www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

i have replaced my aincient dg834pn router because a talk talk test said 8.2 was a bit low and there new free Huawei HG533 router should give better performance[up to 14.6]

plugged it in the phone socket plugged it in the mains and it gives 8.2 as does next doors internet??
now the leaflet for instalation seems to be a first time instalation leaflet suggesting i use an eternet cable log in to the control using passwords and reference numbers ect
my question is because it works fine is there any advantage going to the trouble to log in would it get faster ??

Personally, I'd log in to the router and change the wifi password. Many routers have a generic password for wifi already set and it's surprising how many people don't change these, leaving your wifi available to anyone in range who knows the generic password.
Having said that, routers are generally plug'n'play devices these days. I'm assuming the numbers (8.2) is your BB speed? Assuming it is, your speed will ultimately depend on how far you are from the exchange and to a lesser extent "contention ratio" (the amount of users connected, who share the bandwidth offered by your ISP.

not worried about the password its completely random as an example wg6n as part off it
i was just wondering if there was a definite reason to log in to the control panel as i would need to find information thats not to hand
there is only me and my son on the connection
he has the new grand theft auto
he plays multi player on line sometime
i watch the odd iplayer but nothing else apart from forums and "adult sites "
and lots off shopping

Are you connecting to it via Wifi though?? Wifi is a slower connection than an ethernet cable (for instance I get about 30Mbs d/l speed via cable, but not even half of that via wifi.

i am happy with the speed
my son may download things but i dont lol
iplayer sometimes will buffer but only about 5% max so no probs as freecell needs attention if nought is happening on the forums

Dear big-all,

mate please go and get that extra info you need to log into your new router.

For a start you may well be able to increase the speed of your wireless bb- you quote 8.2 and 14.6 by merely selecting a higher local frequency. It will most likely be just a button click. In truth feck all wireless, wired is better:)

Secondly, you might find that your router wifi is wide open to for anyone to use and you therefore you need to set up its security. You might also want to limit the amount of connections that can be made to router via restricting how many addresses the dhcp releases or better, as its just you n ur lad, assign static IP addresses to your devices.

Thirdly, if that "wg6n" is an example of the password used on your router then this is not secure at all. Mate you need at a minimum 7 characters to make things tough and recall that you have %, *, $ etc characters to use, upper case and lower case letters as well but the longer the password the tougher it is to brute force into.

Fourthly, make sure your PC's are up to date by having windows update on. Its free, takes little time and ensures that known hacks fail against your pc.

big-all I don't mean to be a paranoid d*ck and whilst wardriving is mostly defunct nowadays you just don't know, what and how, strangers are using your bb nowadays and its your fingerprint on their connection- so secure as best you can.

Best Wishes to You and Yours.

heeelllooo and thanks for your answer proudhon777
the security is 8 digits long and very random

with the different frequency is it trial and error

we had the old router on an extension and it kept dropping out on a daily basis
so placed it on the master socket and its fine now
will get the relivent information they say i can find the information by phoning them so that is sorted
although i didnt set up there system i just carried on with the netgear router so maybe thats the problem

ok thank you every one for your contributions and help
apparently i now get 15.5meg or approaching double what i had before
this as the test says is greater than the "expected level"
now the it seems ok and my son thinks it ok but i dont know if its any faster
is it being managed to placate me lol
and no i havent altered anything or gone into the control panel

Hi Big-all

I work in IT and have set up countless numbers of these devices over the years.
I suppose its not imperative you log in and set the router up but I always do it just by way of best practice and probably some OCD on my part .........

As previous posts mentioned its well worth changing your WiFi key so as not to leave an open network, you don't need someone else piggybacking on your connection.
I would also always change the SSID (network name) from its default and to something more personal, and also set an actual password to login to the router rather than the default. Its worth being familiar accessing the router via Ethernet cable as any troubleshooting call with your ISP would probably need you to access it this way to go through the basics.

Enjoy your newfound broadband speeds