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Setup WiFi on the Linksys EA3500

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

The Linksys EA3500 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 Linksys EA3500 Guides

This is the wifi guide for the Linksys EA3500. 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 Linksys EA3500

To get started configuring the Linksys EA3500 WiFi settings you need to login to your router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Linksys EA3500, follow our Linksys EA3500 Login Guide.

Find the WiFi Settings on the Linksys EA3500

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

router setup
This is the setup page from your Linksys EA3500 router.

Now that you have finished logging into the Linksys EA3500 router you should see the Basic Setup.

To change the WiFi settings click the option at the top of the page labeled Wireless. Then under that choose Wireless Settings.

Change the WiFi Settings on the Linksys EA3500

router wifi security wireless
This is the wifi security page from your Linksys EA3500 router.

This takes to the page you see above. First be sure to click the option at the top of the page labeled Manual.

Next you need to choose if you are going to use 5GHz or 2.4GHz. If you live in the suburbs or rural I recommend choosing 2.4GHz. If you live in the city and especially in an apartment building I recommend 5GHz. 2.4GHz has fewer channels to choose from but a larger range. 5Ghz has more channels but smaller range. Which ever frequency you choose make sure to enter the following settings in that particular section.

The first setting you need to change is the Network Name (SSID). This is the name you give your network so you can identify it later on. Learn more about it in our How to Change your Wireless Name guide.

Below that is the Security Mode. There are several options available in this drop down list. Find out what they are in our WEP vs. WPA guide. Our recommendation is the use of WPA2 Personal.

Next is the Passphrase. This is the Internet password. It is very important that you create a strong password of at least 14 characters here. To help you out I have a guide titled Choosing a Strong Password.

Finally if you want to change the channel go ahead and do so here. Open the drop down list labeled Channel and pick the new channel you want to try. To find out what channels are the best read our WiFi Channels guide.

That's it, just click the Save Settings 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 Linksys EA3500 Info

Don't forget about our other Linksys EA3500 info that you might be interested in.

This is the wifi guide for the Linksys EA3500. We also have the following guides for the same router: