Confused by wireless network!
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Discussion

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
Ignore this, its sorted out now!

>> Edited by m1spw on Wednesday 28th December 14:38

aldi

9,288 posts

267 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
On the laptop, just click on the little icon in the task tray next to the clock for the wireless connection, then scan for networks and connect.

On some laptops, theres a switch somewhere on the outside of the laptop to enable/disable the wireless antenna, make sure it's enabled.

I think not being able to connect to hotmail is a separate issue, try going into the router settings and dropping the 'MTU' setting a little bit - go in steps of 50 or so untill it starts to work.

GreenV8S

31,024 posts

314 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
Are you saying that you can't get a wireless connection to the router but you can still access the internet?

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
I've got the laptop connected and sorted out now, not sure how but its working!

I can access hotmail and MSN on the laptop now, but now on the main computer connected to the router. I will disconnect all the old modems and software etc later and see if it works then.

lockstock2sb

2,855 posts

273 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
You sure you havent connected to someone elses network !?

Have you got any wireless security set up (WEP)?

If you have disable it briefly and try connecting without it. See how you get on... Generally providing you have a good signal you shouldn't have any trouble with mixing kit providing it all follows the same standard.

You can mix 11b and 11g gear but you cant mix 11a with anything other than 11a from what i remember.

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
Hi lockstock

Yeh, I've got WEP on now, and I havn't connected to another network! I have picked up 2 of my neighbours networks though, one of which is totally unprotected. My laptop has come up on the connected devices on my router though.

lockstock2sb

2,855 posts

273 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
sounds like you are there then if you have wep on as well . You dont want any kids getting onto your machines or anything !

Enjoy the wireless !

Steve

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
Just one little thing, does the router have to be connected to a PC to alter settings or can I put that somewhere else and be hidden and then controlled via the little USB thingummy?

bga

8,134 posts

281 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
m1spw said:
Just one little thing, does the router have to be connected to a PC to alter settings or can I put that somewhere else and be hidden and then controlled via the little USB thingummy?

You can change the router settings via the admin console plugged in or wireless, though I found that upgrading the firmware was troublesome over wireless (can be done, just hangs occasionally)

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
Ok, cool. Thanks!

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
Right, laptop is connected and right next to my PC - wireless signal "excellent".

PC has USB wireless receiver - signal anything from "good" to "low", depending on where I'm sitting it seems, even though I'm not in the way of the router and USB signal line. The USB thing is getting very hot but doesn't seem to be doing much. I'm also having problems with the web as it keeps wanting to connect to my old connections - should I just delete them or how do I sort this?

GreenV8S

31,024 posts

314 months

Wednesday 28th December 2005
quotequote all
The reason it is trying to bring up the old connections is that the wireless connection isn't there. Try the basics first: can you ping the router by its IP address?

Flat in Fifth

48,854 posts

281 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
Could be trying to bring up the old connections because you need to select "Never dial a connection" on your Tools>InternetOptions>Connections tab.

For some reason this got reset on mine yesterday and its a PITA.

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
I've got both computers to connect to my network and gthe web without WEP enabled. With WEP, my laptop is fine, but I lose my desktop PC. So do I:
-use the same passphrase for each device on my network?
-use the same key for each device on the network?

thanks

bga

8,134 posts

281 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
you can use the key you generated from the passphrase for all the computers. XP should pick up the network, when you click on it to join you will be prompted to enter the key twice (pain in the neck).
I had a few problems with it this morning on a new PC until I realised I had forgot to add it to the access list

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
bga said:
you can use the key you generated from the passphrase for all the computers. XP should pick up the network, when you click on it to join you will be prompted to enter the key twice (pain in the neck).
I had a few problems with it this morning on a new PC until I realised I had forgot to add it to the access list

I've just tried changing the network key and seeing if that helps. I think its added correctly to my network, but is there an easy way of finding the MAC address? And when its added to the access list, does the computer name matter or just the MAC address?

GreenV8S

31,024 posts

314 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
m1spw said:
So do I:
-use the same passphrase for each device on my network?
-use the same key for each device on the network?


Yes to both. The passphrase is just a string that the key can be generated from, easier to type in a simple string than to type in a long list of numbers. It is fundamentally important that the same key is used on all the wireless devices including the router/access point.

bga

8,134 posts

281 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
m1spw said:

I've just tried changing the network key and seeing if that helps. I think its added correctly to my network, but is there an easy way of finding the MAC address? And when its added to the access list, does the computer name matter or just the MAC address?


you only need the mac address. There will be a seperate one for each network connection.

I fins the easiest way to find it is goto start->run and type in cmd

This will bring up a command prompt

in here type ipconfig/all

you may get a couple of entries, you want to look for something like enternet adapter wireless network connection. The physical address is the MAC address

If you go into the access list in the netgear admin console, you will be able to see any that it had picked up but not assigned yet.

hope that helps

m1spw

Original Poster:

5,999 posts

255 months

Thursday 29th December 2005
quotequote all
bga said:
m1spw said:

I've just tried changing the network key and seeing if that helps. I think its added correctly to my network, but is there an easy way of finding the MAC address? And when its added to the access list, does the computer name matter or just the MAC address?


you only need the mac address. There will be a seperate one for each network connection.

I fins the easiest way to find it is goto start->run and type in cmd

This will bring up a command prompt

in here type ipconfig/all

you may get a couple of entries, you want to look for something like enternet adapter wireless network connection. The physical address is the MAC address

If you go into the access list in the netgear admin console, you will be able to see any that it had picked up but not assigned yet.

hope that helps


I've just done all that and checked, and its in the trusted devices access list, so should be able to access my network. I think I'll just leave it and wire it back up to the router tomorrow. Its not as if I really need a desktop PC to be wireless anyway...