With the necessary basic settings configured the router now needs to be secured and the first thing we shall focus on is securing the wireless network against intruders. In the routers web interface click on Wireless on the main menu and then select wireless security on the sub menu beneath it.

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 is a much better option than no encryption at all. Select WEP as your security type. The WEP Encryption 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. Click the Save Settings button to save your configuration.

Using WPA Encryption - WPA or WPA2 Personal, also known as 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 the Save Settings button to save your configuration.

Our final act is to change the admin user password from the standard one to something a little more secure. Click on Administration in the main menu and you will see the router password and access configuration. Change the password by deleting the dots in the password field and type in your new password. Do the same in the Re-enter to confirm field. Click the Save Settings button to save your new password and you will most likely be prompted to log into the routers web interface once again as the password has changed. Your wireless router should now be ready to use.