Wireless networking is one of those things that we all have come to rely on. We tend to expect to be able to connect just about anywhere now. I mean, even McDonalds has wireless now so why shouldn’t we? But what do you do when you come across one of those places that either does not have it, has poor quality (like many hotels) or you are just concerned about your security when on those open networks? Well there are a few companies that have a solution to this and we are going to take a look at one from EDIMAX today. It is one of the world’s smallest 802.11n wireless routers the EDIMAX BR-6258n.
The Setup -To set up the BR-6258n you can take one of two routes. The first is also the most simple; all you have to do is drop in the Mini-CD-ROM and either let the AutoRun go or click on the EZmax.exe application. When you do the setup application will start and ask you which language you want to work in and after two or three screens you are off and running.
One of the first things you have to do during the setup is to change the admin password. This is a great step, but they really should update the information about how to reset the router if you forget the password. The Setup says press the button for 3 seconds to reset… well all that will do is put you into the WPS (wireless protected setup) mode. If you REALLY want to reset the password you have to press and hold that button for more than 20 seconds. On the next page you get to choose the type of Internet connection you have. When you chose this option it will ask you for a Host name and MAC address, these are optional so you do not have to worry about them unless your provider has MAC address restrictions.
After a few seconds of testing and configuration you are on the net. The next items that you should configure are the Station ID (ESSID) and the Wireless Security settings. Leaving these at default can leave you open to attack (especially if you do not enable security on your wireless connection). But as you cannot configure everything in this application we will have to head into the WebUI to complete our setup.
