NETGEAR WGR614v7 manual Appendix C Preparing Your Network, Cabling and Computer Hardware

Appendix C

Preparing Your Network

This appendix describes how to prepare your network to connect to the Internet through the 54 Mbps Wireless Router WGR614v7 and how to verify the readiness of broadband Internet service from an Internet service provider (ISP).

Note: If an ISP technician configured your computer during the installation of a broadband modem, or if you configured it using instructions provided by your ISP, you may need to copy the current configuration information for use in the configuration of your router. Write down this information before reconfiguring your computers. Refer to “Obtaining ISP Configuration Information for Windows Computers” on page C-21or “Obtaining ISP Configuration Information for Macintosh Computers” on page C-22for further information.

What You Need To Use a Router with a Broadband Modem

You need to prepare these three things before you begin:

Cabling and Computer Hardware

To use the wireless router on your network, each computer must have an 802.11g or 802.11b wireless adapter or an installed Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC) and an Ethernet cable. If the computer will connect to your network using an Ethernet NIC at 100 Mbps, you must use a Category 5 (Cat 5) cable such as the one provided with your router. For an explanation of Ethernet cabling, see “Ethernet Cabling“ on page B-11. The cable or DSL broadband modem must provide a standard 10 Mbps (10BASE-T) or 100 Mbps (100BASE-Tx) Ethernet interface.

Computer Network Configuration Requirements

The WGR614v7 includes a built-in Web Configuration Manager. To access the configuration menus on the WGR614v7, your must use a Java-enabled Web browser program which supports HTTP uploads such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Use Internet Explorer 5.0 and above and Netscape Navigator 4.7 and above.

Preparing Your Network C-1

April 2006