Hello everybody!
This video will show you how to configure a Wi-Fi router with the example of TP-Link
AC750 Archer C20.
So today we’ll be looking at how to configure a router with the help of a computer, but
doing it from a smartphone or tablet PC is very similar.
So, you have just had a new Internet connection installed to your place, or you have decided
to replace the old router and bought a new one.
Connect it before you go on to configuring it.
Everything goes by the standard procedure: • Plug the Wi-Fi router into the socket
and switch it on.
• Wait for its front panel indicators to light up.
• After that, plug the provider’s cable (or the cable from an ADSL modem) into the
Internet port - it’s blue.
• If you want to configure a router from your PC using a network cable, take such a
cable (which comes supplied with the router) and connect your computer with the Wi-Fi router.
Plug one end of the cable into one of the yellow Ethernet ports on your router, and
plug the other end of the cable into the Ethernet port of your computer.
I recommend configuring a router with a cable connection - if possible.
This method is more reliable.
• Of course, you can also connect to your router by Wi-Fi if you want.
When the router is switched on, your devices should detect a Wi-Fi network with a default
name.
To connect to this network, use the password (PIN code) printed on a sticker which you
can find on the bottom of the router.
On this sticker, you will also find default names for Wi-Fi networks.
If there is no sticker for some reason, all this information will be printed in the user
manual.
To access the router settings for a TP-LINK device, open a browser on a device connected
to the router and go to this address: http://tplinkwifi.net/.
You can find the address to enter the settings mode as well as other default values by looking
at the sticker on the bottom of the router.
Typically, all routers use IP addresses like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 to open settings.
If you enter the settings page address but it doesn’t open, try resetting the router.
Press the Reset button on the router and hold it 5 to 10 seconds.
The router will start rebooting - you can tell it by the blinking indicator lights.
After rebooting, try to access the router again, using the same method.
As a result, you will see an authorization page, asking you for a username and password.
By default, these are “admin” and “admin.”
After that, a page containing router settings should appear.
This is where you can set all necessary values.
Take a note - there is an option named “Quick Setup.”
Don’t confuse it with automatic setup - we are going to discuss it a bit later.
Before we start working with the settings, here’s a short joke:
- I asked my Mom: why are computers so smart?
She replied: - Because computers listen to their motherboards.
In the settings, go to the tab “Network” - “WAN.”
First of all, choose connection type.
In our case, that is “Dynamic IP.”
If you have this connection type by default, there is no need to change anything.
You should have your Internet connection working perfectly, and the router indicators should
be green, not orange.
Yet if you have a PPPoE or L2TP connection, select the corresponding connection type from
the drop-down list and set the values you have received from your provider.
Contact your provider and double-check the following information:
• Username; • Password;
• IP address or server name, and so on.
Some routers also have a “Detect” button next to the connection type: when you click
on it, the router will try to determine what connection type you are using.
Don’t forget to click “Save” after modifying the settings.
To have an Internet connection working through this TP-LINK Archer C20 router, the round
indicator should be green.
Bear in mind: if you have “Dynamic IP”, the provider may use binding with a MAC address.
If the router can’t establish an Internet connection, contact your provider: you may
have to submit your MAC address.
Sometimes it happens because certain Internet providers practice MAC address binding.
This is when your Internet connection is bound to a particular device: a computer, laptop
or router.
The matter is that if your Internet connection is bound to the MAC address of a computer’s
network card, you are not going to have a working Internet connection after you plug
the cable into your laptop or router instead.
The addresses of the router or laptop differ from the MAC address of your computer.
So if your provider makes use of MAC address binding, there are two options:
• In the settings, use the MAC address to which your Internet connection is bound.
• Otherwise, find the router’s MAC address, contact the Internet provider’s support
service and ask them to replace the currently bound MAC address with a new one.
How can you find this MAC address for your router?
It’s very easy.
Take the router and have a look at the sticker on its bottom plate.
You will see the MAC address there.
To change the router’s MAC address, go to its settings - “Network” tab / “MAC
Clone.”
There are two options as well: • you can enter the new MAC address manually
in the field “WAN MAC address,” • or clone it from the computer connected
to the router with the cable (I mean the computer you are configuring the connection from).
If you want to clone the MAC address from the computer, use the network cable to link
the router and the computer that your Internet connection was bound to.
Then use the computer to configure the router.
This is an important aspect.
Don’t forget to save the settings by clicking on the corresponding button and reboot the
router after you have modified MAC address settings.
As a result, the Internet connection for your computer should already be established.
To find out if the Internet connection is active, look at the indicator lights on the
router - they should be green or blue, but never yellow or red.
Otherwise, check the network connection symbol in the system tray of your computer - there
should not be any symbols like a yellow exclamatory mark or red cross.
If you’ve done everything right and you have an active Internet connection, you can
go on to set up your Wi-Fi network.
As it is a dual-band router, it broadcasts two Wi-Fi networks: One at the frequency of
2.4 GHz, and the other at 5 GHz.
If you don’t need one of them, I recommend visiting the tab “Dual Band Selection”
and disabling the network for the frequency you don’t want to use.
Just uncheck the box and save the settings.
Otherwise, you can leave both networks as they are.
For example, use 2.4 Ghz for older devices, and let newer gadgets use 5 Ghz - which they
support, by the way.
Now move on to the tab of the Wi-Fi network we need to configure.
Set the wireless network name in the “Basic Settings.”
Don’t forget to save the settings.
The next step is to set a password for your Wi-Fi network.
To do it, go to the tab “Wireless Security.”
You can choose one of the following security options:
• Disable Security.
If it’s disabled, wireless devices can connect to the router without encryption and password.
It is strongly recommended to select one of the variants below to protect your wireless
network.
• WPA/WPA2 - Personal - WPA-based protection with a pre-shared passphrase.
• WPA/WPA2 - Enterprise - WPA protection with Radius server.
• WEP - an option based on 802.11 WEP standard.
Choose the recommended security option, “WPA/WPA2 – Personal” and in the field “Wireless
Password” give the password you want to use for connecting to your Wi-Fi network.
Save the settings and reboot the router.
Here’s an important note!
If you let your router broadcast at both frequencies (2.4 and 5 Ghz), configure settings for both
networks and set a password.
Their settings are almost the same.
If you connected any devices to the wireless network before you have configured Wi-Fi settings,
you will have to reconnect them after changing the password and restarting the router, and
log in again after entering the new password.
We’re almost done with configuring the router.
I also strongly recommend changing the default password (“admin”) which is used to protect
the router’s settings.
You can do it in the tab “System tools” – “Password.”
Just give the old password and username, and then enter the new data.
Save the settings.
Do your best not to forget the new password, otherwise you’ll have difficulties with
accessing your router’s settings: of course, it can be remedied with resetting it, but
that means you will have to do all the configuring work again.
Now that we’re done with all essential settings needed to work with the router, I would like
to return to the “Quick Setup” menu again.
This menu features all basic settings of the router we have already configured by opening
corresponding menu tabs.
But this is where you find al of them in one place.
To perform quick setup: • Go to the corresponding tab and click
“Next.”
• Specify your country, city and Internet service provider’s name.
The manufacturer tried to list all main Internet service providers and the connection types
they are using.
• If you are lucky and your provider’s name is on the list - choose it.
• Otherwise, if you haven't found the proper setting, check the box next to the corresponding
line.
• Next.
• What you see is actually the group of settings we have just configured.
Select the connection type that your ISP provider is using.
• Decide if you need to clone MAC address (I have already explained why it can be done
and how).
• Select the frequencies for your Wi-Fi.
• Set the name and password for the Wi-Fi network.
• Confirm the settings.
Click BACK to change them or SAVE to save the settings and use them from now on.
Now it looks very easy because we have analyzed every point one by one.
But if you did all those things for the first time, you wouldn’t think so, I can tell
you.
You can learn more about Wi-Fi options, guest network settings and WPS functions by watching
one of the next videos on our channel.
But in this video, the final word goes to one of the router functions which is not an
essential one - it’s DHCP.
By default, it is enabled, and now I’ll try to explain the principle it’s based
on and the settings you can modify.
DHCP is a very popular option and if you want to connect your computer to a TV and play
multimedia content on another device with the help of a media server, or if you need
to stream videos from your PC to your TV, then the DHCP function has to be enabled for
your router - unless you want to have it the hard way and configure everything manually.
As a rule, this option is usually enabled for network devices, though some users may
have it disabled, for a variety of reasons.
In order to enable or configure it, browse the router settings to enter the menu “DHCP”
/ “DHCP Settings.”
In this page, you can enable DHCP server and set start and end IP addresses for the local
network by filling in the corresponding fields.
Start IP should be given with consideration of the router’s net point, so give the IP
address following it.
For example, f the main gateway is set as 192.168.1.1, the start IP address can be 192.168.1.2;
192.168.1.3 or like we have it here - 192.168.1.100.
By setting a certain end IP address, you set the number of addresses the router can assign
to connected devices.
For example, by setting it like 192.168.1.199 I allow the router to assign addresses to
99 devices.
And these address3s will all fall within the range from 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.199.
All other settings are not obligatory, but if it is necessary, you can reduce the address
lease time - the amount of time a network user will be allowed connection to the router
with their current dynamic DHCP address.
When the lease time expires, the device that has been assigned the IP address will ask
to prolong it.
This dialogue takes place in the background so you don’t see it, and if there are many
clients in this network, such option is very useful because it prevents the table from
being overflown.
You can see the address lease time, MAC and IP addresses on the DHCP Clients List.
With DHCP, the router assigns IP addresses to devices which are connected to its network.
Every time, it will assign the addresses one by one.
In our case, the first connected device will be assigned 192.168.1.100, and the following
devices will get 101, 102 and so on.
However, there is a way to reserve a static IP address for a client.
If you do it, the router will give the connected device the same IP address every time such
device connects to the network.
To do it: • Go to “Address Reservation” tab
• And click on “Add new” button.
• Enter the MAC address for the device and give an IP address which is not used for other
devices from the available range.
 You can see them on the “DHCP Clients List” if the device you are configuring
now is connected to the router at the moment.
 Or in the device settings - if the device is not connected.
• In the Status drop-down list, select “Enabled” and then click “Save.”
• Now this device will always connect to the network with this IP address only.
The settings we have just configured are enough to use the router at some basic level.
If you have any questions while you are configuring your router, you can leave a comment to ask
one.
Hit the Like button below and subscribe to Hetman Software channel if you find this video
useful.
Thank you for watching.
Good luck.