

WEP Key Format -

You can select

ASCII

or

Hexadecimal

format. ASCII Code Format

stands for any combination of keyboard characters in the specified length. Hexadecimal