PC help: Lost network key

Q I have successfully made my home network secure through my Belkin router, but now I cannot access the internet through my laptop because it requests a Network Key.

I am not sure what this is or what form it takes. Can you please advise just what a network key is and how I get it from the jumble of information on addresses and so on, none of which are called key?

Brian Rutter

A The network key is something you will have created when you secured your wireless network.

Setting up security on a wireless network involves thinking up a key or a ‘passphrase’ that you then need to type into a computer to access the network.

Anyone who doesn’t have the key will be denied access by the router, which is why it’s an efficient way of making sure that only people you trust with the key can access the network.

When you set up security on a network, make a note of the key when you enter it. It might be known as a passphrase, WPA key, WEP key, encryption code, password or a combination of those.

If you still can’t find it or can’t remember it, though, just go through the process again of securing the network, and make a note of the new key when you come to set it up.

The process may generate a key for you, in which case you should make a note of that – it might be displayed using any of the names above, so keep an eye out for them as you go through the process.

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