NETGEAR R6300 User Manual

NETGEAR, Inc.

350 East Plumeria Drive

San Jose, CA 95134, USA

April 2012

Technical Support

Thank you for selecting NETGEAR products.

After installing your device, locate the serial number on the label
of your product and use it to register your product at

www.NETGEAR.com/register. Registration is required before you

can use our telephone support service. Registration through our
website is strongly recommended.

Go to http://support.netgear.com for product updates and web
support.

GPL might be included in this product; to view the GPL license
agreement, go to ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/

GPLnotice.pdf.

Dual Band 11ac WiFi Router R6300

Installation Guide

Package Contents

The box should contain the following items. If any items are
incorrect, missing, or damaged, contact your NETGEAR dealer.

Note: In some regions, a Resource

CD is included with your
product.

Important: Be sure to remove the plastic
film from the router before using it.

Ethernet cable

Power cord

Dual Band WiFi Router

Power adapter

You can use this diagram to connect your router or follow the detailed instructions in this booklet.

1. Prepare your modem.

4. Connect

3. Power on the router.

5. Launch a browser.

2. Connect your modem.

Unplug your modem. If it has a battery
backup, remove the battery.

Plug in your modem. Put the battery
back in. Then cable the modem to the
router Internet port.

Modem

Internet

Router

DSL or Cable

a computer.

Compliance

Declarations of Conformity

For complete DoC please visit the NETGEAR EU Declarations of Conformity
website at: http://support.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11621/.

For GNU General Public License (GPL) related information, please visit

http://support.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2649

This symbol is placed in accordance with the European Union
Directive 2002/96 on the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(the WEEE Directive). If disposed of within the European Union, this
product should be treated and recycled in accordance with the laws of
your jurisdiction implementing the WEEE Directive.

Contents

Install Your Router. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Prepare your modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Connect your modem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Power on the router . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Connect a computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Launch a browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Preset Wireless Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Wireless Network Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Add Wireless Devices to the Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

WPS Method. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Manual Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Access the Router to Make More Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

ReadySHARE Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

ReadySHARE Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Other Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1

Install Your Router

Make sure that your Internet service is active before you install the
router. Follow steps 1 through 5.

1. Prepare your modem.

a. Unplug your modem’s

power.

b. If the modem has a battery

backup, remove its
batteries.

c. If your modem was already

connected to another
router, disconnect the cable
between your modem and
that router.

Now your modem should be
completely turned off, and
cabled only to the wall jack for your Internet service.

2. Connect your modem.

Internet

2

b

a

Modem

1

DSL or cable

Modem

Router

a. Plug in, then turn on your modem. (Replace the batteries if

you removed them previously.)

b. With the yellow Ethernet cable that came with the router,

connect your modem to the Internet port of your router.

2

3. Power on the router.

b

On/Off

Router

Modem

a

3

a. Connect the power adapter to the router and plug the power

adapter into an outlet.

b. Before going to Step 4, wait for the wireless LED on the front

panel of the router to turn on. If none of the LEDs on the
front panel are on, press the Power On/Off button on the
rear panel of the router.

4. Connect a computer.

Router

Modem

Computer

4

You can use an Ethernet cable (not included) or connect
wirelessly.

• Use the Ethernet cable to connect your computer to an

Ethernet port on your router.

• Or, connect wirelessly by using the preset wireless security

settings located on the label on the bottom of the router.

3

5. Launch a browser.

If a web page does not open,
close and reopen the browser
and type http://routerlogin.net
in the address bar, or see

Troubleshooting on page 9.

5

Preset Wireless Security

This product has a unique WiFi network name (SSID) and network
key (password). The default SSID and network key (password) are
uniquely generated for every device, like a serial number, to protect
and maximize your wireless security. This information is located on
the label on the bottom of the product.

NETGEAR recommends that you do not change the preset WiFi
network name (SSID) and network key (password). If you do change
the settings, the security SSID and password on the bottom of the
product no longer apply.

4

Wireless Network Settings

Record the default preset wireless settings that are printed on the
label in the space below for easy reference.

WiFi Network Name (SSID):

Network Key (Password):

If you change the default settings, record them here for easy
reference, and then store this booklet in a safe place:

WiFi Network Name (SSID):

Network Key (Password):

To retrieve or update your wireless password, type
www.routerlogin.net in a web browser and log in using the default
user name (admin) and password (password).

Select Wireless Settings to locate your wireless password.

5

Add Wireless Devices to the Network

Choose either the manual or Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) method to
add wireless computers and other devices to your wireless network.

WPS Method

If your wireless device supports WPS—NETGEAR calls this method
Push 'N' Connect—you might be prompted to press the WPS button
on the router instead of entering a password. If this happens:

1. Press the WPS button on the router.

2. Within 2 minutes, press the WPS button on the client device, or

follow the WPS instructions that came with your wireless device to
complete the WPS process. Then the device connects to the router.

3. Repeat this process to add other WPS wireless devices.

Note: WPS does not support WEP security. If you try to connect a

WEP client to your network using WPS, it does not work.

Manual Method

1. On the wireless device that you want to connect to your router

(iPhone, laptop, computer, gaming device), open the software
utility that manages its wireless connections. This utility scans
for all wireless networks in your area.

2. Look for the preset NETGEAR WiFi network name (SSID) and

select it. The SSID is located on the product label on the bottom of
the router.

Note: If you changed the name of your network during the setup

process, look for that network name.

3. Enter the preset password (or your custom password if you

changed it), and click Connect.

Repeat steps 1–3 to add other wireless devices.

6

Access the Router to Make More Changes

After you use NETGEAR Genie to set up the router, you can log in to
the router to view its settings or make changes.

 To log in to the router:

1. Launch a web browser from a computer or wireless devices that

is connected to the router.

2. Type www.routerlogin.net or www.routerlogin.com in the

address field of the browser. A login screen displays:

admin

********

3. Enter admin for the user name and password for the password.

The router Basic Home screen displays:

See the User Manual for more information about the router
screens.

7

 To change the password for the router user name:

1. Log in to the router.

2. Select Administration > Set Password to display the Set

Password screen:

3. Type your old password, and type the new password twice.

NETGEAR recommends that you use the password recovery
feature when you change your password.

4. Select the Enable Password Recovery check box.

5. Click Apply.

6. You are prompted to answer questions, which are saved.

 To use password recovery to retrieve a forgotten password:

You need to enable password recovery as described in the previous
section in order to use this feature.

1. Launch a web browser from a computer or wireless devices that

is connected to the router.

2. Type www.routerlogin.net or www.routerlogin.com in the

address field of the browser.

3. When the login screen displays, click Cancel.

You are prompted to enter your saved answers so that you can
log in to the router.

8

Troubleshooting

If the browser does not display the web page:

• Make sure that the PC is connected to one of the four LAN

Ethernet ports, or wirelessly to the router.

• Make sure that the router is fully up and running. Its WiFi LED

should turn on.

• Close and reopen the browser to make sure that the browser

does not cache the previous page.

• Type http://routerlogin.net.

• If the PC is set to a static or fixed IP address (this is uncommon),

change it to obtain an IP address automatically from the router.

ReadySHARE Access

After installation and set up, you can insert a USB storage device into
the USB port on the router and share the contents with other network
users. (If your USB device has special drivers, it is not compatible.)

Note: If your USB device requires a power supply, you must use it

when connecting your USB device to a NETGEAR router or gateway.
It may take up to 2 minutes before the USB drive is ready for sharing
after it is connected to the router.

To access your USB device:

On Windows systems, use any of these methods:

• Select Start > Run and enter \\readyshare in the dialog box.

Click OK.

• Open Explorer or Safari and enter \\readyshare in the address

bar.

• Open My Network Places and enter \\readyshare in the address

bar.

9

On Mac systems, do this:

1. Select Go > Connect to Server.

2. Enter smb://readyshare as the Server Address.

3. Click Connect.

The readyshareconnect.exe file (for Windows) is available to
download here: www.netgear.com/readyshare

ReadySHARE Printer

ReadySHARE Printer lets you connect a USB printer to the router’s
USB port, and access it wirelessly.

To set up ReadySHARE Printer:

Step 1: Connect the USB printer to the router’s USB port with a USB

printer cable.

Step 2: Install the USB printer driver software on each computer that

will share the printer. If you do not have the printer driver, contact the
printer manufacturer to find and download the most recent printer
driver software.

Step 3: On each computer that will share the printer, download the

NETGEAR USB Control Center utility. The NETGEAR USB utility has
a Mac version and a Windows version, which you can access in two
different ways:

• From the ReadySHARE Printer area of this URL:

www.netgear.com/readyshare

10

• From the ReadySHARE tab of the Desktop NETGEAR Genie.

NOTE:

• You must install this utility before you can use the ReadySHARE

Printer feature.

• For the ReadySHARE Printer feature to work, this utility must be

run in the background.

Step 4: Follow the instructions to install the NETGEAR USB Control

Center utility.

11

Step 5: After you have installed the utility, select the language.

Step 6: If this is the first time you are accessing the utility, you are

asked to select the printer and click the Connect button.

Once the connection is established, the status changes to Manually
connected by xxx..

12

Step 7: Click the Disconnect button at any time to release the

connection. The status then changes to Available.

Once the Connect button has been clicked once on all computers in
the network, the utility on each of them automatically handles the
printing queue and handling. The status of the printer should appear
as Available on all of the computers.

NOTE:

• When the status is Available, you can use the USB printer.

• When the status is Manually connected by xxx, only the xxx

computer can use the printer. Other network devices must wait
until the xxx computer has released the connection, or until the
connection times out (the default time-out value is 30 seconds).

• You can set the value for the default time-out time from the Tools

> Configuration screen.

13

• The USB Control Center utility must be running for the computer

to be able to print to the USB printer attached to the router. If you
exit the utility, printing does not work.

• Some firewall software, such as Comodo, blocks the

ReadySHARE Print utility from accessing the USB printer. If you
do not see the printer in the utility, you can disable the firewall
temporarily to allow the utility to work.

Step 8: If your printer supports scanning, make sure that the printer is in

the Available state, and click the Network Scanner button. This
activates the Scanner window so you can use the printer for scanning.

For more detailed information about ReadySHARE Printer, see the
User Manual by clicking the Documentation link in the router
management interface or on the R6300 product page on the Support
website http://support.netgear.com).

14

Other Features

For additional features, including Live Parental Controls, Traffic
Metering, ReadySHARE, Guest Access, and more, please log into
your router at http://routerlogin.net.

Download the free Desktop NETGEAR Genie from

www.NETGEAR.com/genie.

Internet

STATUS GOOD

Network Map

Number of devices 16

WiFi Connection

STATUS Connected

Parental Controls

Click here

Router Settings

Click here

ReadySHARE

Click here

Automatically fix common network problems and easily manage your
home network connections.

15

© 2012 NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed,
stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form or by
any means without the written permission of NETGEAR, Inc.

DO NOT stack equipment, or place equipment in tight spaces or in drawers.
Be sure your equipment is surrounded by at least 2 inches of air space.

Trademarks

NETGEAR, the NETGEAR logo, and Connect with Innovation are trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of NETGEAR, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries in the
United States and/or other countries. Information is subject to change without
notice. Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or
trademarks of their respective holders. © 2012 NETGEAR, Inc. All rights
reserved.

Statement of Conditions

In the interest of improving internal design, operational function, and/or
reliability, NETGEAR reserves the right to make changes to the products
described in this document without notice. NETGEAR does not assume any
liability that may occur due to the use or application of the product(s) or circuit
layout(s) described herein.

16