How To Limit Internet Access Through Wireless Access
The abundance of personal, Internet-enabled mobile devices is a great temptation to employees, who may use the business Internet access for games, social networking and other non-work-related activities. Every network-enabled computer is assigned a unique Media Access Control address that identifies it on a network, and most routers are able to limit wireless access to all devices except those in the list. To restrict wireless Internet access to only a select number of computers, enable MAC filtering on your router.
Locate the MAC Address
Click "Start." Type "cmd" in the search bar and click the result in the Start Menu.
Type "getmac /v" in the following into the command prompt window. Press the "Enter" key on your keyboard.
Locate the 12-digit hexadecimal MAC address listed after "Wireless Network." Write down the address.
Turn on MAC Filtering
Open your router's administration interface page. Open your Web browser and type the address 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1, depending on your router manufacturer. AirLink, ASUS, 3Com, Dell, Teletronics and Telnet routers use 192.168.1.1, while D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, Sitecom routers use 192.168.0.1. Belkin, SMC and Microsoft routers use 192.168.2.1.
Log in with your username and password.
Access the wireless MAC filtering configuration page. For Linksys routers, click the "Wireless" tab and click "Wireless MAC Filter." For Netgear routers, click "Wireless Settings" in the Advanced section. For Belkin routers, click "MAC Address Filtering" in the Firewall section.
Type the computer's MAC address into the text bar. Click "Add" or "Save." Reboot the router.
Rebecca Mecomber, a former radio broadcaster, has been a professional blogger and writer since 2006. Her articles and interviews have appeared in "The Wall Street Journal," Salon.com and several other publications, covering topics such as Federal Trade Commission policy and media regulations, blogging, home improvement and New York travel.