NETGEAR N900 User manual

NETGEAR, Inc.
350 East Plumeria Drive
San Jose, CA 95134 USA
October 2012
Technical Support
Thank you for selecting NETGEAR products.
After installing your device, locate the serial number on the label
of your product and use it to register your product at
https://my.netgear.com.
You must register your product before you can use NETGEAR
telephone support. NETGEAR recommends registering your
product through the NETGEAR web site.
Phone (US only): 1-888-NETGEAR
Phone (Other Countries):
See http://support.netgear.com/general/contact/default.aspx.
NETGEAR recommends that you use only the official NETGEAR
support resources.
N900 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit
Router WNDR4500 Installation Guide
Package Contents
The box contains the following items. If any items are incorrect,
missing, or damaged, contact your NETGEAR dealer.
Power adapter
N900 Wireless Router
Ethernet cable
(with stand attached)

You can use this diagram to cable and connect your router or follow the detailed instructions in this booklet.
1. Prepare your modem.
4. Connect a computer.
3. Power on the router.
5. Launch a browser.
2. Connect your modem.
SN:*2PU1157WFFFFF* MAC:123456789ABC SSID:NETGEARXX Password:asdfgjkllopqwerti345fsdk
Unplug your modem. If it has a battery
backup, remove the battery.
Plug in your modem. Put the battery
back in. Then cable the modem to the
router Internet port.
Modem
Internet
Router
DSL or cable
Wait for the 2.4 GHz LED
to turn green.
Power On/Off
Power On/Off
User Manual
You can get the user manual online at
http://downloadcenter.netgear.com or through a link in the product’s
user interface.
Compliance
For the complete EU Declarations of Conformity, visit
http://support.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11621/.
This symbol appears in accordance with the European Union
Directive 2002/96 on the Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment (the WEEE directive). If you dispose of this product
in the European Union, treat and recycle it in accordance with
your jurisdiction’s laws that implement the WEEE directive.
For indoor use only in all EU countries and in Switzerland.
NETGEAR, the NETGEAR logo, and Connect with Innovation are
trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NETGEAR, Inc. and/or its
subsidiaries in the United States and/or other countries. Information is
subject to change without notice. © NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.

1
Contents
Getting to Know Your Router 2
Install Your Router 5
Prepare your modem. 5
Connect your modem. 5
Power on the router. 6
Connect a computer. 7
Open a browser. 7
Preset Wireless Security 8
Wireless Network Settings 9
Join the Wireless Network 10
WPS Method 10
Manual Method 10
Access the Router to Make More Changes 11
Change Your Password 12
Retrieve Your Password 12
Troubleshooting 13
ReadySHARE Access 13
ReadySHARE Cloud 15
ReadySHARE Printer 16
Time Machine 17
TiVo 17
NETGEAR genie App 18
NETGEAR genie Mobile App 19

2
Getting to Know Your Router
Most connectors are on the rear panel.
SN: *2PU1157WFFFFF* MAC: 123456789ABC SSID: NETGEARXX Password: asdfgjkllopqwerti345fsdk
USB
LAN ports
WAN
Reset
Power On/Off
Power connector
(Internet)
port
1–4
ports
The following figure shows the front panel.
LEDs
WPS button
WiFi On/Off button
Power LED
Internet LED
2.4 GHz LED
5 GHz LED
Ethernet (LAN)
USB LEDs
WPS LED

3
The router has two buttons and several LEDs on the front.
• WPS button. Use WPS to add a wireless computer or device to
the network.
• WiFi On/Off button. Turn the wireless radios on and off.
Table 1. LEDs
LED Description
WPS • Solid green. Wireless security (such as, WEP, WPA-PSK,
or WPA2-PSK) is enabled on the router.
• Blinking green. The router is performing WPS activities.
This LED continuously blinks if the router is in the WPS
PIN auto lockdown state.
• Off. All wireless radios are disabled, and there is no WPS
activity.
Power • Solid amber. The router is starting up.
• Solid green. The router is ready.
• Blinking green. The firmware is corrupted. Visit http://
support.netgear.com.
• Off. Power is not supplied to the router.
Internet • Solid green. The Internet connection is ready.
• Solid amber. The Ethernet cable connection to the
modem was detected.
• Off. No Ethernet cable is connected to the modem.
2.4 GHz
and 5 GHz
• Solid green. The wireless radio is operating in either
2.4 GHz or 5 GHz mode.
• Blinking. The router is in WPS mode.
• Off. The wireless radios are off for both 2.4 GHz and
5 GHz.
LAN ports
1–4
• Solid green. The LAN port detected a 10/100 Mbps link
with an attached device.
• Solid amber. The LAN port detected a 10M/100Mbps link
with an attached device.
• Off. No link is detected on this port.

4
USB 1 and
USB 2
• Solid green. The router has accepted the USB device.
The USB device is ready to be used.
• Off. No USB device is connected; someone clicked the
Safely Remove Hardware button, and it is now safe to
remove the attached USB device.
Table 1. LEDs
LED Description

5
Install Your Router
Make sure that your Internet service is active before you install the
router. Follow steps 1 through 5.
1. Prepare your modem.
a. Unplug the power to the
modem.
b. If the modem has a battery
backup, remove its batteries.
c. If your modem was already
connected to another router,
disconnect the cable
between your modem and
that router.
d. Check that your modem is
turned off and cabled only to
the wall jack for your Internet service.
2. Connect your modem.
a. Plug in and turn on your modem. (Replace the batteries if you
removed them previously.)
b. With the yellow Ethernet cable that came with the router,
connect your modem to the Internet port of your router.
1
Internet
DSL or cable
Modem
2
Router
Modem

6
3. Power on the router.
a. Connect the power adapter to the router and the power cord.
b. Plug the power cord into an outlet.
c. Before going to Step 4, wait for the 2.4 GHz LED on the
front panel of the router to turn green. If none of the LEDs
on the front panel are lit, press the Power On/Off button on
the rear panel of the router.
3
On/Off
Router
Modem
Power
button

7
4. Connect a computer.
You can use an Ethernet cable (not included) or connect
wirelessly.
• Use the Ethernet cable to connect your computer to an
Ethernet port on your router.
• Or connect wirelessly by using the preset wireless security
settings on the label on the product label.
5. Open a browser.
NETGEAR genie displays and guides you through the
installation.
If genie does not display, close and reopen the browser and type
http://www.routerlogin.net in the address bar, or see
Troubleshooting on page 13.
4
Router
5

8
Preset Wireless Security
This product has a unique WiFi network name (SSID) and network
key (password). The default SSID and network key (password) are
uniquely generated for every device, like a serial number, to protect
and maximize your wireless security. This information is on the
product label.
NETGEAR recommends that you do not change the preset WiFi
network name (SSID) or network key (password). If you do change
the settings, the security SSID and password on the product label no
longer apply.

9
Wireless Network Settings
For easy reference, record here the default preset wireless settings
that are printed on the label.
WiFi network name (SSID):
Network key (Password):
If you change the default settings, record them here for easy
reference, and then store this booklet in a safe place:
WiFi network name (SSID):
Network key (Password):
To retrieve or update your wireless password, type
www.routerlogin.net in a web browser and log in using the default
user name (admin) and password (password).
Select Wireless Settings to locate your wireless password.

10
Join the Wireless Network
Use the WPS method or the manual method to join the wireless
network.
WPS Method
Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) lets you connect to a secure WiFi
network without typing its password. Instead, you press a button or
enter a PIN. NETGEAR calls WPS Push 'N' Connect.
Some older WiFi equipment is not compatible with WPS. WPS works
only with WPA2 or WPA wireless security.
To use WPS to join the wireless network:
1. Press the WPS button on the side of the router.
2. Within 2 minutes, press the WPS button on your wireless computer
or device, or follow the WPS instructions that came with the device.
The WPS process sets up your wireless computer with the
network password and connects you to the wireless network.
Manual Method
With the manual method, select the network that you want, and type
its password to connect.
To connect manually:
1. On your computer or wireless device, open the software that
manages your wireless connections. This software scans for all
wireless networks in your area.
2. Look for your network and select it.
The unique WiFi network name (SSID) and password are on the
router label. If you changed these settings, look for the network
name that you set up.
3. Enter the router password and click Connect.

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Access the Router to Make More Changes
After you use NETGEAR genie to set up the router, you can log in to
the router to view or change its settings.
To log in to the router:
1. Launch a web browser from a computer or wireless device that
is connected to the router.
2. Type www.routerlogin.net in the browser address field. A login
screen displays:
admin
********
3. Enter admin for the user name and password for the password.
The router Basic Home screen displays:
See the user manual for more information about the router
screens.

12
Change Your Password
To change the password for the router user name:
1. Log in to the router.
2. Select Advanced > Administration > Set Password to display the
Set Password screen:
3. Type your old password, and type the new password twice.
NETGEAR recommends that you use the password recovery
feature when you change your password.
4. Select the Enable Password Recovery check box.
5. Click Apply.
6. You are prompted to answer questions. Your responses are saved.
Retrieve Your Password
To use password recovery to retrieve a forgotten password:
To use this feature, you must enable password recovery as described
in the previous section.
1. Launch a web browser from a computer or wireless device that
is connected to the router.
2. Type www.routerlogin.net in the browser address field.
3. When the login screen displays, click Cancel.
You are prompted to enter your saved answers so that you can
log in to the router.

13
Troubleshooting
If the browser does not display the web page:
• Restore the WNDR4500 router to factory default settings. Use a
paper clip to press the Reset button for 5 seconds. Release the
button when you see that the Power LED is blinking amber. The
router reboots immediately.
• Make sure that the computer is connected to one of the four LAN
Ethernet ports or wirelessly connected to the router.
• Make sure that the router has full power, the Power LED is solid
green, and the Ethernet LED is either solid amber or solid green.
• Close and reopen the browser to make sure that the browser
does not cache the previous page.
• Type http://www.routerlogin.net.
• If the computer is set to a static or fixed IP address (this setting is
uncommon), change it to obtain an IP address automatically from
the router.
ReadySHARE Access
After installation and setup, you can insert a USB storage device into
the USB port on the router and share the contents with other network
users. (If your USB device has special drivers, it is not compatible.)

14
Note: If your USB device requires a power supply, you must use it
when connecting your USB device to a NETGEAR router or gateway.
It might take up to 2 minutes before the USB drive is ready for sharing
after it is connected to the router.
To access your USB device:
On Windows systems:
1. Use any of these methods to open the ReadySHARE web page:
• Select Start > Run and enter \\readyshare in the dialog box.
Click OK.
• Open Explorer or Safari and enter \\readyshare in the
address bar.
• Open My Network Places and enter \\readyshare in the
address bar.
• From the ReadySHARE web page, download the
ReadyShareConnect.exe file:
• Under ReadySHARE® USB Storage Access,
click PC Utility.
• In the pop-up window, select Run or Save to run
or save the ReadyShareConnect.exe file.
On Mac systems
1. Select Go > Connect to Server.
2. Enter smb://readyshare as the server address.
3. Click Connect.

15
ReadySHARE Cloud
ReadySHARE Cloud gives you remote access over the Internet to a
USB storage device that is connected to your router USB port.
To enable ReadySHARE Cloud, log in to the router and select
ReadySHARE. Follow the instructions to register your router with the
ReadySHARE Cloud server.
Use this feature to invite friends and family members to access the
shared contents on the USB device.
If your friends and family do not have a ReadySHARE Cloud account,
they are invited to create one so they can access the shared
contents.
Visit http://readyshare.netgear.com and create an account to make
your files and folders accessible at any time, from anywhere.
In addition to remotely sharing anything stored on the USB device
connected to your router, you can:
• Control friend and family access to each item stored on the USB
device.
• Invite new users to access the shared contents.

16
ReadySHARE Printer
ReadySHARE Printer lets you connect a USB printer to the router
USB port and access it wirelessly.
To set up ReadySHARE Printer:
1. Connect the USB printer to the router USB port with a USB
printer cable.
2. On each computer that will share the printer:
a. Install the current USB printer driver software (available from
the printer manufacturer).
b. Download and install the NETGEAR USB Control Center
utility (available in the ReadySHARE Printer area at
www.netgear.com/readyshare).
Note
• You must install this utility before you can use the
ReadySHARE Printer feature.
• For the ReadySHARE Printer feature to work, this
utility must be run in the background.
c. Click Easy to Set-up: Instructions, and follow the
instructions.

17
Time Machine
Time Machine works on Mac computers only, and automatically
backs up your computer to a USB hard drive connected to it.
To back up a Mac:
1. Visit http://www.netgear.com/readyshare.
2. In the Time Machine®Compatible area, click Easy to Set-up:
Instructions, and follow the instructions.
TiVo
You can play back photos and music using the Home Media Option
on your TiVo®(Series 2 and above). This feature is enabled by
default on your router.
To play back your photos and music:
1. On your TiVo, select TiVo Central.
2. Select the Music, Photos, & Showcases page.
For more information, visit http://www.readynas.com/?p=1428.

18
NETGEAR genie App
The genie app is your home network dashboard. It lets you easily
view, manage, and control your entire home network, and helps you
fix common network problems. You can use the genie app or the
genie mobile app.
Internet
STATUS GOOD
Network Map
Number of devices 16
Parental Controls
WiFi Connection
STATUS Connected
Router Settings
Click here
ReadySHARE
Click here
Click here
genie app
Visit the NETGEAR genie web page at www.netgear.com/genie.
The genie app provides these functions:
• Internet. Monitor and repair Internet connectivity issues for both
wired and wireless connections.
• WiFi Connection. View or change your router wireless settings.
• Router Settings. Log in to your router to view or change its
settings.
• Network map. View network devices connected to your network.
• Parental Controls. Manage Parental Controls to protect devices
in your network from inappropriate content.
• ReadySHARE. If you connected a USB storage device or printer
to the USB port on the router, you can access its contents.
• Support. Support FAQs are available on your computer without
an Internet connection. You can get answers to common router
issues here. Some simple network tools are available to help you
debug the network as well.