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  • How to Secure the Linksys EA4500 Wireless Router

    How to Secure the Linksys EA4500 Wireless Router

    Wireless routers, by default, are unsecured when you connect a router for the first time. This is important to know as you will need to take the necessary steps to secure any wireless router that you have just purchased.

    With regards to Linksys routers, the steps to secure the router are very similar, so if you have trouble finding proper steps to secure your Linksys router, you can usually follow steps for another Linksys router.

    To make it easier for owners of the Linksys EA4500 wireless router, I will provide the steps to secure the router below.

    Steps to Secure the Linksys EA4500 Wireless Router

    If you have owned a Linksys router in the past, the steps I outline below make look familiar, that is because the firmware that is included with the various Linksys routers look very similar.

    I have divided the steps into several sections to make it easier to follow, and to indicate what tasks each group of steps perform.

    Loading the Router’s Web Interface

    Before securing your Linksys EA4500 you will need to access the Web interface. This is done by opening a Web browser and navigating to the router’s Web interface.

    Note:

    I suggest that you use Internet Explorer, if available, to access the Web interface. Many users have reported problems with accessing the Web interface for a router with other Web browsers.

    1. Open you Web browser and then enter 192.168.1.1 in the address bar.
    2. The router will then prompt for a user name and password. Leave the user name field blank, and type “admin” (without the quotes) in the password field.

    Change the Router Password

    Once you have access to the Web interface, the first steps you should perform are to reset the password needed to access the Web interface. Unfortunately, you can’t change the user name with the stock firmware, buy making the password long and complex should provide enough protection.

    1. Click the “Administration” tab from the menu at the top.
    2. Next, if the “Management” page isn’t display, then click the “Management” link at the top.
    3. In the “Router Access” section, enter a new password for the router, and then enter the same password in the second field to confirm.
    4. Click the “Save Settings” button at the bottom.
    5. The router will then save the new password, and you will be required to re-login again with the new password. The user name will still be blank.

    Setup the Wireless Network

    The steps outlined in this section are probably the most important steps to follow. These steps will secure your wireless networks from unauthorized users. Failure to perform these steps will allow anyone access to your wireless network.

    The Linksys EA4500 allows devices to connect to it on either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency. In order to make a device connect to either frequency without having to change networks, we will be making both frequencies use the same network name (SSID).

    1. Log into the router, if you haven’t already done so, and then click the “Wireless” tab at the top.
    2. By default, Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is selected, which is unfortunate because WPS is not secure. Click the “Manual” option to switch from WPS.
    3. For both the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz sections use the following settings:
      • Network Name (SSID): The name for your network. This is the name that will appear in the list of wireless networks that can be detected by wireless devices.
      • Security Mode: WPA2 Personal or WPA Personal.
      • Passphrase: Enter a long and complex string of characters, numbers and symbols. This is the most important element to secure your wireless network.
    4. Click the “Save Settings” button at the bottom to save your security settings.

    After you perform the steps outlined in “Setup the Wireless Network”, you can then select you wireless network from the list of available networks and then enter the passphrase that you have created. Anyone that connects to the wireless router will need to enter this passphrase – unless you setup guest access within the router.

    At this point your Linksys EA4500 wireless router is secured, and no unauthorized users should be able to gain access to your network or router.

  • The Top 3 Most Dangerous Computer Viruses

    The Top 3 Most Dangerous Computer Viruses

    Computer viruses have come a long way since the very first one in early 1970s. Back in those days, computer viruses were basically self-replicating programs which didn’t do a lot of harmful activities (or anything harmful at all).

    Most were intended as academic testing purposes, and some were pretty much intended as jokes. The first virus in the wild was Elk Cloner, which essentially cloned itself from floppy disks to spread and upon 50th use, it will show a poem.

    Since then, viruses were developed with different purposes. These days when you talk about a computer virus, you think about malicious programs with evil intentions.

    For good reasons, too.

    Do you know how much destruction computer viruses are causing every year?

    Billions.

    Yes, that’s in dollars. Millions of computers get infected every year, and billions of dollars are lost.

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  • The Power of 6 Seconds: Vine & Your e-Commerce Business

    The Power of 6 Seconds: Vine & Your e-Commerce Business

    Unscrew the cap on a bottle of water. Put a stamp on an envelope. Open the door to let the dogs outside.

    These are a few examples of everyday tasks that usually take about six seconds to complete. But now, thanks in part to an innovative video feature called Vine, companies including e-commerce businesses are now using exactly six seconds to spread the word about who they are, and what they do.

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  • SEO Be Damned. Why Your Blog is About You.

    SEO Be Damned. Why Your Blog is About You.

    After I decided to change the direction of Technically Easy, I have been thinking more about what content I would like to publish on Technically Easy. Of course, as I started to think about the content, other questions started to pop in my head. How often should I publish posts? What long should each post be? What type of posts should I write? How many guest posts should I accept?

    The odd thing is that I started Technically Easy over six years ago, and many of the questions I asked myself were the same ones I asked myself when I first started. It seems that since I reset the direction of Technically Easy back to the way it was a few years ago, I also reset my thoughts on my blog. After six years of blogging, I have come to one conclusion with regards to my blog, and perhaps blogging in general: do whatever I want.

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  • What is DOCSIS?

    What is DOCSIS?

    When I first began using the Internet, I used a dialup modem to connect and still remember the nice noise the modem made when establishing a connection. That was over 16 years ago, but for the past 14 years I have been using a broadband Internet connection through my cable provider. Over the years I have seen my Internet connection speeds increase for both download and upload. Recently I have been contemplating switching Internet providers – mainly because of price – and have begun researching cable modems.

    The one thing that I have learned about cable Internet is the connectivity standard that is used by cable companies when it comes to offering Internet service. This standard is called the “Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification”, or more popularly known as DOCSIS. As I am at times, I became curious as to this specification and began doing some basic research.

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  • Thinking of Guest Posting? Not if You Do These 5 Things

    Thinking of Guest Posting? Not if You Do These 5 Things

    Yesterday I wrote a post where I laid out a new direction for Technically Easy. Actually, the direction I will be taking this blog is back to the original way I had intended this blog to go from the beginning. In that post I talked about how I will be evaluating guest posts more critically, and won’t be publishing such posts as often. I also talked about publishing posts less, but publishing better quality posts.

    With that being said, while I haven’t abandoned guest posts because I still feel that those types of posts have their place on Technically Easy, I have changed my guest posting guidelines to help ensure better quality guest posts. The reason for such a change has been over two years of accepting guest posts, I have been disappointed at times with some of the quality. I blame myself, of course, as I am the last in the line of publication of such posts.

    For those looking at writing and submitting guest posts, either on Technically Easy or another blog, I have put together some points on what I haven’t liked about guest posts.

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  • Rethinking the Direction of Technically Easy

    Rethinking the Direction of Technically Easy

    Over two years. That is how long I have been accepting guest posts on Technically Easy. Unfortunately, during that time I feel that the quality of my blog has suffered. Technically Easy has been online for over six years, and it started as a way for me to write my experiences, and answer technology issues, in a way that would be easy for others to find, read, and understand issues that they may be having, as well.

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  • Acronis True Image 2014 Review

    Acronis True Image 2014 Review

    A few years ago I had an issue with my wife’s laptop – it ran out of disk space on the installed 160GB hard drive. It was a horrible issue, I know. I eventually went and bought a 500GB hard drive, but my wife didn’t want anything to change after I installed the new hard drive – she is not a fan of technology changes.

    In order to ensure that her laptop was the same after the installation of the new hard drive, I decided to clone the information from the original 160GB hard drive onto the new 500GB hard drive. After performing searches online regarding the cloning process I decided on a piece of software called Acronis True Image. The entire process went off without a hitch and the new 500GB hard drive was installed and my wife couldn’t tell the difference – except she could now fill up the hard drive with more data.

    A few weeks ago I was asked by Acronis to review their new version of the True Image software aptly named Acronis True Image 2014. Remembering my experience of using their product in the past, I immediately jumped at the opportunity to have a look at what their software could do. After using the software for some time, it immediately became clear the True Image has undergone many changes since the version I used a few years ago.

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