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Setup WiFi on the Asus RT-N16

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Setup Router Staff
(Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 4 minutes

The Asus RT-N16 router is considered a wireless router because it offers WiFi connectivity. WiFi, or simply wireless, allows you to connect various devices to your router, such as wireless printers, smart televisions, and WiFi enabled smartphones.

Use a VPN Instead

Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.

When shopping for a VPN, make sure that they meet the following criteria:

  • Your VPN provider should have a no-logs policy. This means that they do not keep any logs of any kind.
  • Make sure that your VPN provider has lots of exit nodes all around the world.
  • Check that your VPN will not affect your speed.
  • Verify that your VPN provider uses WireGuard as the underlying protocol.
  • Many people prefer a VPN provider that is not based in the United States.

This is the list of requirements that we used when we were shopping around for a VPN provider. There are lots of free, shady VPN providers out there that we looked at and dismissed.

Based in Panama, using diskless servers, and with over 6,100 servers in 61 countries, we can safely say that NordVPN satisfies all of these requirements.

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Once you've set up your NordVPN account on multiple computers and enabled Meshnet, you can seamlessly access all of your devices as if they were on the same network. You don't even have to log in to your router. It's very simple.

Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.

Other Asus RT-N16 Guides

This is the wifi guide for the Asus RT-N16 v1.28 Tomato. We also have the following guides for the same router:

WiFi Terms

Before we get started there is a little bit of background info that you should be familiar with.

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You might notice that most of our site doesn't have ads on it. This is because we use partnerships with companies like NordVPN to keep the site running. Thank you for supporting us by using our referral links.

Wireless Name

Your wireless network needs to have a name to uniquely identify it from other wireless networks. If you are not sure what this means we have a guide explaining what a wireless name is that you can read for more information.

Wireless Password

An important part of securing your wireless network is choosing a strong password.

Wireless Channel

Picking a WiFi channel is not always a simple task. Be sure to read about WiFi channels before making the choice.

Encryption

You should almost definitely pick WPA2 for your networks encryption. If you are unsure, be sure to read our WEP vs WPA guide first.

Login To The Asus RT-N16

To get started configuring the Asus RT-N16 WiFi settings you need to login to your router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Asus RT-N16, follow our Asus RT-N16 Login Guide.

Find the WiFi Settings on the Asus RT-N16

If you followed our login guide above then you should see this screen.

router status mac address internet IP
This is the status page from your Asus RT-N16 router.

Once you are done logging into the Asus RT-N16-Tomato-v1.28 click the option in the left sidebar labeled Basic then Network under that.

Change the WiFi Settings on the Asus RT-N16

router setup
This is the setup page from your Asus RT-N16 router.

This takes you to the page you see above. Scroll down this page until you come to a box titled SSID. You can see it near the bottom of the screenshot above.

In the SSID box you need to write in a unique network name for your Internet connection. Be warned that this name is visible to your neighbors. For more information on this topic, check out the guide titled Wireless Names. If you don't want this network name to be visible to anyone just uncheck the Broadcast box. This does make it a little more difficult when showing someone how to connect to your Internet.

The next box is titled Channel. If you want to change your channel do so using this drop down box. Make sure to only use channels 1, 6, and 11. Find out why in this WiFi Channels guide.

After that look for a box titled Security. This is where you choose what type of encryption you want to use for your network. Check out this WEP vs. WPA guide for more information. We recommend using WPA2 Personal for the strongest network security.

Finally after you choose your Security you are asked to enter a Passphrase, or Pre-Shared Key. This is the Internet password and needs to be strong. We suggest using at least 14 characters in your new password. Check out our Choosing a Strong Password guide for more information.

When you are finished go ahead and click the Save button when you are finished.

Possible Problems when Changing your WiFi Settings

After making these changes to your router you will almost definitely have to reconnect any previously connected devices. This is usually done at the device itself and not at your computer.

Other Asus RT-N16 Info

Don't forget about our other Asus RT-N16 info that you might be interested in.

This is the wifi guide for the Asus RT-N16 v1.28 Tomato. We also have the following guides for the same router: