# connecting to WiFi



## Grassy (Nov 13, 2013)

Hello, I've just purchased a kindle WiFi Paperwhite and cannot get the kindle to recognize my modem. Do i need to connect the cable to the computer or the modem ? Or connect it at all  ? I've used 6 alpha and 3 numeric for my password, is that an issue  ?


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Grassy,

welcome to KBoards!

Your Kindle Paperwhite WiFi does not use a cable to connect to the network. You would connect the Paperwhite to your WiFi network. You do have a WiFi network at home right? I ask because you don't actually connect to your modem, as such--you connect to the network set up by a WiFi router (which might be part of your modem, or a separate device). My modem and router are one device, though when I had Cox cable, I had a separate wireless router.

First, let's restart the Paperwhite-.

From your home page, tap on the menu icon in the upper right hand corner. Tap on Settings, then the Menu icon again, then Restart.

Then, tap on the Menu icon again, then tap on Settings, then on WiFi Networks. Select your network from the list by tapping on it. Enter your password. Make sure "hide password" is not checked, and then enter your password. Make sure it is correct and then tap on "Connect." Getting the password wrong is the number one problem with connections. (I know it is for me!)

If this does not work, try unplugging the modem and waiting a few seconds and then plugging it in again. This will reset the modem and clear any hiccups in it. Then try connecting again.

If this doesn't work^, do you have any other WiFi devices that are connected to the network, so you know it's working properly. If so, try having them forget the network and connect again as a test.

Let us know if this helps.

Betsy


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## KimberlyinMN (Dec 30, 2009)

Also, make sure you are using the wifi router password, not the password you use to connect to your PC.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

if you have an att modem/router look on the side of it.  There is a 10 digit security code.  That is the number you put in.  
Wifi codes are nearly always 10 digits and just numbers.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

cinisajoy said:


> if you have an att modem/router look on the side of it. There is a 10 digit security code. That is the number you put in.
> Wifi codes are nearly always 10 digits and just numbers.


Well, not necessarily.

Used to be routers were pretty much wide open. . . you set it up and it defaulted to an open network and you needed to do some additional stuff to secure it even a little bit. But now they mostly default to some level of security. Yes, there's a starting password they give you which you use to initially set it up, but you can very easily change that to a much more easy to remember password. And they encourage you to do so when you go through the setting up steps.

Nowadays people often have multiple devices and/or friends and relatives who visit and they'd like to make the network available to them. It's much easier to tell them the pass word is "thisismyhouse" than a string of numbers. . . which you probably don't remember anyway so would have to look up!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

cinisajoy said:


> if you have an att modem/router look on the side of it. There is a 10 digit security code. That is the number you put in.
> Wifi codes are nearly always 10 digits and just numbers.


Not at my house. I changed mine so I could remember it and also, as Ann says, tell friends and family the password.



Betsy


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Well all I know is for the last 8 years ATT has secured their wireless networks.  The password is on the side of the modem.  I was thinking if you just set it up that is the default.  They had too or at least in our region.  Too many people were stealing from their neighbors.


I was thinking some people do not go to the trouble to change the password and if a spouse hooked everything up, the other partner may not know where to look for the password.  To me it is not that hard to look at the side of a modem so I see no reason to mess with it.


So how do you change a wireless password?   I have never seen a place to change it and I have had wireless for the last 8 years at least.


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## KimberlyinMN (Dec 30, 2009)

Just be happy if you don't have a geeky husband. (Well, we are both geeks.)  OUR password is 60 alphanumeric mixed case characters. Yes, sixty. Try getting through something like that if the password you are typing in only shows the last digit entered. It's fun.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

ha! Kimberly.  You know an unusual sentence would work just as well as a bunch of random stuff.   You know, something like "WhyMustIStuffaCabbage?!" 

FWIW, every wireless router we've had (we've always had ones separate from the modems) has had a way to change the password to whatever you want.  You can change the network name, too, so it isn't called "ZXy439gC" or something like that. It's easily accessed by entering the web address -- usually 198.xxx.x.x or something like that -- in your browser to access the router. The booklet that came with it explained how to access it and from there it was a pretty easy walk through to change or adjust things.


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## cinisajoy (Mar 10, 2013)

Ann in Arlington said:


> ha! Kimberly. You know an unusual sentence would work just as well as a bunch of random stuff.  You know, something like "WhyMustIStuffaCabbage?!"
> 
> FWIW, every wireless router we've had (we've always had ones separate from the modems) has had a way to change the password to whatever you want. You can change the network name, too, so it isn't called "ZXy439gC" or something like that. It's easily accessed by entering the web address -- usually 198.xxx.x.x or something like that -- in your browser to access the router. The booklet that came with it explained how to access it and from there it was a pretty easy walk through to change or adjust things.


Thanks Ann. I did not get a booklet with this modem. Oh so just put in it's IP address and go from there. I got you now. You are a doll at times.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

I have FiOS and I did a search on "how to change wifi password on FiOs router."   There was a YouTube video that stepped me through it.  I'd have to find it again to change it again.  There were no instructions that came with it.

FiOS's website is worthless for stuff like that.  Or for much of anything else.

Hope we're not scaring Grassy off. 

Betsy


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