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Setup WiFi on the Cisco M20

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

The Cisco M20 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.

NordVPN is the fastest VPN!

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 Cisco M20 Guides

This is the wifi guide for the Cisco M20. 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 Cisco M20

To get started configuring the Cisco M20 WiFi settings you need to login to your router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Cisco M20, follow our Cisco M20 Login Guide.

Find the WiFi Settings on the Cisco M20

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

router setup
This is the setup page from your Cisco M20 router.

Beginning on the Basic Setup page of the Cisco M20 router, click the link at the top of the page labeled Wireless. Then, under that tick ****

Change the WiFi Settings on the Cisco M20

wifi wireless
This is the wifi setup page from your Cisco M20 router.

On this new page, choose the Manual option next to Configuration View. We strongly advise against using WPS or Wi-Fi Protected Setup. It is extremely insecure. To learn more about WPS, read our guide titled What is WPS.

Next is the Network Mode. Our recommendation is ticking the option of Mixed.

Below that is the Network Name (SSID). This is the name you give your wireless network so that you can identify it when needed. When creating this name, be sure to use no personal information. To learn why, click the link of Wireless names.

Leave the Channel Width on it's default setting.

The Channel should be set to channel 1,6, or 11. These three channels are the most you can get out of the spectrum without overlap. Overlapping channels with a neighbor causes a lot of interference. To learn more, read our WiFi Channels guide.

If you want to hide your network name, tick Disabled next to SSID Broadcast. Understand that while this may hide your name from scanning wireless devices, a hacker can still find hidden networks fairly easily.

Click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Now choose Wireless Security at the top of the page.

router wifi security wireless
This is the wifi security page from your Cisco M20 router.

You are now taken to a page that looks a lot like the one above. Use the Security Mode drop down menu to choose WPA2 Personal. To learn why this is the most secure choice, tick the link called WEP vs. WPA.

Now you need to enter a Passphrase. This is the password you are to use when accessing the network. Don't use any personal information in this password. You also need to avoid using any words that can be found in a dictionary. A strong password contains at least 20 characters. It also contains at least one symbol, capital letter, and number. To learn more, click the Choosing a strong password guide.

That's it, you are done. Just don't forget to click the Save Settings button at the bottom of the page 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 Cisco M20 Info

Don't forget about our other Cisco M20 info that you might be interested in.

This is the wifi guide for the Cisco M20. We also have the following guides for the same router: