It time to get your hands dirty and start to build your home network. Whoopeeee! Ok dance around and do the fish dance. Fine. Good job.

Ok, on to serious business. At this point I am going to assume that you have a high speed Internet connection installed at your home.

And you've also bought yourself a home network router. Ok, get it out of the box and plug it into the power outlet.

Now use a CAT-5 network cable provided with your high-speed modem - it looks like an oversized cable with super big telephone plugs at each end.

Next plug one end into your router in the port marked either “WAN “ (wide area network) or “DSL/Cable” or simply “Internet”. If these labels don’t exist then double check your router’s manual to see where the high-speed modem connects. Plug the other end into your high-speed modem.

Next connect a second CAT-5 network cable (I hope you bought one) to one of the ports on the back of the router (usually marked 1 thru 4). Attached the other end of the network cable to your network adapter on the back of your computer. (See a picture of a network card and cable.)

The next step is to make sure that the computer can talk to the router (or "gateway" is another word for a router).

So put on your survival gear - we’re going router diving.

Here's the key next step for most people. Your router probably came with an install CD. Use it. Put it in the computer's CD-ROM drive and run the setup routine. It will ask you some basic questions about your Internet service including inforamtion like DNS, IP, type of connection (PPPoE or cable modem or staic IP). That information will be available from your Internet Service Provider. If you don;'t have it call CALL THEM AND GET IT. You cannot continue with out it. However, if the installtion fails or you much it up - and don't feel bad if you do, then you can follow my handholding instructions where I show you what you need to know to make it work.

Ok, if you are still with me then you want me to hold your hand through a manual configuration. No problem. Let's do it.

In your router’s manual, an “internal” IP address will be listed. This is the numeric address that your computer uses in your home network to find your router in the digital miasma.

A large number of routers use the address 192.168.0.1. Yours could also use 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1. In rare cases this number could be 10.0.1.1 or some variant of that number. Each router manufacturer chooses their own numbers but the 10.0.x.x and the 192.168.x.x are reserved for private networks. The x by the way in the previous example is any number from 0 to 254.

Ok, now that you have the router internal IP number open your web browser on your computer and type in the web address box:

http://192.168.0.1

...and hit enter.

if it's the right address, the administration web page stored inside the router should show up on your screen. If you can't find the address in your router manual you can try the IP suggestions above.

Once the router's administration web page appears you'll have to type a user ID and password to get into it.

The default user ID and password for Linksys routers is:

User ID: <blank>
Password: admin

For Netgear routers:

User ID: admin
Password: password

For D-Link routers it is:

User ID: admin
Password: <blank>

If your router is not one of these, refer to your manual for the correct user ID and password to access the administrator control panel. Make a note for later to change the password.

Deep Inside the Router

Every router adminsitraion interface is different, but they all have common areas.

Often there will be a wizard -a series of questions that you answer to configure the router to your high speed Internet connection.

Chances are this will be under "basic setup" or some such section of the router's control panel.

Let’s choose the basic installation. As you step through this “wizard” you will be prompted for various pieces of information from your new network and your Internet connection.

At this point it’s handy to have various configuration settings available. Your high speed Internet service provider should have given you several pieces of information that you’ll need to answer the installation program’s questions.

Here’s a rundown of what they might be:

For a cable Internet connection, you will need to know:
Host name: usually the name you have to assigned to your computer. Something like: CCA1125-A.
Domain name: Sometimes this is blank sometimes it is some other moniker that the cable Internet company gives you.
You may need other items such as Encapsulation, Service Type and User name and password. However normally you don’t. In fact the good news is that many routers will auto conmfigure themselves to work with a broadband cable modem.

CLICK HERE to see what the cable modem connection screen for a Netgear router looks like.

For a DSL connection, you will need to know:

Host Name: Sometimes provide by your ISP, sometimes left blank.
Domain name: Sometimes provided by your ISP, sometimes left blank.
Encapsulation: PPPoE or Ethernet. Sometimes you won’t have to specify this – but normally you will.
User name: Provided to you, sometimes it’s your e-mail address assigned by your service or the part of the Internet address before the @ sign.
So if the ISP assigned you spunkymonkey@ispcompany.com, it might just be spunkymonkey.
Password: Either assigned to you or you choose it before hand during the ISP registration process.
DNS: Sometimes you also be asked for the DNS (or Domain Name Server) server number of your ISP. This looks something like this 38.10.15.01. That’s the IP address of the computer at the Internet service that is a kind of Internet traffic cop.

CLICK HERE to see what the DSL connection screen for a Netgear router looks like.

Don’t sweat this stuff too much, if you get in a bind call your high speed Internet service and they will provide this info. If your installation software doesn’t ask for it, you probably don’t have to worry about it.

Next >> Setting up your computer