Technically Easy

Category: Networking

Posts that discuss networking hardware, such as routers, switches, and network adapters can be found under this category.

  • Finding Your D-Link DI-524 Revision

    Finding Your D-Link DI-524 Revision

    I recently had an issue with one of my tutorial posts that outlines how to secure a D-Link DI-524 wireless G router. The issue was that the steps I provided didn’t exactly match the options that were available on some DI-524 routers. After a few readers reported this issue, I decided I should look into the cause.

    After doing some quick research on that particular router, I learned that there are actually three different revisions of that router. This caused the issue because two of the three revisions had different administrative screens that those I outlined in the post. If you would like to find the revision of your router, then read on.

    Finding Your DI-524 Revision

    As mentioned above, there are three revisions of the DI-524 wireless G router. While not obvious to most that use the router, there are minor differences between the administrative pages between the first two revisions and the final one. To find the revision that you are using, follow these steps:

    1. Login to your router.
    2. Click The “Status” tab at the top.
    3. The “Firmware Version” will indicate the router revision you are using, as this table
      shows:

      Revision Firmware
      A 1.xx
      C 3.xx
      D 4.xx

    Small Differences Between Revisions

    There are a small number of differences within the administration pages that can cause confusion when outlining steps to changing your router settings. A good example, as mentioned above, is the page where you set your wireless security settings. While the settings are similar between the three revisions, how they settings are actually set are different.

    Since I have learned about the three difference revisions, I have since updated my past post on securing the router.

  • How to Reset the Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Router

    How to Reset the Linksys WRT160N Wireless-N Router

    Learning to reset the Linksys WRT160N wireless-N router is important if you currently change the settings within the administrative pages. The reason it is important is because one wrong setting change could make it difficult to access the Internet or the administrative pages of of the router.

    If you need to start over with your router, one solution is to reset your router back to its factory defaults. This means that you return all the settings on the router back to what they were when you first purchased and setup the router. This post will explain the two methods you can use to reset the Linksys WRT160N wireless-n router.

    Using the Reset Button

    Note:

    Resetting the router to the factory defaults will delete any changes you have made to the router, including any security settings. This should be used as a last resort.

    The first method involves using the reset button that is located at the back of the router. It isn’t hard to reset the router this way, but does require physically being in the same location as the router.

    To reset the router using the reset button, use these steps:

    1. Look for the red reset button at the back of the router.
    2. Press and hold the reset button for approximately 5 seconds.

    Reset the Router Through the Administrative Pages

    Note:

    If you don’t know the user ID and password to access your router’s administrative pages, then you will need to use the first method to reset your WRT160N router.

    The second method involves logging into the administrative pages of your router. This can be done from anywhere that you can connect to your router. While not complex, there are a few more steps than using the reset button.

    1. Log in to the router’s administrative pages.
    2. Click the “Administration” menu option.
    3. Next, click “Factory Defaults” from the sub-menu.
    4. Click the “Restore All Settings” button on the screen.

    Regardless of which method you use to reset your router, it is important to secure your router after it has been reset.

  • How to Reset the D-Link DIR-628 Wireless Router

    How to Reset the D-Link DIR-628 Wireless Router

    A few posts ago I wrote a post titled Securing the D-Link DIR-628 Wireless Router. In that post I outlined the steps needed to secure that particular wireless router. Securing a wireless router is extremely important to prevent others from accessing your network and Internet from their computers.

    There are times, however, where you may need to reset your router back to the factory defaults. You may need to do this if a setting you changed is preventing you from connecting to your router or the Internet, or you don’t know the password to access your router. It is easy to reset the DIR-628 router back to the factory defaults, which I outline below.

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  • Securing the D-Link DIR-628 Wireless Router

    Securing the D-Link DIR-628 Wireless Router

    I have written a few guides about securing a wireless router. All the guides in the past were for 802.11g routers, so the routers have been around for many years, and are quite common. This guide will concentrate on a newer router, with many more options.

    The 802.11n proposed standard is becoming much more commonly supported in various networking devices, and has been for the last few years. This post will provide step-by-step instructions for securing an 802.11n device: the D-Link DIR-628 wireless router.

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  • About the 802.11 Wireless Network Standards

    I have written many posts regarding wireless networks on Technically Easy. Some of the most popular posts deal with resetting and securing a wireless network. Wireless technology has hit the mainstream over the last few years, especially with more people buying laptops and becoming more mobile.

    Obviously, security is a major concern for most, so they may tend to not invest in wireless technology. For those that do, you are presented with many different network equipment that you can use. The network equipment is advertised as supporting several of the standard wireless networking standards. In this post I will briefly discuss each standard that has been created so you have some knowledge of what it all means.

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  • How to Reset the Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Router

    How to Reset the Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Router

    There may be times where you hare having trouble with your WRT54GL router, which may require you to reset the Linksys WRT54GL wireless-G router. There are two methods of performing such an action, so which method you choose is up to you.

    I recently wrote a post outlining the steps needed to secure a Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G router. Now I will detail how you go about resetting the router if you do need to revert back to the factory defaults. I will explain the two methods you can use to reset the wireless router.

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  • Securing the Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Router

    Securing the Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G Router

    Two of the most popular posts on Technically Easy has to do with securing the Linksys WRT54G and D-Link DI-524 wireless routers. With many people using wireless routers at home, it becomes more important to secure the connection to the router form a computer. When I turn on my laptop at home, I can see at least five wireless networks (all secured).

    I decided to write another “how to secure a wireless router” guide, to help those who may not have one of the two routers listed above. This guide will describe the steps you need to take to secure the Linksys WRT54GL Wireless-G router. The steps required are very similar to the WRT54G, but to avoid any confusion, I created this guide.

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  • Connect to Your Network Without Rebooting

    I have had an issue recently when connecting to my wireless network without rebooting. The issue came about when I had dropped my wireless connection from my laptop, but when the router had reinitialized, Windows wouldn’t connect to the network.

    There could be many times where you could lose your connection, and can’t reconnect to the network without restarting your machine. In this post I’ll talk about two commands you can execute to try and reconnect to your network.

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