I did not set up the security on my router how do I do it

Hi I have a belkin802.11g wireless router I am running windowsxp with sp2 I setup up my wireless network to connect to my laptop which is also windowsxp sp2 but when I set up my router I did not setup the security so I would like to get back into my router and re do the ssid and setup my security but the thing is I cannot find my router in control panel am I looking in the wrong place. I have a linksys usb wireless adapter on my laptop so how do I change the security on both of my machines?

 

You will not find the router in Control panel. Go into the address bar of your browser, and type in the IP that shows in "Default Gateway" in your WiFi connection support tab. You can also open up a CMD window and type 'IPConfig' and it will show what the Default Gateway is, which should be the IP for your router.

 

Okay I went to belkins web site and found the router through them and changed my security to wpapsk and now my lap top won't find the signal

 

should I unistall my usb adapter and reinstall it as if starting from scratch?

 

No, you have to go into the adapter settings and put in the WPA key that you put in on the Router's WiFi settings. You cannot change one item's settings without affecting others. BTW, reinstalling the adapter is going to fix nothing, since you may of not set up the WPA key.

Also, the manual for the router and adapter helps if you need a quick question answered.

 

thanks brownizs I did all of those things and now I going to go to the manual and try to find out why it won't connect to the router it is picking up another wireless signal that is in my building but it won't pick up mine

 

Did you leave SSID on, or turn it off? If you turned it off, that is why your adapter is not seeing it. Go into the Adapter settings and under Preferred networks, put in the SSID, and WPA key for your Router, and it should hopefully find it.

 

May be this can Help.

Link to: Wireless - Basic Configuration.

Link to: Wireless Security.

 

thanks cat5e I went to the first site and the first thing I saw was turn off the extra firewall turn it off and my connection to the internet was made I am going to go back and try the wpa encryption but my adapter profile kept showing security as unknown maybe I should just leave it alone with the wep128 encrytion what do you think?

 

Some adapters may state "Security unkown", especially if they are not WPA compliant. Which Linksys adapter are you using on the laptop?

 

it's a compact linksys-g usb