5. Installation and Setup

Installing the 2930n is simple – connect the WAN, connect the LAN, connect the power, then turn on the power switch. Shortly thereafter, there’s a storm of LED activity as the unit starts up. Basic configuration is accomplished with the Web Configurator, so we connect to its default IP address at 192.168.1.1 where we’re prompted for credentials. By default, neither username nor password is predefined (just click OK) so we must first define them. A Quick Start Wizard hyperlink appears on the left-hand menu on the 2930n Web page. When clicked, it asks for a new password, which you must retype for confirmation. Then, you select a WAN interface, specify a display name, identify its physical mode (Ethernet) and select the physical media type from a drop-down list (our cable company delivers 10M full-duplex, so that’s what we choose).

When you create a password, the wizard asks you to select a WAN interface

On the next page, you specify the Internet access type for WAN interface 1 (WAN1); for us, this is broadband cable. After that, choose DHCP and click Next, where you specify an optional host name and MAC address (note: you can clone an existing MAC address to replace an authorized network device and avoid waiting for your ISP to update its own MAC filters). The final screen reviews all settings and offers options to finalize and finish, go back and make changes or cancel all changes.

DHCP WAN set up lets you provide a hostname or clone a MAC address.

Once configured, the Quick Start Wizard asks us to confirm our settings for WAN1. We click Finish and the Vigor 2930n prompts us for the password and the user name, which is “admin” by default. It then logs in and tells us setup is okay, after which we can access the Internet. Next we move to wireless configuration (if you’ve got a second WAN interface, set that up first to run dual interfaces, to set up failover modes and so on).