aprilfromhenderson

Q: how do I get a password on my wireless router?

I think I found a person on in My Finder sharing my network. I'm not too happy. When we set up our router

it didn't ask for a password, so we don't have one. I'm not too computer savvy, but can do the basics.

Help..not sure what I can do ? I'd  like to have a password so people can't get onto my network.

Thanks for the help

April

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.7), Trying to restore my lost data

Posted on Jul 6, 2012 1:51 PM

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Q: how do I get a password on my wireless router?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 6, 2012 2:01 PM in response to aprilfromhenderson
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Jul 6, 2012 2:01 PM in response to aprilfromhenderson

    Is it an Apple device? If not, look to the manufacturer for instructions.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 6, 2012 2:16 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 9 (60,976 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 6, 2012 2:16 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Years ago manufacturers use to have a special place to plug-in just for configuration.

     

    With almost everything today, you connect a cable or make a wireless connection as if going to the Internet, open a Web Browser, and enter the physical address of the Router in the Address Bar at the top of the Browser window. The Router responds with screens formatted for display in a Web Browser, and you "fill in the forms" to configure it.

     

    If it is an Apple Base Station, it uses  a separate program (Airport Utility) to do that set-up, so that it can be more trouble-free.

     

    Now you need to "dig in the manual" for your specific device and find out what to enter in your Web Browser or Airport Utility to talk directly to the Router.

  • by aprilfromhenderson,

    aprilfromhenderson aprilfromhenderson Jul 6, 2012 2:17 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 6, 2012 2:17 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Yes it's a MacBook laptop.

  • by aprilfromhenderson,

    aprilfromhenderson aprilfromhenderson Jul 6, 2012 2:20 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 6, 2012 2:20 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Dig in which manual...for my router or my Macbook??

    Not sure what you mean about talking to the router?

    Sorry, still not sure what to do, thanks for your help tho.

    April

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 6, 2012 2:35 PM in response to aprilfromhenderson
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Jul 6, 2012 2:35 PM in response to aprilfromhenderson

    I was asking whether the router is an Apple device, such as an AirPort base station.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 6, 2012 2:35 PM in response to aprilfromhenderson
    Level 9 (60,976 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 6, 2012 2:35 PM in response to aprilfromhenderson

    Linc Davis was asking, "Is your Router an Apple Airport Base Station, or something else like LinkSys, D-Link, Cisco, or other."

  • by aprilfromhenderson,

    aprilfromhenderson aprilfromhenderson Jul 7, 2012 8:51 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2012 8:51 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    It is a D link, I found directions online at You Tube,

    but after I followed directions and typed in

    what I thought was my password, it didn't

    work. So I reset it and I still don't have

    a password on my network.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 7, 2012 9:00 AM in response to aprilfromhenderson
    Level 9 (60,976 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 7, 2012 9:00 AM in response to aprilfromhenderson

    To get access to your Router as Administrator, you need to enter the administrator password. If you do that correctly, you will gain administrative access, and additional configuration options will become available.

     

    ? Did you gain administrative access ??

     

    Once you have adminstrative acess to the Router, you will want to enable WPA encyption, and specify a user connection password (as long a password as possible). This password is what you will need to connect as a User the next time you connect. Some Routers throw you off when they establish WPA encrytpion, and insist that to get back on, you must now enter the password you just set.

  • by aprilfromhenderson,

    aprilfromhenderson aprilfromhenderson Jul 7, 2012 9:10 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2012 9:10 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Thanks Grant. Yes, I did gain Administrative access,

    and typed in a password. I guess I don't know

    which password is the one that you use to

    gain access to my network. So is it called

    User connection password? Thanks for your help,

    you are very speedy too

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Helpful

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jul 7, 2012 9:22 AM in response to aprilfromhenderson
    Level 9 (60,976 points)
    Desktops
    Jul 7, 2012 9:22 AM in response to aprilfromhenderson

    This was much simpler in "the old days" when there was a special place to plug in a terminal used only for configuration. It is more complicated today because you are both connecting as Administrator and as a Wireless user.

     

    If you have gained administative access, the password you use for that has nothing to do with gaining acess to use the Router on a daily basis.

     

    The menus to specify a password for daily connection to the Internet will be under something like encryption or proteced access. There you will usually specify WPA (personal) should be turned on, and that to allow users to connect to the Internet, the password you specify there should be entered -- a new (and different) password.

     

    This connection password [not the Admin password] will be entered on your computer under

    System Preferences > Network > WiFi/Airport...

    ... when you choose to connect to your home Network. Then your Mac will remember and use it when needed.

  • by Linc Davis,Helpful

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Jul 7, 2012 9:25 AM in response to aprilfromhenderson
    Level 10 (207,990 points)
    Applications
    Jul 7, 2012 9:25 AM in response to aprilfromhenderson

    There are two different passwords at issue here. They aren't necessarily the same, and shouldn't be the same.

     

    One is the password you use to get into your router settings. If you don't know what that password is, you'll have to reset your router to its factory default settings. I can't tell you how to do that. There's probably either a button to press or a pinhole into which you insert a paper clip. After you reset the router, it will have a default password, which you must change immediately. The default password is in the documentation somewhere. Find that documentation on the manufacturer's website.

     

    Do not leave the default password set.

     

    The other password is the network password, which you set within the router's web interface. I can't tell you how to do that either. Make sure you select WPA2 Personal as the security standard, not WEP. If the router doesn't have that setting, recycle it and get a newer one.

     

    See this support article for the possible formats of wireless network passwords:

     

    AirPort: Joining an encrypted WEP or WPA Wi-Fi network