Setting up wireless router without wire ?

[catgate]

Yes, a funny title for a question, but I'm not sure how else to describe the question.

A friend (yes, I still have one or two left) has asked me to help him set up his internet connection using a BT wireless router.

Now I have such a thing but my set up is:-

phone socket

l

filter

l

DSL cable

l

router

l

ethernet socket

l

main computer (linux)

As a result, just firing up the main computer and popping in 192.168.1.1 allows access to the router set up routine.

My puzzle is how can I access the router via a wireless card when the router is not set up for that card?

Do I set up the router "by wire" first and then disconnect and set up the "network" afterwards? Or will there be a set up CD with the BT router that will do it all for us without the use of neurones?

[Boris]

The normal BT Livebox comes with an ethernet cable included - so you can set it up. :)

Just plug it into the laptop's ethernet port.

The instructions/CD are very user friendly (if you actually read them :D )

[catgate]

Thank you for that, Boris.

His set up is just a single PC, which he uses upstairs in a little office, and he does not want to have to put in an upstairs 'phone socket.

[homecomputeraid]

Some wireless routers permit you to turn off management over wireless. On some, wireless management is off by default. My recommendation is to set it up over a wired connection, disconnect the cable, and get wireless working and secured, then turning off wireless management. Unless you know how to make the wireless connection very secure, there's a good chance someone could get in and do things with your wireless router including locking you out.

[catgate]

Some wireless routers permit you to turn off management over wireless. On some, wireless management is off by default. My recommendation is to set it up over a wired connection, disconnect the cable, and get wireless working and secured, then turning off wireless management. Unless you know how to make the wireless connection very secure, there's a good chance someone could get in and do things with your wireless router including locking you out.

Thanks for that, h/c.

My friend has the only motor repair business in the area and he was called out to five breakdown/recovery jobs on Monday. That was the evening planned for the fumbling and swearing. As a result he and his men have been doing evening shifts since then to try to get everything back on the road. Looks like a weekend job.

His house is right on the edge of a small village with no other dwelling within 75 yds. My intention was just to run a normal encryption.

[homecomputeraid]

Good luck Catgate,

Try to use WPA2 on the router and the wireless card(s) on the pc(s) with a long, randomly generated password like the ones aveilable here:

https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

You can copy and paste the password from the web site into notepad, then copy and paste into the router configuration and the wireless nic configuration. I also take a layered approach enabling less reliable methods like MAC Address Filtering and reducing transmission power if full power is not needed.

Sincerely,