What If You Cannot Connect the Ethernet to Your Computer to Set Up a Wireless Network?

Although a wireless network can provide an Internet connection and network resources to computers and other electronics that are Wi-Fi capable, the initial setup requires that the user connect a computer to the wireless router via an Ethernet cable.

Function

• After connecting the modem to the Internet source (cable or phone jack) and connecting the wireless router to the modem, the user must temporarily connect a computer to the network with an Ethernet cable. This allows the user to load the router's control panel (usually in a Web browser) and specify settings such as WLAN name (SSID), authorized users and network passwords.

Warning

• If the user cannot connect a computer to the network via networking cable, he will not be able to establish a name for the wireless local area network. Thus, other users and computers will not be able to establish a connection with the network.

Considerations

• The initial setup requires the user to only temporarily connect a computer to the network. If she chooses, the user can then disconnect the Ethernet cable and use the same computer to connect to the LAN wirelessly. Additionally, she can connect either a desktop or laptop computer to perform this initial installation.