This information applies to the Netgear model WGR614 v6. It may also apply to other models, but I have only tested these steps with the WGR614 v6. If you discover this information applies to other Netgear models, I would appreciate it if you leave a comment about that model.
Update: Visitors have notified me that his solution also works with the following models:
WGR614 v7
DG834G v4
When you plug in and turn on the Netgear router for the first time, it is configured with an IP address of 192.168.1.1 and, as usual, DHCP is enabled. This allows you to plug in a computer and get an IP address from the router so you can connect to the web-based configuration interface.
When you open a web browser and visit http://192.168.1.1/ you are redirected to http://www.routerlogin.net/welcome.htm. A setup wizard is started. This wizard looks for an Internet Connection and if it doesn't find one, it will put you in an endless loop, bringing you back to the start of the wizard until you have an internet connection available. This is, to say the least, very annoying and very bad design.
To skip the setup wizard and go straight to the configuration interface, change the URL in your browser to http://192.168.1.1/basicsetting.htm. Now you will see the familiar setup page. There is however a catch. If you go ahead and make all your changes and close the browser, you'll be stuck! The changes you made wouldn't have taken effect and if you try to visit http://192.168.1.1/ to configure the router again, you will automatically be redirected to http://www.routerlogin.net/, which will fail to open. So how do you fix this?
Well, if you're already stuck in this endless loop, press the reset button to reset the router configuration to the defaults. Then follow the steps to get around the setup wizard and then follow these steps before anything else:
- Click Setup Wizard
- Choose "No, I want to configure the router myself."
- Click Next
- CLICK APPLY AT THE BOTTOM!
If you don't follow those steps, the router assumes it has never been configured. Even if you took the time to configure and enable your wireless settings, the wireless won't be enabled and you might go crazy trying to figure out why (like I did).