Wireless Router Settings for PLDT MyDSL, Smart Broadband and Globe Broadband Internet

A lot of people have been asking me about what's wrong with their wireless router since they're having difficulty connecting to the internet. This is a simple guide I made to help them setup their wireless router easily. I should say that the information here comes from the manual of DIR 655 Dlink Wireless Router. If you have the Planet, WRT-416 router, you can use this same guide but refer instead to this manual. A lot of people can easily sink in to the complexity of the manual because I should say it's using a lot of complicated words. So to make things as simple as possible for users with PLDT MyDSL, Smart and Globe (Philippine ISPs) internet connections I'll source this from the most widely used wireless router in our place. Finally, I'm making this as simple as possible. Technically these may be not the best way to implement things but for the average user I believe this will work. If you wish to implement more advanced functions you have to know a lot about networking and stuff. Depending on your Router, the difficulty in implementing the security settings of your wireless connections may vary. But reading the manual will really help.

Basically you'll have to access the router's settings page first. Usually you'll just have to access the default address of the router, 192.168.0.1 from a web browser. In the DLink browser you can setup a lot of options from then on. Here's the important part in screenshots. Click the images to enlarge.

1. Go to the Network Settings page. Enter the IP address of the router. The default IP address is 192.168.0.1. Use the default one in order to mess up less. If you change the IP address, once you click Apply, you will need to enter the new IP address in your browser to get back into the configuration utility. Then, enter the Subnet Mask. The default subnet mask is 255.255.255.0. Enter the Domain name (Optional). Now this part is important, in the Enable DNS Relay, uncheck the box to transfer the DNS server information from your ISP to your computers. And if you're using a different address rather than 192.168.0.1 then it is more likely that you'll have to use a different subnet mask. You'll have to calculate the subnet mask in that case.

2. Now at the DHCP Server Settings, Enable DHCP Server. Check this box to enable the DHCP server on your router. Enter the starting and ending IP addresses for the DHCP server’s IP assignment. If you're using 192.168.0.1 as the Router Address in the first instruction, use 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254 as the range for the start and ending IP address. Then set the length of time for the IP address lease. Enter the Lease time in minutes. The most ideal is 360 minutes or 6 hours. Do not bother the DHCP Reservation so as to mess up less. (What you are doing, you are making your router as a DHCP server. In layman's term your router distributes the identity or IP Address to all the pc's connected to it.)

3. PLDT MyDSL, Smart Broadband Internet and Globe Broadband (ISPs, internet service providers) are all using Dynamic (Cable Connection) or in other words, they are also big DHCP servers who distribute identities to all computers connected to them. In order to make your router connect to the internet, you will have to set it to receive identity from your ISP. (On the previous instruction we were making your router a DCHP server, this time we are making your router recieve identity from your ISP because your ISP is also a DHCP server.) Now go to the Dynamic Connections settings. Select Dynamic IP (DHCP) to obtain IP Address information automatically from your ISP. The Host Name is optional but may be required by some ISPs. Use unicasting. Enter the Primary DNS server IP address assigned by your ISP. For PLDT MyDSL connections use, 124.106.5.2 and 124.106.7.2. Maximum Transmission Unit - you may need to change the MTU for optimal performance with your specific ISP. 1500 is the default MTU. Do not clone your PC's mac address.

4. For each PC you're using go to the Network Connections Panel in your OS. For Windows XP, Go to Control Panel, then Network Connections, Right Click your active Active Wireless Network Card them go to Properties. Double click Internet Protocol then choose Obtain IP Address Automatically and Obtain DNS Server Address Automatically.