Setting up a zyxel keenetic II router (v2 pppoe)

Unlimited, high-speed and, of course, wireless Internet today is not a luxury, but a common state of affairs. Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones, tablets, laptops and other mobile gadgets that require an Internet connection for comfortable operation, Wi-Fi routers are found in almost every home. They are designed to ensure the connection of many devices to the same line, which, on the one hand, eliminates wires, making work comfortable, and on the other hand, saves money.

The speed and stability of the Wi-Fi signal depends not only on the Internet provider and the number of connected gadgets, but also on the quality of the router itself that distributes Wi-Fi. Today, the market offers a wide range of Wi-Fi routers, which differ not only in their advanced capabilities, but also in the quality of their hardware and software. Routers of the Taiwanese brand ZyXEL (Zixel) are widely popular all over the world, including the CIS countries. They produce networking equipment, including routers, for professional and home use. It is worth noting that in the latter case, setting up the ZyXEL router is simple due to the thoughtfulness and logic of the device interface. This article will discuss step-by-step setup of a ZyXEL brand modem.

What do you need to know before setting up?

Like any other brand of modem, the Zixel router under Rostelecom is configured through a special web interface.
To access it, you will need a browser. You can use anything, from standard Internet Explorer to the more familiar Chrome or Opera. To gain access to the settings area, type the system address of the equipment – 192.168.1.1 – into the line at the top of the browser window. It will be true for any router model. After entering these numbers, an authentication window will appear on the screen above the browser. The login information is also standard for the entire Zixel line: as a login – admin, as a password – 1234 or also admin.

To set up a configuration that allows your router to communicate with the Internet, you will need a login and password for this service. As a rule, they are specified in the agreement with Rostelecom. Prepare this document in advance and keep it handy until you complete setup. If the symbols in the contract are poorly printed and difficult to read, you can check them with the provider by calling technical support at 8-800-1000-800. But be prepared for the fact that a call on this matter will take about 15 minutes, and the operator will ask you for your passport information to verify the password.

Attention: the expression “check password” means that you will dictate to the company specialist the symbols that you see in the contract, and he will correct you in case of an error. The Rostelecom operator does not have the right to read your entire password to you. If you have lost your Internet login details, a remote specialist will not be able to help you - contact the RTK office with your passport and contract.

Preliminary preparation for work

In order for the router to work for the first time, you need to take a few simple steps:

Connect the device to the network using the power supply and pressing the power button;
Connect the router to the external network (provider cable) via the WAN port (highlighted in color on the rear panel);
Connect the PC via the included cable (inserted into one of five connectors);
Check the correct execution using the indicators on the front panel: the power light, network connection light and the port indicator with the PC cable inserted should be on;

Afterwards we can open the computer, check the network connection (if there is an “Access Restricted” error) and set an important setting:

From the tray (the place on the Start panel next to the time and date) open “Network Center...” by right-clicking on the network icon;
In the window that opens, find the adapter settings tab and open it;
On a working connection, right-click and select properties;
In a new window, look for the fourth version of the Internet protocol, using the button under the list, open properties;
For both selectors we set automatic retrieval (IP and DNS);

This is where the connection to the Wi-Fi network begins for the Rostelecom provider and any other service provider.

Features and Specifications

The RT5350 SoC, which is the computing center here, is familiar to many specialists from a galaxy of other routers (mainly from China) equipped with the same or similar characteristics. In theory, thanks to this, Keenetic Start should have support for OpenWRT firmware, but in practice the chip has been modified and free software cannot be installed instead of the native one from Zyxel. Fortunately, the firmware here, as always, is good and functional.

RAM is traditionally in excess - 32 megabytes, permanent memory - 4, without doubling, which means it is impossible to quickly backup and roll back to the latest stable software version.

Kinetic Start has only one antenna, the signal power is only 2 dBi, but, as users note, this is quite enough for a small room or apartment with thin brick walls. There are 5 ports, all 100 Mbit/s, there is one WAN and 4 LAN connectors.

Wi-Fi operates in the 2.4 GHz band, the maximum wireless local network speed is 150 Mbit/s. Speeds over the IPoE/PPPoE and L2TP/PPTP protocols are lower - 90 and 60 Mbit/s, respectively

Indicators and connectors

On the back wall there is a completely standard set of connectors and buttons. From left to right here are:

factory reset button.
5 already mentioned network ports.
power connector.
on/off button.

On the front are indicators of various device states. The first, Power, shows the power status. Those marked with numbers from 0 to 5 indicate the occupancy of the LAN and WAN ports. The Wi-Fi symbol indicator indicates the presence of a wireless connection. The last globe icon is responsible for demonstrating the Internet connection.

Setting up the router

To start setting up Zyxel Keenetic Start, you need to go to the main interface. And to do this, we need to open the browser and enter the number 192.168.1.1 into the address bar - the standard address of the Kinetic family. Immediately after loading the page, we will see an authorization form, into which we will enter the standard data: login - admin and password - 1234. Behind it, a Setup Wizard, unified for the entire line of routers, awaits us.

To enter the settings, open your browser and enter the address: HTTP://192.168.1.1

On the newly opened page we will find only two buttons to choose from: “Quick setup” and going to the “web configurator”. In this case, we are interested in the first option. After clicking on it, we will see three selectors that allow us to specify the relationship of our provider to MAC addresses. Most of the modern service providers do not record address data and for them you should select the first option (selector). But if your company is not Rostelecom, but, say, Dom.ru, you need to look at the contract or call technical support to get your MAC address. Then we indicate the resulting alphanumeric combination in the field next to the “Other” selector and click on the “Next” button.

On the page that opens, set the automatic IP configuration option or indicate your own address, as well as NDS, if the provider gave you this information. Let's move on. We indicate the login and password if they are included in the contract for the supply of Internet services, or check the box for “I don’t have a password...”. It is important not to confuse this data with the key and name for the Wi-Fi network, which are indicated on the bottom of the router. These are completely different data, because... Rostelecom is a service provider, and Zyxel is an equipment provider.

When we go further, we get to the status page, where connection data is indicated and information about whether we were able to connect to the Internet (wired connection only, not Wi-Fi) or not. In most cases, the setup will be successful and you will have access to the network.

Changing your login password

In order to change the login password or add a new user, you need to select “Users and Access” in the “Management” section.

To edit user data, click on it.

We enter the new password twice and the change is complete. If necessary, you can change access rights.

Connecting Zyxel Keenetic Lite for setup

Whenever it comes to setting up any Wi-Fi router to work with the Rostelecom provider, I always touch upon the issue of correctly connecting the router. The fact is that very often, if a company employee installs a router, they connect it incorrectly - this simplifies their work, but makes it impossible to fully use the router.

So, on the back of the router there is one WAN connector - you need to connect the Rostelecom cable to it. To him and nothing else. Connect one of the LAN connectors immediately available to the corresponding port of the network card of the computer or laptop from which the setup will be performed.

I also recommend making sure that the local network connection settings on the computer that will be used for setup are set to automatically obtain an IP address and DNS server addresses for the TCP/IPv4 protocol.

Plug the router into a power outlet.

And, very important: do not connect the Rostelecom connection on your computer if you usually do this to access the Internet. Our task is to transfer the settings of this connection to the router and never run it on the computer again. If you do not heed this advice, then most likely you will not be able to configure the router. Those. The Internet on the computer should be turned off during and after setting up the router, even if it is not entirely clear to you why.

Setting up the Zyxel Keenetic Lite 3 router under Rostelecom in automatic mode

The algorithm for quickly setting up Zixel routers is the same for all models. Let's look at it using the example of Zyxel Keenetic Lite 3. Most likely, you will see an offer to use the automatic settings configuration wizard as soon as you enter the web interface. What it looks like is shown in the screenshot below. If such a page does not appear, then you are in the Zyxel “System Monitor”. Find the globe icon at the bottom of the screen and click on it. In the new window, click the “NetFriend” button (this is the name of the installation wizard), and you will go into automatic mode.

Here you just have to click on the “Quick setup” button. The configurator will offer you several drop-down lists in which you will need to select your city, country and provider name. If you received a router at a Rostelecom office, this company will definitely be listed in the NetFriend database in first place. After each step, click the “Next” button at the bottom of the page.

In the fourth window, the system will ask you to enter your username and password to access the Internet. Retype them from the contract with the provider, strictly observing the case of characters. After you click “Next”, the installation wizard will check the connection and if the result is positive, it will offer you to update the router firmware. Do this, and setting up the Zyxel Keenetic router for Rostelecom will essentially be completed.

Attention: the firmware update offer will only appear if NetFriend detects a newer version on the server than the one installed on your equipment. If it doesn't appear, it doesn't mean you did something wrong. It’s just that the software on your device is up to date and does not need to be updated.

Next, the installation wizard will prompt you to perform two more steps. The first is the choice of port for the TV set-top box. You can indicate the required connector by clicking on the square under the picture with its number. If you do not have the Interactive TV service from Rostelecom connected, simply proceed to the next step. The second suggestion is to install a Yandex DNS filter. You can completely refuse it; this add-on will not affect the operation of the Internet in any way.

After this, you will see a connection establishment message and connection specifications. The setup is complete, you can close the installation wizard and start surfing websites or chatting on Skype. If you need to set up a wireless network, click the “Web Configurator” button at the bottom of the screen and set the necessary parameters. We will describe a detailed algorithm for this process below.

Setting up Zyxel Keenetic Lite manually

The Keenetic Lite model from Zyxel is inexpensive, but very functional. And, most importantly, like all the company’s equipment, it is equipped with a beautifully designed and reasonably systematized configuration utility. Even a novice user will understand how to work with it. Setting up the Zyxel Keenetic Lite router under Rostelecom begins by selecting the “Internet” menu item on the left side of this interface, the “Authorization” sub-item.

In the window that appears, you will need to select the PPPoE access protocol type in the drop-down list and fill in the lines with the user name and password. Retype this information from the contract. Make sure that the checkbox next to the line about automatically obtaining an IP address is checked. Do not touch the remaining fields, just save your changes using the button at the bottom of the page. If everything is done correctly, you will be connected to the network in 30-60 seconds.

If you need to set up a wireless network in addition to the Internet, go to the left menu item “Wi-Fi Network”. Select the “Connection” sub-item and enter the name of your wireless network in it. You can come up with it yourself, there are only two restrictions - Latin letters and the number of characters is at least eight. After saving the settings, go to the “Security” subsection. Here you need to set the values of all fields as indicated in the screenshot.

In the line called “Network key” enter your password for the Wi-Fi network. Invent it yourself too. The standard password is indicated on the router, on a label on the back, but it can be changed at this point in the settings. If you are afraid of getting confused, use the password issued by Rostelecom for the Internet as a key for the wireless network.

Click the button at the bottom right of the Apply window, and you can use the wireless network and a standard wired connection.

Setting up a connection to the web interface

To configure the router, you should use specialized network interfaces, which can be connected using browsers on your personal computer. The user needs to enter the device address. The address is written on a sticker glued to the back panel of the router and looks like a four-digit number:

select the network icon in the tray;
then “Control Center”;
in the “View networks” column, select the current local connection;
select "Information";
right-click to copy the values of the “Gateway” parameter;
now you have the ability to connect to a web interface that allows you to manage Zyxel Keenetic;
open your browser;
Paste the copied value into the address field. You will be asked to enter your username and password. They are indicated on the rear panel label. If it is missing, enter “admin” + “admin” and “admin” + “1234”;
select "LOGIN" to login.

Setting up PPPoE connection Rostelecom

The main task when setting up any Wi-Fi router, including Zyxel Keenetic Lite, is to configure the connection parameters used by the Internet provider. Rostelecom uses a PPPoE connection, we will configure it.

Launch any Internet browser (not in Turbo mode)
Go to the address 192.168.1.1 - this is the internal address of the router; you do not need an Internet connection to go to it.
When prompted for a login and password, you should enter the standard values for Zyxel Keenetic - admin and 1234, respectively.
You will be taken to the Zyxel Keenetic Lite router settings page, open the “Internet” menu item in the menu on the left, then select “Authorization” and fill out all the fields as required.

Connection parameters for Rostelecom:

Internet access protocol - PPPoE
Username and password - your data for Rostelecom
The “Obtain an IP address automatically” checkbox should be checked
In most cases, the remaining parameters should not be changed.

After this, save your settings. After 30-60 seconds, the router will connect to the Internet and you will see that the Skype icon has turned green, and Internet pages are already opening (provided that, as I asked, you disconnected the Rostelecom connection on the computer itself). The next step is to set up a wireless network and set a Wi-Fi password to protect it.

Setting up a connection using Dynamic IP technology

This means that the cable from the provider is connected to the router, we went into the settings and select the “Quick setup” . If there is no “quick setup” item, then you need to reset the settings. I wrote above how to do this.

Since the router automatically connects to the Internet using Dynamic IP technology, it will immediately prompt you to update the firmware if there is a new one. Click on the “Update” .

We wait for the router to download the firmware itself, install it and reboot. When you see a message that the component update is complete, click “Next” . In the next window, the router will prompt you to enable the “Yandex.DNS Internet filter” . If you enable this function, the router will block access to sites that Yandex considers malicious. You can disable or enable this feature in the settings at any time. Click Next .

We see a message that the router is configured and the connection to the Internet is established. You can click on the Web Configurator and go to the Wi-Fi network settings, etc. I will write about this in this article below.

The Internet should already be working. You can connect your devices to the router. If you do not want to change the Wi-Fi network name and password, you can use the standard connection information, which is indicated at the bottom of the router.

Setting up via mobile application

The Play Market for Android and the App Store for iOS have the My.Keenetic branded application. It is supported by all router models, but for more modern devices there is also more modern software for smartphones. Setting up the Zyxel Keenetic Start router is possible through such an application and is no different from previous types. First you need to install My.Keenetic on your smartphone by finding it in the appropriate store. Zyxel Keenetic Start does not have a QR code for downloading it, as in modern models.

Setting up a router begins with connecting to its access point. Then in the application you can click the “OK, Wi-Fi connected” button on the start screen.

After this, another window will appear, in which a “Run NetFrient Setup Wizard” button with an image of an animal will be displayed.

By clicking on it, a slightly simplified visual wizard will launch, completely repeating the functions of its desktop counterpart. All the steps described for manual and automatic configuration above in the article are applicable here.

Resetting the router

In order to reset the router, you must perform the following steps:

wait until the device is fully loaded;
Press and hold the “RESET” button on the router until the power indicator begins to blink rapidly. Typically the button should be held for about 10 seconds;
release the “RESET” button.

After this, the router's power indicator will start blinking and then the router's settings will be reset to factory settings (default settings).

Setting up secure access

Go to the “Security” tab of the “Wi-Fi Network” section and set the following parameters:

Network key (ASCII): indicate from the Rostelecom agreement, if available. If not, come up with your own, using Latin characters and observing the complexity requirements.

After a few minutes (2-5) at the bottom of the screen, not far from the system clock, you will see a Wi-Fi network status icon.

Click on the icon that appears with the left mouse button and select yours from the available networks, with the name assigned in the SSID Network name item. Click the “Connect” button, having previously checked the “Connect automatically” checkbox.

A request for a network security key will appear, in which enter the Network key (ASCII) issued by Rostelecom or the one you created yourself and click OK.

If your key is entered correctly, you will see the following window indicating the connection process

After completing all the above 3 steps of the instructions, you will connect to the Internet using wireless access.

These instructions for setting up a Zyxel Kineetic Wi-Fi router can be applied as a universal one to the Zyxel Keenetic Lite, 4G, GIGA, Start models with minor variations in the graphical interface. It should also be taken into account that the equipment manufacturer can arbitrarily change the location of parameters, sections and tabs when improving the device.

Local LAN

To configure local network options on the wi-fi router in question, you need to:

go to the “Home Network” section;
In the first tab, enter data on the network address and subnet mask. Confirm your selection by clicking the “Apply” button;
edit the fields of the second tab, while all the necessary information can be borrowed from the DHCP server tab. In a situation where it is necessary, you need to check the appropriate box and enter the required parameters and click on the “Apply” button.

Setting up IPTV on the device

Zyxel Keenetic Giga generation III router: new features of a home Internet center

When using the “NetFriend Wizard” in the Zyxel Keenetic automatic mode, several points were missed. They concerned the issue of use. If such a service is connected, we will configure IPTV using the “Wizard” prompts. There is a picture on the page showing the LAN ports of the router. One of them is applicable for connecting an STB set-top box provided by Rostelecom for rent.

You cannot use a port that is open on a PC for configuration. Check the box next to the selected LAN connector. With this action we connect it to the WAN port programmatically, through which the Internet is supplied from Rostelecom. A “transparent bridge” is installed between them. This connector is not subsequently used for other purposes. Click “Next” and continue the process of automatic operation of the “Wizard”.

Without specifying VLAN ID

This option is used by most Internet providers. Television packages are transmitted untagged. To configure IPTV on Zyxel Keenetic, go to its interface at 192.168.1.1. It is written to the address bar of the browser open on the computer. Enter the login and password of the Keenetic wireless router into the fields of the form that opens. The default values are admin/1234. If we connect the digital interactive television service on an already configured router, enter the already changed administrator password.

Make sure that the latest firmware version is installed on the Keenetic router. Keenetic Internet centers with operating system version NDMS v2.06 and higher use the TV Port function. It allows you to programmatically allocate a LAN port for the STB set-top box. Version information is available in the Keenetic “System Monitor” interface in the bottom row of tabs. In it, go to the “System” section and select the “System Information” item.

In the next step, look for the globe icon (Internet) in the bottom row of tabs. On the page that opens, click the “Connections” section. Find a line in the list called Broadband Connection and click on it. A page with connection parameters opens. Select the LAN port to which we connect the IPTV set-top box and mark it with a checkmark. WAN connector with a bird for Internet access. We additionally mark the “Enable” item.

Depending on the provider, select the desired entry from the “Configure IP parameters” list. For Beeline - “Automatic”, for the rest we leave it - “Without IP address”. We apply the entered settings for IPTV television on Zyxel Keenetic routers. The Zyxel Keenetic developers recommend enabling the IGMP Proxy service. To do this, go to the “Settings” section with the gear symbol and in the “Components” sector o. Execute the “Apply” command. Now the STB set-top box is directly connected by software to the provider’s network.

Indicating VLAN ID

If traffic is provided in tagged form, to save the Internet, you need to create another IPoE connection. In the main menu, select the Internet icon in the form of a globe. In the row of top tabs, click IPoE Ethernet connection. Click the “Add Interface” button.

After that, in the new window that appears, enter the digital VLAN ID. You must first find out its meaning from the technical support service of the service provider.

On the connection settings page, check the boxes for those connectors that we want to connect with a “transparent bridge”. Check the “Transmit VLAN ID tags” box in the WAN field and re-enter the identifier value. We check the absence of Fr. Don’t forget to confirm the “Enable” command and click the “Apply” button.

Updating the firmware

Quite often there are cases when it is vital to update the firmware of a device. Despite the fact that this is a very responsible action, if you follow certain instructions, it is not at all difficult to install a new version of the software yourself.

It is recommended to update the software in question by connecting to the router using an Ethernet cable. To update the firmware, you need to use the standard component update function. It is important that you have a stable Internet connection when performing the update.

To update the firmware on a Zyxel router you need to:

download the latest firmware versions;
connect to the WEB configurator of the device;
enter the “System” section. Configuration. Firmware";
in the window that opens, select the firmware file (to do this, you must first extract it from the archive) and click “Replace”;
After downloading the new firmware and rebooting the router, you should check the current version of the device in the corresponding section in the “NDMS version” field.

It’s not for nothing that Zyxel positions Keenetic Start as an entry-level Internet center. Its setup is very trivial, and its capabilities allow you to create a compact computer network without much difficulty. This is an ideal choice for home and compact office.