To get the MAC address of your Windows PC’s wireless card:
1. Make sure the wireless connection is active on the PC.
2. Go to Start – Run – and type “cmd”
3. at the command prompt, type “ipconfig /all”
4. The MAC address is listed as “Physcial Address under “Ethernet adapter Wireless Connection” or “Wireless Connection” in the listing that pops up. You should be able to tell from the line above it (“description”) whether you are looking at the physical address of your wifi card or the actual ethernet (wired) network connection. The number will be in the form XX-XX-XX....and will consist of letters and numbers.
5. You will need the MAC address for both Sherry's and your PC – write both down.
(THIS STEP SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED, FOR NOW SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION AND ONLY REFER TO THIS STEP IF NEEDED) To get the MAC address of your Mac’s wireless card:
1) Click on the little apple symbol in the upper left corner of your screen.
2) Click “About This Mac.”
3) Click “More Info…”
4) Click “Network” and select “Airport” under the “configuration” field. The MAC (physical) address of your airport card is listed as “Ethernet Address: XX:XX:XX…..” Write this number down too.
Now you are ready to get change the settings on the wireless router. Close any applications on your iBook that use the internet.
Go to Applications – Utilities on your Mac and open Airport Admin Utility. Your base station should appear as one of the choices if it is on – and your Mac’s wireless connection must of course be active.
Highlight your base station by clicking on it, then click on Configure. Click on the tab called “Access Control.” Click on the small plus sign to the right of the little window with “airport ID” and “description.” – Here you will add your iBook's physical address first. A window will pop down. Simply click “this computer” and then “Okay” to add your iBook (if this fails, refer to the instructions above for finding your iBook's MAC address). Once that is done, click the small plus sign again and key in the MAC address. Once you have all the computers’ addresses entered, click “Update.” What will happen now is the base station will actually put the changes in and then reboot itself. This will interrupt your internet connection, which is why I recommended you close any applications using the internet.
Once you give the base station a few more moments you should see the wireless signal return on the upper right of your screen (the usual place where it shows the signal strength.) Once that is done, quit out of Airport Admin Utility – you are done!
No further actions need be taken. Whenever one of your computers tries to access the base station, the base station will check “who it is” before letting it on! This will make it many times harder for a neighbor or drive-by to get onto your network. Only a very highly skilled hacker with advanced tools will be able to.
