Wireless Security For Linksys WRT54G Router Setup

Keep unwanted neighbors and nearby laptop users for stealing access to your Internet connection. You can never be certain of what wifi theives are doing under your account. Even if their activity is not questionable they are still taking up your resources without permission.

Here are the step-by-step instructions to secure wifi on your Linksys WRT54G wireless access point to prevent intruders:

1. Log in to your router by opening your web browser and going to http://192.168.1.1 - this is the address to acces your router. If this is your first time logging in, leave the username field blank and enter 'admin' (without the quote marks of course) as the password.
2. The first thing to do is back up your current configuration. This way if you set something incorrectly you can always revert back to the original setup. Click the "Administration" tab.
3. Click "Config Management"
4. Click the "Backup" button. Choose a location to save your configuration where you will remember.
5. Click the "Wireless" tab.
6. Where it says "Wireless Network Name (SSID)" enter a unique SSID name for your wifi to be identified when your laptop scans for access points.
7. Where it says "Wireless SSID Broadcast:" tick the box that says "Enable".
8. Leave the other fields as they are.
9. Click the "Save Settings" button and wait for the confirmation page.
10. Click the "Continue" button.
11. Click "Wireless Security"
12. For this example we will use WPA2 Personal encryption. Before you proceed make sure the wireless software your laptop uses has support for this type.
13. Where it says "Security Mode:" select "WPA2 Personal"
14. Where it says "WPA Algorithms:" select TKIP+AES
15. Where it says "WPA Shared Key:" enter anything you wish here. The longer the key the harder it is to hack. Combining numbers and letters and avoiding using dictionary words is the best practice. Write down or save this in a safe place.
16. Where it says "Group Key Renewal:" enter '3600' (without the quote marks of course).
17. Click the "Save Settings" button and wait for the confirmation page.
18. Click the "Continue" button.