Help and Documentation

The Basic Settings screens allow you to configure, upgrade, and check the status of your NETGEAR wireless router.

Click an item in the leftmost column. The current settings or information for that area appear in the center column.

Helpful information related to the selected Settings screen appears in this column. If you are using Internet Explorer, you can click an item in the center column to jump directly to the related help section; otherwise, scroll down until you reach it.

Basic Settings Help

Note: If you are setting up the router for the first time, the default settings might work for you with no changes.

Does your Internet connection require a login?

Select this option based on the type of account you have with your ISP. If you need to enter login information every time you connect to the Internet or you have a PPPoE/PPTP/L2TP account with your ISP, click Yes. Otherwise, click No.

Note: If you have installed PPP software such as WinPoET (from Earthlink) or Enternet (from PacBell), then you have PPPoE, click Yes. After clicking Yes and configuring your router, you will not need to run the PPP software on your PC to connect to the Internet.

Account Name

(also known as Host Name or System Name)

For most users, type your account name or user name in this field. For example, if your main mail account is JerAB@ISP.com, then put JerAB in this field.

If your ISP has given you a specific host name, then type it (for example, CCA7324-A).

Domain Name

For most users, you can leave this field blank, unless required by your ISP. You can type the domain name of your ISP. For example, if your ISP's mail server is mail.xxx.yyy.zzz, you would type xxx.yyy.zzz as the domain name.

If you have a domain name given to you by your ISP, type it in this field. (For example, Earthlink Cable might require a host name of home, and Comcast sometimes supplies a domain name.)

If you have a cable modem, this is usually the workgroup name.

Internet IP Address

If you log in to your service or your ISP did not provide you with a fixed IP address, the router will find an IP address for you automatically when you connect. Select Get Dynamically from ISP.

If you have a fixed (or static) IP address, your ISP will have provided you with the required information. Select Use Static IP Address and type the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway IP address in the correct fields.

For example:

Domain Name Server (DNS) Address

The DNS server is used to look up site addresses based on their names.

If your ISP gave you one or two DNS addresses, select Use These DNS Servers, and type the primary and secondary addresses.

Otherwise, select Get Automatically from ISP.

Note: If you get Address not found errors when you go to a website, it is likely that your DNS servers are not set up correctly. You should contact your ISP to get DNS server addresses.

Router MAC Address

Your computer's local address is its unique address on your network. This is also referred to as the computer's MAC (Media Access Control) address.

Usually, select Use Default MAC Address.

If your ISP requires MAC authentification, then select either Use Computer MAC address to disguise the router's MAC address with the computer's own MAC address, or Use This MAC Address and manually type the MAC address for a different computer. The format for the MAC address is XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX. This value can be changed if Use Computer MAC Address is selected once a value has already been set in the Use This MAC Address selection.

Apply, Cancel, and Test

Click Apply when you finish changing the settings.

Click Cancel to return to the previous settings.

Click Test to connect to the NETGEAR website. If you connect successfully, your settings work, and you can click Logout to exit these pages and ... enjoy surfing the Net!

If you do not connect successfully: