Can you post details of how to access this
router and the connection status page? Any model number?
Sure. The wireless router I am using is an Airport Extreme 802.11n (4th Generation; model number A1354). Technical specifications are available on the Web. (
Apple - AirPort Extreme - Technical Specs). As mentioned before, I am using a UT Starcom
ADSL modem (model number UT300R2U) with a BSNL broadband connection.
Here is how one can set up the router. The best resource for help is the Airport Extreme user's manual. —
1. Connect the WAN port of the wireless router to the ADSL modem using an ethernet chord. If you have any computers that do not have a wireless Wi-Fi Certified 802.11a/b/g/n card, connect them to the wireless router's ethernet ports using ethernet chords. For example, I connected my
Windows 7 desktop in this way. Connect the Airport Extreme power chord. (There is no power switch on the wireless router.) Turn the power supply on. The wireless router's status light will light up. Green means OK, amber means setting up, and blinking amber means a problem. See manual for more.
2. Configure the wireless router. For this, you need a piece of software called Airport Utility from
Apple (
Apple - AirPort Extreme - Features - AirPort Utility). Airport Utility installs on Windows as well as
Mac OS X. If it is not already installed on your computer, you can use the DVD that comes in the router's box. Once the utility is installed on a computer connected to the router (either via an ethernet chord, or wirelessly), run it to configure the router. I ran the utility on a MacBook Pro
laptop that runs Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.8.
3. Just follow the instructions in the utility to (1) password-protect your routers setting, (2) set up and password-protect your wireless "home" network, and optionally (3) set up and password-protect your "guest" network. (Home network users have some privileges that guest network users don't have, like USB hard disks attached to the router. I did not set up the guest network.) If you have set the ADSL modem to work in the "Always On" mode (also known as the "PPPoE" mode, as against the "Bridge," or "manual," mode), your Internet connection should now be ready.
4. The only possible problem that can occur is that the ADSL modem needs addresses of the form 192.168.1.*, whereas Airport Extreme gives address like 10.0.1.*. To solve this, just run the Airport Extreme in the "Bridge" mode. (This has nothing to do with the ADSL modems Bridge mode!) Confirm that computers on your network now have address of the form 192.168.1.*.
Hope this helps!
Girish.