I know very LITTLE about networking and computers in GENERAL, so i'll try to describe this as best as I can.
When i try to connect to the wireless network at home (through laptop, winxp sp2) I view the different wireless networks available to me (there are others around) and i select my own. However, all the others have a little lock icon, they are password protected. My own home network says: "Unsecured wireless network".
So i try to secure it. I went to advanced settings, wireless networks, *my network* properties, association, and network authentication. Selected Open (not sure why, i think i read that online), then WEP and put a 5 letter/number network key.
Regardless of what i do then, once i click OK it remains "unsecured wireless network", and when i check the settings again I see they had returned to data encryption "disabled".
I don't know what's going on, or really how to password-protect my network, I didn't think it would be this complicated.
ps. there are 3 other laptops connected to this network, we all have admin privileges i think.
Thank you for the help, and sorry for the really long post, i just tried to be thorough. What you'll need to do is configure your router with the appropriate settings.

Who is the manufacturer and what is the model number of your router?

Some great reading: Setting Up a Home NetworkLinksys BEFSR41
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edit: I have a netgear (wireless firewall router wgt624) attached to the linksys router, so that both wired and wireless can be used. (the netgear router was a later addition). this might complicate things.

edi2: I figured i could change the settings on the wireless router to enable security features, but since i have 2 routers, the IP 192.168.1.1 by default connects to the wired linksys, not the netgear. How do i get to the netgear settings?Linksys provides all the information you'll need in order to configure your router properly...as well as secure it.

Please visit the following links: EasyLink Connect

Link to your product page: BEFSR41

Pay close ATTENTION to the guides on the above page which will instruct you in the proper way of configuring your router based on the type of internet connection you have.

Actually the procedure is quite simple to do...

Simply login to your router's settings page. You may/may not have set a new password when you initially did this...so you may want to change your password, once you've logged into your router.

The next steps will be to setup WPA and assign a network key in order to secure your router.

Once you've accomplished the above...all you need to do is save your settings and your router will now be secure. Those who are able to see your wireless connection will not be able to access it...unless the possess the key you assigned in the above procedure.

I hope this information has helped...please keep us posted...Firstly thanks for the reply. I looked at the pages you linked.
Unfortunately (as i tried to mention later in the edit) the linksys router is wired, the netgear is the wireless router, so the easylink connect program says my router is not compatible for wireless settings.
I think if I could connect to the netgear router i could change the settings, but the IP 192.168.1.1 automatically redirects me to the linksys router. I'll look online if netgear has a program link linksys's easylink connect, but is there any other way to redirect the IP? both companies mentioned in their FAQ pages they use the same IP.

edit: Sorry for so many edits, but I'm working as I type these posts. I should probably wait until I reach a conclusion, but oh well, here i go: The IP for netgear is different (it said it on the back of the router, 192.168.0.1)
I changed the settings, and now everything seems to be working, with a password!

Thanks so much for your help and quick responses SAVIOUR.
Al You're welcome...

So, were you able to secure your wireless network?

Your original post referred to your Linksys wireless connection...not your netgear router.Why use two routers? Doesn't that Netgear router have 4 ports on back for wired connections?

BTW, WPA is more secure than WEP. So, use WPA if possible.