How to change Security Settings on a Belkin Wireless Router

It is fascinating to see how technology advances with the advent of time. Years of computer technology have witnessed the concept of accessing the Internet using a single network connection. However, with the help of the Wi-Fi and now the Belkin Wireless Router, users can share files and an Internet connection without using any network cables.

With its advanced technology, files, printers, hard drives and CD-ROMs, can be accessed with much greater ease. It provides one with networking speeds that are almost five times faster than the present Wi-Fi standard. Its integrated Ethernet switch also allows connecting wired computers to its network. The wireless 802.11g 2.4GHz standard provides with an astonishing 400 feet of wireless network coverage.

Belkin Wireless Router

There can be strangers within the range of the router which can access the network. To avoid this, the security settings need to be changed. For this, the following steps need to be followed:-

Step 1: It involves clicking on the ‘Start’ button following by a click on the ‘Control panel’ option.

Step 2: Among the list of the ‘Control Panel’ options, a double click on the ‘Devices’ icon is required. After right clicking on the entry of the Belkin router, click on ‘Update Driver’. Once the downloading of the latest software driver is finished, the ‘Devices’ window should be closed.

Step 3: The web browser icon needs to be clicked. Then on the address bar at the top of the screen, ‘192.168.2.1’ should be typed. After pressing the ‘Enter’ button, the router’s access page is brought up. Then click on the ‘Login’ button.

Step 4: The password field should be left blank and then the ‘Submit’ button is clicked on, in order to access the settings menu. After this, the tab at the top of the screen labeled as ‘Wireless’ needs to be clicked on.

Step 5: At the center of the page, there’s a ‘Security’ link which needs to be clicked on. Then in the drop down menu box that appears, the ‘Security mode’ option needs to be selected. After this, one can change the security mode setting as desired. If the security encryption on the wireless network is needed to be enabled, the ‘128-bit WEP’ option needs to be chosen.

Step 6: Then the ‘Generate’ button at the bottom of the screen should be selected. This is done to generate the encryption key and then a password of choice is typed in the ‘Passphrase’ box. Now if one doesn’t want to protect the network from anyone within range, the box can be left empty. Then, the ‘Apply changes’ button should be clicked on to save changes. However, if the password is entered, then anyone else who tries to connect to the internet using the same wireless router will be asked to enter the password.

Therefore, any new technology which enables a high density, faster and highly convenient network connection requires making additional security settings too, in order to protect the network from being misused by unwanted third parties.