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Setup WiFi on the Netgear VMDG480

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

The Netgear VMDG480 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.

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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 Netgear VMDG480 Guides

This is the wifi guide for the Netgear VMDG480 v2. 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 Netgear VMDG480

To get started configuring the Netgear VMDG480 WiFi settings you need to login to your router. If you are already logged in you can skip this step.

To login to the Netgear VMDG480, follow our Netgear VMDG480 Login Guide.

Find the WiFi Settings on the Netgear VMDG480

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 Netgear VMDG480 router.

This wireless guide begins on the Home page of the Netgear VMDG480v2 router. To begin the configuration process, click the red button on the left labeled WiFi Wireless Network Settings.

Change the WiFi Settings on the Netgear VMDG480

wifi wireless
This is the wifi setup page from your Netgear VMDG480 router.

This directs to the the Security Settings page.

  1. Turn the Wireless option On.
  2. Set the Security Mode to the most secure choice of WPA2-PSK[AES]. To find out why this is what we recommend read our WEP vs. WPA Guide.
  3. Now change the SSID. This is the network ID, to learn more read our Wireless Names Guide. It doesn't really matter what you enter here but we recommend avoiding personal information.
  4. Next is the Passphrase. This is the password you type into your wireless devices to access your local internet. Create a strong 14-20 character password here. Learn great ways to do this in our Choosing a Strong Password Guide.
  5. The last setting that needs to be checked is the Channel. Just make sure you are on either 1,6, or 11. Find out why you should use one of these channels in our WiFi Channels Guide.

That's it, just click the red Save Settings button at the bottom of the page when you have 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 Netgear VMDG480 Info

Don't forget about our other Netgear VMDG480 info that you might be interested in.

This is the wifi guide for the Netgear VMDG480 v2. We also have the following guides for the same router: