Wireless security is our next priority and again in the LAN menu underneath Configuration on the main menu on the left hand side of the screen you will see Wireless Security. Click on it. As no security is currently set on the modems access point you will see a single drop down box in which you can select your preferred method of security. We recommend the use of WPA or WPA2 with a Pre-Shared Key. WEP should only be used if a client computer cannot support WPA. Select your prefferred method of encryption.

Using WEP Encryption - Using WEP to protect your wireless network is no longer recommended unless you have older equipment that does not support WPA or WPA2. It is possible to break 128 bit WEP encryption within 20 minutes however it will still keep passers-by and amateur hackers out of your network and is a much better option than no encryption at all. Select WEP as your security type. The best setting for authentication type for beginners is Open System or Both. Leave the dropdown menu next to WEP encryption as HEX. The Encryption Strength on the Bipac can be either 64 or 128 bits, 128 bits is the preferred option here if all of your client computers and devices support it. The most important detail we must supply is the WEP key itself. The primary key or key 1 on most devices is used for traffic in both directions, the other three keys can only be used to decrypt received data. If you are using 64 bit WEP the key must be ten charactors long and 128 bit WEP requires a key 26 charactors long. The key must be hexadecimal, that is that it must only contain numbers 0-9 and letters A-F. Once you have entered your key WRITE it down exactly as you typed it into the access point. This key will now be required by any computer or device that will join your wireless network. Without it they will not connect succesfully, after all, thats what securing the network is all about. Leave the Passphrase field blank if you are using an open system (recommended). Click apply on the bottom on the page and then click Save Config. Click the apply button on the Save Settings to Flash Page to save your settings.

Using WPA Encryption - WPA or WPA2 with a pre-shared key (PSK) is the preferred type of encryption for wireless networks, with WPA2 being the better of the two choices if your computers or devices support it. As the configuration pages for WPA and WPA2 are virtually identical we shall only depict WPA2 here. In security mode select WPA Pre-shared Key or WPA2 Pre-shared key. If your using WPA then the wisest choice for the WPA Algorithm is TKIP, if your using WPA2 the the best choice for the WPA2 Algorithm is AES. The Shared Key should be between 8 and 63 charactors, a random string of charactors 62 charactors in length would be the most secure key but as this key must be typed into all of your computers and devices something that is fairly long and can be remembered will do. Leave the group key renewal interval as default. Click apply on the bottom on the page and then click Save Config. Click the apply button on the Save Settings to Flash Page to save your settings and complete the wireless security settings configuration.

DHCP or Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is a mechanism which allows computers to automatically recieve their IP address, subnet mask, gateway and nameserver details automatically by a DHCP server. The DHCP server simply detects new computers or devices on the network as they are switched on and gives them these necessary details. Many devices have built in DHCP servers but be aware that you can only have one running on a network at a time or you may get unexpected results. The DHCP server on the Bipac is enabled by default and is configured by going to Configuration on the main menu and clicking on LAN where it appears in a sub menu. You initially have three choices, Disable, DHCP Server (enables it) and DHCP relay agent. Regardless of whether or not the DHCP server is running to configure it select DHCP server and click next.

For the most part the settings in the DHCP configuration needs no changes. It may be necessary at some point to manually specify Nameserver IP addresses for your DHCP clients and that is achieved simply by removing the tick from Use Router as DNS Server and specifying the appropriate nameserver addresses in the two fields below it. You may prefer to change your IP range, that is change the IP addresses handed out by the DHCP server. Our example pictured here gives 192.168.1.100 first, 192.168.1.101 second and so on until it reaches 192.168.1.199. If you've had to make changes click apply on the bottom on the page and then click Save Config. Click the apply button on the Save Settings to Flash Page to save your settings.

Our final act is to change the admin user password from the standard one to something a little more secure. Click on Configuration in the main menu and then click on System. In the System submenu the last item is User Management. Click on this. Click on the edit button to the right of the admin user. Completely empty the password box by backspacing over the charactors and type your new password in. click apply on the bottom on the page and then click Save Config. Click the apply button on the Save Settings to Flash Page to save your settings. Your ADSL modem/Access Point should now be ready to use.