In article , Wolf K
wrote:

The router should be plug'n'play on Windows, OS-X, and Linux. If it
isn't, don't buy it.

no it very definitely shouldn't.

there might be (and often is) a setup wizard, but plug and play it is
not.

Erm, when I connected my present (wi-fi) router to this box, it ... just
worked. The last time I had to set up a router was so long ago I've
forgotten how to do it.

if you did nothing and left it at its default settings, then it's not
secure. in fact, it's horribly insecure, dangerously so.

To connect to the router, I used Windows network applet. I had to enter
the security key (128 bits) that came with the box. That's all.

so not plug and play.

and no, that's not all. if you didn't do anything else, your router is
wide open, which is *really* bad.

Are you
saying that's some kind of universal key that anyone can use?

no.

If so, why
do I have to give to my nearest and dearest when they visit so's they
can use the network? And why can't I connect to the neighbour's wi-fi,
which shows up as available both in Windows network applet, and in Speccy?

are you saying you have not changed the ssid and password from what's
on the card, and that's what you tell others to use?

at a minimum, its default password should be changed, a unique wifi
ssid and different password should be chosen, all of which would be
part of a setup wizard, or can be done manually.

OK, noted.

In the Windows Network applet, I re-labelled the router to suit me.
Speccy shows this label as its SSID. I suppose that could be considered
set-up.

the ssid/password is changed within the router interface, not windows,
which has no way of knowing how every router does it.

many people will want to change other options, such as network
security, port forwarding, qos, dhcp, dns and more.

what wifi router is it?

DLink, can't recall the model number, and it's on a high shelf, so I
ain't gonna climb up there and find out. :-)

d-link is admin/admin or admin/{none} for almost all of them, usually
at 192.168.0.1.

as noted above, if you did not change that, that is *bad*. anyone can
pwn you.