Broadband router help: Getting to know your fixed-line router

This week, broadband forum expert Matt Powell takes a look at fixed-line broadband routers. Many of us just switch them on and never look back (unless something goes wrong), but there's plenty you can play around with beneath the bonnet. 

The little box that provides your internet and wireless network at home just sits there quietly most of the time. However, it can be useful to know a bit about what's going on inside in case you want to poke around, or if it decides to break down, so for this blog post I'm going to cover some basic broadband router information and settings.

There are several reasons you might want to route around in your router, with the more basic tasks covered below. For example, you may want to change the security password, check your router speed, change the Wi-Fi channel to improve reception, or disable Wi-Fi altogether.

There are a million and one routers out there and as such a lot of this information is going to have to be quite vague, but it should apply to most of them. Don't forget, if you've got any specific questions you can always pop into our community forum for further help.

Important! Resetting your router

Before you start poking around inside the router settings be prepared for something to go a little awry. You can't really do any permanent damage in the software settings but a wrong move move can be annoying.

If you've changed the login details and can't remember your password, or if you've made a change and everything has gone horribly wrong, you might need to reset your router. This will clear all the settings, returning it to factory defaults. Usually this is accomplished by sticking a paperclip in the reset hole on the back of the router until the router light flashes.

If your router was supplied by your ISP and is branded, then you may not have to input any settings after a reset as it will restore by itself, but depending on the router and type of internet connection you might have to enter your broadband username and password before you can get online.

Before you make any changes to your router, make sure you've made a note of this information as well as the router's default login details so you can get up and running without a sheepish call to tech support.

Accessing admin settings

You may have been given some software along with your router that provides basic set-up options, but to really get underneath the hood we need to login to the admin interface.

To do this, you use a web browser such as Internet Explorer, or Firefox, just as you would to surf to a web page. Instead of a www address you enter your router's IP address which is typically something like http://192.168.0.1. You should be able to find this in your router's documentation. It'll then ask for a username and password.

If you can't find any of this information after checking the documents that came with your router or on its product website, give your ISP (internet service provider) a call – they'll help as long as it is the router they supplied, otherwise you'll need to contact the manufacturer. However, you should easily be able to find the default login settings for most routers with a quick Google search.

Inside the admin screen

In this example I'm using an O2 branded Thompson router as supplied by the ISP. Anybody on O2 or BE Broadband, or with a Thompson router, will probably have a very similar set-up. I can't account for every bit of hardware out there but other makes and models will have roughly similar options, even if the names and locations differ.

The following screen shot is typical of what you'll see when you login to a router:

It will show information such as the version number, that might come in useful when troubleshooting. Of more interest to most of us, though, is the info about your connection.

Under 'Broadband Connection' I can see the status and speed of my line, as well as the amount of data transferred. If your internet connection goes down, then it will say so here. There's also a connection test option; clicking this will run a quick check of your internet and local network, which can be helpful for diagnosing problems when you're on the phone to tech support. Again, not universal to every router but handy if you have it.

The speed given will be higher than what you will actually see when downloading, as it shows the maximum possible and doesn't account for other factors. However, it does give an idea of how the connection is performing without running a speed test.

Wireless networking

Wireless is now a standard feature on broadband routers, allowing you to share your internet connection throughout your home or office. But it can also share your connection with the neighbours too, so it's a very wise idea to check that your wireless networking is set up correctly.

Head into the section of your router's admin screen that deals with wireless connections. It may be labelled 'WLAN', Wi-Fi or Wireless, or situated under a home network heading as it is in my O2 box. Locate the configure/setup option and you'll see something like this:

The most important bits here are the encryption settings and password – without encryption, anybody can connect to your internet connection if they are within range of its signal.

Your router should be using the WPA encryption method to protect your Wi-Fi connection, rather than the old WEP standard which is easily hacked. This can be a problem sometimes, such as getting online with an old Nintendo DS via your home connection, but it is definitely worth sticking with WPA for the extra security it offers.

Select WPA, enter a password and then save the changes. Now anybody wanting to log on to your home network will need to enter this password.

Another handy security option here is 'Broadcast Network Name'. With this disabled, your network name will not be displayed, so in order to connect a person must also enter the name as well as the password. Change the network name to anything you like in the appropriate box to add an extra level of security.

Slow connection?

If you experience a slow wireless connection or your devices are having trouble connecting, you can try to play around with the channel setting.

If another wireless network nearby is on the same channel they can interfere, so set it to manual and switch until you find one that works for you. I've had to do this recently thanks to a neighbour's shiny new router preventing anything from maintaining a connection on my network.

Disabling wireless

Disabling wireless entirely is easily done here as well, and if you're not going to be using this feature at all it's not a bad idea to do so just to be on the safe side. For example, if you're only using one machine and it is near to your main telephone socket, you should find the internet will be quicker if you connect via a wire.

This should give you a basic overview of what you can do with your router's admin settings, but they're complex little devices. There's a lot I haven't covered here, so I'll be returning to this subject again in a couple of weeks to take a look at firewall settings, superuser access and other more complex router features.