Setup WiFi on the Belkin F5D8236-4

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Setup Router Staff
(Last Updated: ) | Reading Time: 6 minutes

The Belkin F5D8236-4 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

Have you considered using a VPN when you connect to the internet? A VPN is a great way to increase your security and anonymity while surfing.

We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes securely sharing your home network super simple. 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 Belkin F5D8236-4 Guides

This is the wifi guide for the Belkin F5D8236-4 v1. 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 Belkin F5D8236-4

To get started configuring the Belkin F5D8236-4 WiFi settings you need to login to your router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Belkin F5D8236-4, follow our Belkin F5D8236-4 Login Guide.

Find the WiFi Settings on the Belkin F5D8236-4

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 Belkin F5D8236-4 router.

This guide begins on the Status page of the Belkin F5D8236-4v1. To configure the WiFi settings, click the link on the left side of the page labeled Channel and SSID.

Change the WiFi Settings on the Belkin F5D8236-4

router Wi-Fi channel ssid mode
This is the wifi channel page from your Belkin F5D8236-4 router.

First, you need to check your Wireless Channel. Everybody's wireless channel should be on 1,6, or 11 for your sake and your neighbors. In the United States there are 11 channels you can choose from. Of these 11 channels, there is only room in the spectrum for up to three channels that don't overlap in some way. Overlapping channels cause a lot of interference. On the other hand, completely sharing a channel does not due to the channel sharing software within the router. So, unless you don't have any neighbors, you should be using either channel 1,6, or 11. Check out our guide titled WiFi channels for more information.

The other thing that needs to be changed on this page is the SSID. This is the name that you give your home network so you can identify yours from the others around you. When creating this name, don't use anything personal that would point to you. For more on this topic, check out our guide titled Wireless names.

Once you are finished, click the Apply Changes button. Then, in the left sidebar, click the link titled Security.

router security
This is the security page from your Belkin F5D8236-4 router.

First you should see a drop down list titled Security Mode. Looking at this particular screenshot they have chosen Disabled. This means there is no security whatsoever. Anyone can use your network within range and worse could, if they know how, look at your private data you are sending over the airwaves. A much better choice is WPA/WPA2-Personal(PSK). This is much stronger choice. Check out our guide titled WEP vs. WPA for a description of the different security modes.

We don't have the proper screenshot to show you the next step, but it should be Authentication. This is just further narrowing down the security mode. You need to choose WPA2-PSK.

Next is the Encryption Technique. This router may automatically choose this for you, it should be set to AES if given a choice. AES is very strong and with the current technology is uncrackable.

The last thing you need to do is the Pre-Shared Key. This is simply the password you use to access your network. It is also used within the encryption so it needs to be a strong password. We recommend at least 20 characters, the longer, the better for passwords. We suggest using some symbols, numbers, and capital letters in the password for strength. Don't use personal information. Don't use any words that can be found in a dictionary. For help in creating a strong password that you can easily remember, check out our guide titled Choosing a strong password.

Finally, click the option of Apply Changes before exiting.

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 Belkin F5D8236-4 Info

Don't forget about our other Belkin F5D8236-4 info that you might be interested in.

This is the wifi guide for the Belkin F5D8236-4 v1. We also have the following guides for the same router: