How To Connect WRT54GS Wirelessly

Question

I have a WRT54GS router that I want to setup wirelessly with my Windows XP desktop that only has a wireless adapter installed. There is no ethernet port on the pc. I have looked at the Stickys and read the FAQ but still haven't found an answer that clearly states how to setup the router without using an ethernet cable connected to the pc. I  want to have the ability to access the web based setup page as well so that I can secure my settings. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Answer 1

Generally, it's better to configure the router through a wired connection to be sure you configure your router and not someone else's... Thus if you have any wired ethernet device it's better to use that instead of trying a wireless only setup.
You can set it up only through wireless, however, you should make sure you are connected to your router in the beginning. Easiest test would be to unplug your router from power and check for available wireless networks. If there is still another "linksys" network to be seen, you must be extra careful.
Anyway, then plug your router back into power. Make your computer search for networks and connect to the unsecured "linksys" network. It's best to put the computer close to the router for this to make sure you connect to your router.
Then open the web interface at http://192.168.1.1/ default password should be "admin", no username required.
To be sure it's your router, go to the Status page, check it's really a WRT54GS and check the MAC address you see there. It should be the same as the one printed underneath the WRT (maybe one or two off in the last digit). If it's a completely different MAC address, check the LAN and wireless subtabs and the MAC addresses shown there. If all MAC addresses are completely different, unplug the router from power and see if your computer is still connected to the web interface or not.
Anyway, once you have established it's really the web interface of your router, check the firmware version and on the router and the one available online. It's best to upgrade the firmware before you do the configuration. If you have the latest firmware you have to configure the router. I would recommend the following steps:
1. Go to the Wireless page. Change the SSID to something unique. Save settings.
2. You'll loose the connection. Make your computer search for networks again. You should now see the new unique SSID. Connect to that network and open the web interface again.
3. Next set up wireless security. Enable WPA2 Personal with AES encryption and set a strong passphrase. Save settings. You'll loose the connection again.
4. Now you have to reconnect. Depending on your computer and the software use to configure the wireless you may have to remove the unique SSID first from the list of preferred network before you can reconnect. The computer usually remembers the SSIDs joined before and won't connect if the security settings don't match the one used before. But you have to find that out.
5. As you are still using XP the computer may not support WPA2 or AES encryption (which is the best and strongest you can use today). Thus, if you are absolutely not able to reconnect the computer you will have to reset the router to factory defaults pressing the reset button for 30 seconds and start over. Choose WPA Personal with TKIP and a strong passphrase then. That should work. I would not recommend to use WEP which is easily cracked.
6. Once you have managed to set up your desktop to connect to your secured wireless network you should make one more change: change the default password "admin" on the "Administration" setup page.
7. Remember to clean up the list of preferred wireless networks, in particular, don't forget to remove the "linksys" network from that list. Otherwise your computer may automatically connect to a "linksys" network if one comes available in the proximity.
That should be it.