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Re: Well I tried

Subject: Re: Well I tried
From: Ted <ted99@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:30:08 +0100
Newsgroups: uk.comp.home-networking


Mortimer wrote:

Thanks for your input. Comments inline

"Ted" <ted99@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:9xFjk.83110$7O1.78126@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
robert wrote:
Ted wrote:
On the laptop, I could pick up a few networks, one of which seemed to be mine as it was showing as unsecured whereas the others were showing as secured (plus other network stuff unrelated to me).
First thing is to connect to your router via the cable, login as admin, change the password and give your network a name you can recognise but which doesnt reveal your name or address ie dont use "Brownatno10".

You also need to get the internet connection via the router working for your pc or laptop via the network cable before trying the wireless.
I made the various name changes but couldn't get an internet connection on the pc when the pc was connected to the wireless router by cable. However, I could get a wireless connection on the laptop (a few networks!) but I couldn't get the connection secured.

Can I check: is your first sentence talking about a different PC to the second sentence?

There is only one pc and one laptop. The desired result is a wired connection to the pc (as it happens, the pc mobo has a wireless connector but it is turned off) and a secured wireless connection to the laptop. The router is a WRT 160N.

If so, it looks as if you have two different problems. Let's consider them separately.

1. PC connected to by Ethernet cable. This ought to work without any configuration, providing that the PC hasn't been set to use a static IP address. Check first that the router has a status light for the port that the cable is plugged into (typically the port and its corresponding light are numbered 1-4); the ethernet post on the PC may also have a status light. If these are not lit, you may have a problem with the router or PC card or the cable. Assuming that the lights are OK, see what ipconfig and ping report (see below for details of these tests).

All the lights seemed to be flashing in the right places at the right time so I am reasonably confident the problem lies with a software configuration rather than hardware. I checked ipconfig but can't recall the output - I didn't try pinging anything.

I have another go at setting it up and see what happens. It is time consuming and laborious to access the cabling at the back of my pc due to the tight space in which it sits - moving it in and out doesn't do my back any good either!

2. The PC which is connected by wireless can connect to the router but you are having problems with an encrypted connection. First of all, let me check that you understand that encryption is turned on at the *router* not at the PC: having gone into the router's config page and enabled (for example) WPA-PSK encryption (*) with a suitable neywork key (password), the PC will detect that it is now dealing with an encrypted network and will prompt for the key to be entered; having done this once, the PC will remember it and will not prompt for it again.


Ipconfig/ping tests:

a) Start | Run | cmd - a black window with white writing will appear
b) In that window, type "ipconfig" [press the enter key] (without the double quotes). This should display something like

Windows IP Configuration

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.2
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

c) In the same window, type "ping 192.168.0.1" [enter] - alter the four numbers if necessary to match those listed as Default Gateway in the output of ipconfig. This should give the response

Pinging router [192.168.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),

Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 1ms
d) type "ping news.bbc.co.uk" [enter] which should give the same response but with address 212.58.226.8; the "time" values may also be larger, around 15-30 ms.

If these tests fail, post what response you get and one of us will try to diagnose the response.

(*) Enabling wireless security

The exact details will vary from one router to another, but typically you use Internet Explorer or Firefox to browse to a "web site" 192.168.0.1 (modifiy this value to match the Default Gateway value given by ipconfig) and then go through the menus to find the Wireless menu and then Security. Tell us the make of router and we can give more specific instructions.

I think the router ip was 192.168.1.1 but I can't recall if that matched the gateway value. I accessed the configuration panel via the browser and turned on wpa2. However, when I turned the laptop on a connection was showing (a few connections actually) but mine was showing as unsecured. I couldn't find a way of turning on wpa2 on the laptop (I assume that is what is needed to make a secure connection?).

However, as I couldn't get an internet connection on the pc through the wireless router, I've now reverted back to a standard wired modem connection.

I'll have another go on Thurs afternoon, or failing that, Friday morning and see what happens. Again, thanks for your input.

Ted

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