Configuring the Netgear router: step-by-step instructions. How to connect and configure a Netgear router?

Not the last place in the market of network equipment in the budget class is occupied by products of company Netgear. Many potential buyers by ignorance equate all products under this logo to cheap Chinese toys. In fact, this is a serious American brand, which has manufacturing facilities in China and produces goods of very high quality. Configuring the Netgear router, as well as connecting the device to the computer, does not take a lot of time from the user. This article will not only help the router's owners get to know the device's functionality more closely, but also provide step-by-step instructions on how to properly start the router.

Multilingual instruction

The fact that the Netgear router belongs to the reputable brands in the network equipment market, says the presence of the russified instruction. If you look closely, the buyer will find out that the company sells its products to 25 countries. This is a serious indicator. For comparison: the TP-Link brand is represented only in 19 countries officially.

Before connecting the device to the computer, it is recommended that you open the user's guide and familiarize yourself with the basic connectors of the router: power adapter, WAN interface , LAN ports and reset button. Before the first start of the device, professionals recommend to reset the router to the factory settings - connect the power cable, wait for the light indication and hold the reset button for 10 seconds.

Connecting to a computer

Before connecting a Netgear router to a personal computer or laptop, it is recommended to remove the Internet provider cable from the network connector of the PC and insert it into the blue port of the router (with the WAN inscription). After that, you need to remove the patch cord from the box and connect it to a personal computer and a router (yellow port). Only after the above actions can you connect the network device to the power supply. In the future, it is not recommended to insert a WAN cable and remove it from the router when the power is connected.

On a personal computer, regardless of the operating system installed, the user must launch any browser (Internet Explorer or Google Chrome) and enter the IP router in the address bar: 192.168.1.1. When requesting authorization, enter login and password - "admin". After that, the user will enter the control panel of the router. If the browser has indicated an inability to connect when entering an IP address, the user must manually configure the network adapter for the PC.

Tweaking your computer

Many providers provide Internet services using security protocols or on the basis of private virtual networks. In the latter case, it is better to entrust the router to administrators, since it will be very difficult for an uninitiated VPN user to configure independently.

Switching to the control menu of the network adapter by the steps "Control Panel" - "Network Management Center" - "Changing adapter settings", the user will find a list of devices that provide a remote connection to the computer, including the Netgear router. Often, the desired interface is highlighted by a yellow exclamation mark (or choose a device with the word "Ethernet"). You need to press the right mouse button and select "Properties". In the list of components, find the protocol "IP TCP \ IPv4" and click "Properties". In the menu that appears, the user sees the fields filled with numbers, they need to be accurately copied onto a sheet of paper, and then set the button in both fields against the selection "Automatically", save and exit. Configuring the Netgear router after the operation is available.

Work with an assistant

After the first start of the control panel, the router will offer its help to the user in the configuration. Professionals in the field of IT technologies recommend to agree with the work of the assistant only in cases when fine tuning of the network adapter of the computer was not required. In such cases, the user of the intelligent program will tell you how to set up WiFi. The Netgear router, in fact, will create and launch everything, requesting the user only the name of the access point and password.

The rest of the owners of the network device need to abandon the services of an assistant. But the router will not leave the newcomer in trouble and will continue to poll, in which he will ask about the ability to connect to the network, the type of connection and settings (which were saved on a sheet of paper with fine tuning of the network adapter PC).

All kinds of connections

In most cases, the provider when composing the contract with the client, specifies in the specification detailed information for connecting the computer to the Internet. Accordingly, before you configure the Netgear router , you need to find this specification for the contract. In any case, manually entering parameters requires knowledge of addresses, logins or passwords.

The easiest way to connect a PPPoE connection. The user only needs to know the login and password for authorization (in the contract, the provider must specify them). More difficult things are with the L2TP connection - in addition to authorization, you need to know the address of the remote computer to which the router will connect. The most difficult thing is to create a connection to the VPN. In fact, the user will need to create two connections and configure them in different ways.

Wireless technologies

When it comes to WiFi, the Netgear router ceases to be a complex network equipment and turns into a regular user toy. This is probably the only item on the control panel that can be configured in a few seconds. A network name (SSID) is selected, which will be detected by others when searching for wireless networks. Then - the region. He needs it to synchronize time, but professionals recommend choosing "USA". The fact is that the ocean is more demanding laws for signal strength, respectively, the router will provide better services for WiFi. This applies to England, Australia, Canada and a number of developed countries in the world.

The Netgear router supports all types of hardware protection, but it's better to choose the encryption parameters by the WPA2 type with the AES key, it's harder to pick up the attacker. And these settings are supported by most mobile devices in the domestic market. Do not forget about the password - you can enter anything (numbers, letters, special characters). That's just about the convenience you do not need to forget, because enter a complex password from the phone's keyboard is sometimes very difficult.

Additional settings

Many users may be confused by the fact that the configuration of the Netgear router is limited to only two points. But in the control panel the menu is represented by a very large list of settings. The first thing professionals recommend is to go to the "Administration" and set their own password to start the control panel of the network device. Naturally, the authorization should not coincide with the settings of the Wi-Fi network.

Do not interfere with the owner and save the current settings of the router, because with failures and changing the installation address of the device it is easier to specify the path to the configuration file, rather than register everything manually again. Backup is also carried out in the "Administration" menu. If the owner of a wireless device often has visitors, you can create a guest network with your own authorization. This is done in the "Guest network" menu, again, the password should differ from the basic one.

Finally

As practice shows, the configuration of the Netgear router, as well as the equipment of the American manufacturer, are rather simple and do not require special knowledge in the field of IT technologies. All the minor functionality present in the network device is described in the instruction manual, and any owner can customize it himself. The main thing - do not forget about the possibility of saving the configuration file, because some items in the control panel can block access to the Internet, and the buyer will take a lot of time to return the router to its original state.