NETGEAR WGE111 user manual Understanding WEP Authentication and Encryption, Subnet mask

User Manual for the NETGEAR WGE111 Wireless Game Adapter

If you are using a NETGEAR router with the default settings, the following settings should work for the Wireless Game Adapter:

•IP address: 192.168.0.202 (The first three sections of numbers — 192.168.0 in this example

— should match the first three sections of the IP address of your router. Make sure the last three digits in the fourth section are unique on your network.)

•Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

•Gateway IP address: 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1 (the address of your router)

Understanding WEP Authentication and Encryption

Restricting wireless access to your network prevents intruders from connecting to your network. However, the wireless data transmissions are still vulnerable to snooping. Using the WEP data encryption settings described below will prevent a determined intruder from eavesdropping on your wireless data communications. Also, if you are using the Internet for such activities as purchases or banking, those Internet sites use another level of highly secure encryption called SSL. You can tell if a Web site is using SSL because the Web address begins with HTTPS rather than HTTP.

Authentication Scheme Selection

The WGE111 lets you select the following wireless authentication schemes.

•Automatic — the router detects the authentication scheme.

•Open System — allows any device to join the network, assuming that the device SSID matches the access point SSID. Alternatively, the device can use the “ANY” SSID option to associate with any available Access Point within range, regardless of its SSID.

•Shared Key — only those computers that possess the correct authentication key can join the network.

Note: The authentication scheme is separate from the data encryption. You can choose an authentication scheme which requires a shared key, but still leave the data transmissions unencrypted. If you require strong security, use both the Shared Key authentication scheme and WEP encryption settings.

Be sure to set your wireless adapter according to the authentication scheme used on your router or access point. Please refer to “Authentication and WEP” on page C-2for a full explanation of each of these options, as defined by the IEEE 802.11 wireless communication standard.

Basic Setup 3-7