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Setup WiFi on the Motorola WR850G

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

The Motorola WR850G 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 Motorola WR850G Guides

This is the wifi guide for the Motorola WR850G v6.1.4. 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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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 Motorola WR850G

To get started configuring the Motorola WR850G WiFi settings you need to login to your router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Motorola WR850G, follow our Motorola WR850G Login Guide.

Find the WiFi Settings on the Motorola WR850G

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

router setup
This is the setup page from your Motorola WR850G router.

This wireless guide begins on the BASIC page of the Motorola WR850Gv6 router. To configure the wireless settings, click the option at the top of the page in black labeled Wireless.

Change the WiFi Settings on the Motorola WR850G

wifi wireless
This is the wifi setup page from your Motorola WR850G router.

This directs you to the page seen here. The first thing we recommend that you change is the Network Name (SSID). This is the name you create in order to identify your internet network. It doesn't matter what you enter here but we recommend avoiding personal data such as your name or address. Learn more in our guide titled How to Change your Wireless Name.

Now locate the setting titled Channel. Pick a channel that doesn't cause interference. Everyone should use either channel 1,6, or 11. Learn why in our WiFi Channels Guide.

Leave everything else on this page alone. Go ahead and save the changes you made by clicking Apply at the bottom of the page.

Go back to the top of the page and click the option at the top labeled Security.

router security
This is the security page from your Motorola WR850G router.

On this page, find the option of WPA2-PSK and Enable it. This is the most secure option available today. Check out our guide titled WEP vs. WPA.

Directly below that is the option of WPA Encryption. The best encryption available for home networks is AES.

The last setting is called WPA Pass Phrase. This is the password you use to protect your network. Your router will also use this password to encrypt your data so it is very important that you create a strong password here. The more random a password looks the stronger it is. Create a long password of at least 14-20 characters. Use a mix of numbers and symbols along with the letters when creating your password. Check out our Choosing a Strong Password Guide for more help on the topic.

That's it, don't make any other changes on this page, just click the Apply button before you exit.

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 Motorola WR850G Info

Don't forget about our other Motorola WR850G info that you might be interested in.

This is the wifi guide for the Motorola WR850G v6.1.4. We also have the following guides for the same router: