How to Disable Inbuilt Firewall in a Netgear Wireless Router

Your Netgear wireless router comes with great features and utilities. A built-in firewall is one of them. Disabling the firewall in your Netgear wireless router can’t be a very good idea as it protects your computer data, home network, and Wi-Fi bandwidth from unauthorized users and dangerous hackers. However, you may still want to deactivate it for using certain applications such as port forwarding or adding a gaming console etc.

Understand Your Router?

Your Netgear router doesn’t have an ‘On’ or ‘Off’ button that allows you to disable the firewall. Infect, no wireless router in the world has such button or feature that deactivates the firewall. You will have to login to your router’s admin window to modify the settings. Below are the easy steps that will help you change the firewall rules.

How to Guide:

1.    Open your web browser viz. Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Firefox etc.

2.    Type ‘192.168.0.1’ or ‘198.168.1.1’ (without quotes) in the address bar and hit ‘Enter’ on the keyboard.

3.    When on the login screen, key in your username and password that you entered while initially setting up your Netgear wireless router and click the 'Login’ button or hit the ‘Enter’ key.

4.    If you never changed your original username and password, then these must be ‘admin’ and ‘password' respectively. However, you do check your router credentials before putting in anything.

5.    In the left hand side menu, click ‘Services’, and then click ‘Firewall Rules’.

6.    Under the ‘Inbound Services’ category, click the ‘Add’ button.

7.    Click on ‘Any’ under the ‘Service Name’ list and select ‘Allow Always’ from under the ‘Action’ list.

8.    Click ‘Apply’ to activate the newly setup rule. Move your newly setup rule upward until it sets as the first rule under the ‘Inbound Services’ section.

9.    Click the new rule under the ‘Enable’ column to enable it finally. Now your firewall is disabled and your internal network is fully open to virus attacks.

10. You can enter the same rules under the ‘Outbound Services’ category using the same settings. Finally click the Enable’ column to ensure that your firewall rules are set up for outbound network also.

***You can also find here support for Netgear wireless router problems. Also check out here how to add Kindle Fire to your Netgear Wireless Router. 

How to Add Kindle Fire to Netgear Wireless Router

Kindle Fire is a pretty good tablet from Amazon that can not only compete with but also outdo iPad or any other tablet in terms of design, apps, features and appearance etc. Wi-Fi connectivity is one of those features that Kindle Fire offers to help you connect to your Wi-Fi router and go wireless on it also. In this post, I am going to discuss how you can connect your Kindle Fire tablet to your Netgear wireless router and enjoy best of both the worlds. Check the steps below:

• Turn on your Netgear wireless router. Connect to your wireless network on your computer to make sure that it’s working. 
• Now fire up your Kindle Fire. When Kindle Fire is booted up, tap Quick Settings on the Home screen. Tap Wi-Fi and then turn on the Wireless Networking option if it is off.
• You will now see a list of the available wireless networks. Select your wireless network name (SSID) from the list and tap the Connect button.
• If you have password-protected your wireless network, you will be prompted for a password or security key. Enter it and then proceed. That’s and you will be connected to your wireless network.
• If you are also prompted for login details viz. username and password, enter them and then proceed. The login details must be of your ISP or your wireless network admin.
• If you cannot get through the login screen, contact Amazon or Netgear router support for that matter.
• Now you can enjoy your wireless connection for streaming or sharing movies, videos, music, files etc. to and from your laptop.

***You can also find here solution for your Netgear wireless router problems. 

How to Disable WPS on Your Belkin Router

WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) is a built-in feature in a Belkin router designed to simplify the setup and management of wireless network. Since some of the old operating systems or computers may not support the WPS feature, only disabling it leaves one with the option. So, if you are using an old OS that doesn't support WPS on your Belkin router, you can disable it. Glance at the steps below and do so:

1. Before beginning, make sure that you have a wired connection through the Ethernet cable to your computer. A wired connection is required to access your Belkin router’s configuration page through the IP address. Besides, grab your login details like username & password to login into your Belkin router.

2. Open your web browser and type ‘192.168.2.1’ (without quotes) in its address bar. Hit the Enter key to proceed. You will see the Router Setup Utility login page. Click the Login button on the extreme top right hand corner.

3. Enter your admin password and hit the Submit button. If you never set up a custom password for your router, then leave the box blank. It is because most of the Belkin wireless routers are shipped without any password. Thus, the field is generally left blank until a new password has already been set up.

4. Once logged on, click Wireless in the left hand pane. It will display different sort of information like Language, Version Info, and Internet Settings etc. in the right hand pane.

5. Click Wi-Fi Protected Setup under Wireless and you will see the already selected frequency of your wireless connection like 2.4 or 5G etc. Click the drop-down menu next to the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) option and select Disabled.

6. Click the Apply Changes button to save the changes. Exit the router’s interface if you aren’t making further changes to the settings. You can also verify the WPS disabling with its light. The light over the WPS button but under the Router Status Light must go off after making the changes.

***You can refer to your Belkin router docs for default login details. You can also create a new password or change it anytime you want.

If it was a wireless computer that you made a wired one to pull the router’s IP address, then unplug the Ethernet cable and connect to your wireless network again. You can also find here how to secure your Belkin router.

How to Connect Multiple PCs to a Wireless Router

Networking, wireless connection, access point etc. are what many people use these days at their homes or offices for sharing a single broadband or hi-speed Internet connection, browsing wirelessly, sharing files/music etc., or streaming high-end video content over wired or wireless network etc. Wireless routers have made it possible for us to connect multiple PCs at a time and set up a wireless connection or network for portability, networking, or wireless browsing or sharing etc. In this post, I am discussing some basic steps that will help you connect multiple PCs to a single wireless router. Check below:

1. Before beginning, make sure that your computer(s) has a wireless adapter or card installed on it. If it doesn’t have the card or adapter, then install one. Use USB network adapter if you want to have stronger wireless signal. After the installation has completed, reboot the computer(s) in order to have the card detected. You can also use multiple wireless access points to interconnect router and other devices.

2. Connect your router to the power outlet using the power cable and turn it on. Before using the wireless connection, you will have to make a wired connection and setup the wireless connection (this is applicable only when you are connecting to wireless connection for the first time). To do so, plug one end of the Ethernet cable into the computer and run its other end into back of the router. You can choose any of the 4 LAN ports. You can have all the devices powered off while this connection is being made. 

3. When done, turn on all the devices viz. computer, router. Check your router documents for the IP address to login into the router’s interface and setup and configure the wireless connection as desired. Use a WAP or WEP key for authentication and security of your Wi-Fi. Make a note of the security key as it will be required to connect wirelessly. You must also note down the name of your network and other information for use in other steps. 

4. When done, remove the Ethernet cord from the computer and use it as a Wi-Fi. You will have to click on the Wi-Fi icon in your system. It will show the list of all the Wi-Fi networks that it has detected. Click to choose your wireless connection and enter the key (security) when prompted. Similarly, locate the wireless icon on other computers and select your network to connect.  You can connect as many computers as you want in the same manner.

***You can also find here online technical support for you wireless router, wired connection, printers etc. Call us at 1-877-452-9201.

How to Resolve Common Netgear Wi-Fi Router Problems

Are you unable to connect to your wireless network or does your wireless connection drops frequently? Or are you unable to log in to your Netgear wireless router? Collectively these can be termed as common Netgear wireless router problems that when occur or recur prevent you from using your wireless connection properly. Have a look at the below mentioned cures and fix your Netgear Wi-Fi router problems. 

1. Reboot all the devices viz. router, computer, and the DSL modem. The power cycling will reset the wireless network and the settings and fix a temporary anomaly.

2. If your wireless connection drops repeatedly, disable your firewall temporarily and then reconnect to your Wi-Fi network. If you can connect to the Wi-Fi network and browse, reconfigure the firewall settings as mentioned below.

3. Add the IP addresses of your router and PC to the trusted source directory of your firewall. It will prevent the firewall program from recognizing your router’s IP address as an unsafe zone. If you have a built-in firewall in your antivirus program, you can either disable it or configure it for uninterrupted connection.

4. Update drivers of your Wi-Fi network adapter. Download and install the latest drivers either from the Netgear website or your computer manufacturer’s website. Thereafter, click Start> right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.

5. Highlight the Hardware tab and click Device Manager. Look for the Netgear wireless adapter, right-click it and select Update Driver. Browse for the driver file, select it, and then update the drivers. When done, close all the windows and reconnect to your wireless connection. 

6. For instable connection, change the channel number for your wireless network. Open your Internet browser, type ‘192.168.0.1’ in the address bar and hit Enter. Enter the login details on the login screen and hit Enter. Click Wireless Settings under Setup and select a number from the Channel drop-down menu. The most widely used channel numbers in the U.S. are 11, 6, and 1. However, you should individually check other numbers as well. When done, hit the Apply button and exit the router’s interface.

7. Since most of the wireless devices including routers transmit at 2.4GHz frequency, they may clash with each other, causing problems in your wireless connection. So, if you have a cordless phone or wireless alarm located near your Netgear wireless router, you are likely to face connection drop problem.

Cordless phones or other such devices operate at the same frequency at which your Netgear device does. So, you must reposition your Netgear device to maintain a sufficient distance to keep it away from such devices and the resulting interferences. If the problem persists, turn on the wireless encryption and the problem should be gone away. It is because when the encryption is enabled, other wireless devices will not be able to interfere.

***ZoneAlarm often interrupts with a wireless connection. So, if you have ZoneAlarm or other such firewall program on your PC, you must configure its settings to avoid frequent disconnections in your wireless network.