Wireless Router Config. - Security - Wireless MAC Address Filtering
Wireless MAC Address filtering is the best and simplest form of security.
Wireless MAC Address Filtering allows the Wireless Router to reference a list of the MAC Addresses "allowed" wireless users, and only allows the "allowed" MAC Address access to the Wireless Network, any computer not on the list is dropped.
Accessing the Wireless Routers Setup
When ever making changes to a Wireless router, it should be done via Ethernet not Wirelessly. When changes are done Wirelessly, the wireless connection could be cut off after making a change, so Linksys highly recommends configuring the Wireless router via Ethernet.
Open a web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Netscape)
When the browser opens, go to the "Address" bar and input the IP address of the Wireless Router (The default IP Address is 192.168.1.1).
A "User Name" and "Password" prompt will appear, leave the "User Name" field blank and input the Wireless Routers password (The default password of a Linksys Router is admin) into the "Password" field.
Enabling Wireless MAC Address Filtering with a WRT54G
Before beginning, make sure that all the wireless computers being used are getting signal and able to get online.
After the "Setup" page has loaded, click on to the Wireless tab.
When the "Wireless" section loads, click on the Wireless MAC Filter sub-tab.
After the "Wireless MAC Filter" area loads, select the change the option for "Wireless MAC Filter" from "Disable" to Enable.
The page will refresh, then select the Permit Only option, then click on the Edit MAC Filter List button.
When the "MAC Address Filter List" window appears, click on the Wireless Client MAC List button.
The "Wireless Active Client MAC List" window should load, check the box(es) below Enable MAC Filter for each PC that is going to have access to the wireless network, then click on the Update Filter List button.
After clicking on the "Update Filter List" button, the "Wireless Active Client MAC List" window will close, and the MAC Addresses should be populated in the "MAC Address Filter List" window, click on the Save Settings button, then on the Continue button, then close the window.
When the "Wireless MAC Filter" window appears after closing the previous window, click on the Save Settings button, then click on the Continue button when prompted and Wireless MAC Address Filtering is setup on the Wireless router.
Enabling Wireless MAC Address Filtering with a BEFW11S4 v4
Before beginning, make sure that all the wireless computers being used are getting signal and able to get online.
After the "Setup" page has loaded, click on to the Wireless tab.
When the "Wireless" section loads, click on the Wireless Network Access sub-tab.
After the "Wireless Network Access" area loads, select the change the option from "Allow All" to Restrict Access.
The page will refresh, then click on the Wireless Client MAC List button.
The "Wireless Active Client MAC List" window should load, check the box(es) below Enable MAC Filter for each PC that is going to have access to the wireless network, then click on the Save button.
After clicking on the "Save" button, the "Wireless Active Client MAC List" window will close, and the MAC Addresses should be populated in the "Access List" part of the "Wireless Network Access" area, click on the Save Settings button, then on the Continue button when prompted and Wireless MAC Address Filtering is setup on the Wireless router.
