View Full Version : More Wireless Help Pleeeeeease!
2GHz processor, Win 2k. Everything worked well with BT broadband and the Alcatel frog. The I decided to go wireless, D-Link D-604+ Air Plus Router, which has a built-in ADSL modem. I have also installed a D-Link card in the second PC and the D-Link PCMI card in a new laptop. This, the main PC, is hard-wired to the router. The installation wasn't as straightforward as I thought it would be, but with the help of the BT help people, all the settings are correct and they confirm connection with the line. The D-Link manager also shows connection. The laptop wireless link shows 'excellent signal'. I haven't tried the second PC yet.
The problem is that I cannot get Internet Explorer 6 to use the line. I have been through all the dial-up options/settings I can think of with a very knowledgeable friend, but he's as puzzled as me - and he has setup his own wireless kit which works fine.
Connections - 'never dial a connection'
LAN Settings - 'automatically detect'
IE6 works fine via this link (ordinary line pay as you go) on both this PC and the laptop. Anybody got a clue what I could be doing wrong?
BEagle
2nd Nov 2003, 17:49
Couple of questions:
1. Did you 'uninstall' the other ASDL modem drivers before installing the D-604 Air Plus WLAN/ASDL modem?
2. Have you told your system to use Broadband as the default?
amanoffewwords
2nd Nov 2003, 19:39
I installed one of them for a customer a couple of months ago - had terrible problems with line stability etc until I downloaded the latest firmware for the router - would advise you do the same if not done already.
Won't solve your current problem though...
fobotcso
2nd Nov 2003, 19:45
Suggest you take the tick out of "LAN settings to automatic detection."
Your set-up is identical mine. I don't have a tick in that box.
Beags - I haven't uninstalled the BT frog because I can go back to using it if the wireless doesn't work out - belt and braces. And I'm not sure what you mean by telling the system to use broadband - the broadband worked fine with the Alcatel kit and the ADSL line.
Fobotsco - tried that and it made no difference.
The D-Link kit is not linked directly to the computer except through the LAN cable, so loading the D-Link software has done nothing to help.
I'm at a loss...
Thanks for your ideas - any more?
amanoffewwords
3rd Nov 2003, 01:00
The PC, or rather Windows, should recognise that there is a network connection available and should seek the internet connection there before anything else so there's probably not much you can configure in Windows to get it to do that.
You can still have the normal broadband set up as a backup - IE will then "dial" bband if the network is not available.
It would be useful if you could run the following command:
Start -- run --> type 'cmd'
In the 'dos' window type ipconfig /all press enter (it only displays a config, doesn't run anything)
Tell us what the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, dhcp server and dns server are for the network card in your machine (the one connected to the router).
If all is well you should have an address starting with 192.168 etc.. or similar address, and the router should hold the 'proper' IP address for your machine, as allocated by your ISP.
If the IP information is correct it is likely that your network configuration is corrupt - in which case I'd delete the network card from the system icon in the control panel, and let Windows re-install it from scratch after a reboot.
hth
fobotcso
3rd Nov 2003, 01:02
Pity!
So what happens when you try to use the browser on one of your machines to configure the 604+?
As you will know, the default IP address of the 604+ is 192.168.0.1 and it has its own DHCP server. What do you see when you do an "ipconfig" routine at a command prompt? Better still, try "ipconfig /renew" at a command prompt. If your machine's IP address is not in the correct range, your Winsock may be broken. To fix Winsock, try one of the free downloads available all over the Web such as:
This Winsock fix (http://members.shaw.ca/techcd/VB_Projects) Go for WinsockFix.exe
If your dial-up is working, I suppose your IP address configuration is set to "automatic". But there's always room for another check.
Johe02
3rd Nov 2003, 01:31
I assume you've got 'internet connection sharing' installed in Conrtol Panel > Add Remove Programs > Windows Set Up?
I forgot this once. . . :{
Memetic
4th Nov 2003, 07:00
If you are using a router is always on (once powered!) so you don't "dial" anything.
Try setting the PC to use a LAN for it's internet access.
Hi Guys... thanks for all your ideas, most of which I used/checked. I ended up getting in my local tame expert, who installs these things for a living.
It baffled him,too. All the selections were correct, but no matter what he did, the result was the same. We began to think that the router was u/s. One last try - reset to the factory default and then insert all the same settings as before. Sod me! It worked! He doesn't know either, but the whole system is up and running now. Awesome! She who must be obeyed is happier now with me sitting in the lounge with her and the laptop (would you believe on my lap?! - the laptop,that is!) keeping her company, rather than up in the 'office'.
Thanks for all your words of advice and encouragement - PPruners to the fore again!
FJJP
Ausatco
14th Nov 2003, 14:28
FJJP,
Mrs AA feels perzackly the same way. She watches her ... (Oh, I can't bring myself to comment on the quality of stuff she likes to watch) ... on TV and I sit next to her, prooning or whatever "sans wires":D
'Tis truly an amazing thing, and peace reigns in AA Towers.:cool:
AA
BEagle
15th Nov 2003, 22:01
Glad that it's all smiles in the end!
Recently, upon my return from an overseas business trip, I couldn't connect to Virgin Net with the wireless modem (wireless bit was working fine, so was the modem) no matter what I tried. Now, I know they've had problems, but this was after their upgrade had been completed. After 2-3 hours trying to get though on the phone, I finally got help at 2330. It seems that ASDL modems can generate a 'stale connection' (whatever that is); what did the trick for me was to delete my user name and password and then re-enter them. This worked fine and all is now well again
Yeh, Beags, same here. The supplier (who's a very nice man) says he has the same problem. Looks like a characteristic of the system - reboot once or twice a week. Still, ce la vie - small price to pay to keep She Who Must Be Obeyed happy!
KENNYR
23rd Nov 2003, 04:26
Be careful FJJP, we have just had the first case of wireless internet "theft" here in Canada. Some guy sat outside a house in a car with no clothes on from his waist down. He was stealing the householders internet to watch child pornography! The guy in the house would have no idea that he is being robbed until he got the bill for the child pornography site and had to explain to his wife!!!:ooh: :eek:
Hi Kennyr. No worries on either count - getting the crypto sorted, and if I find anyone involved with the other I will take great pleasure in ensuring he ends up out of circulation for a very, very long time. Have No 1 Son + family with us this w/e and together we are sorting out this sytem.
To all those Ppruners who have given advice - it's at last all fixed. My main problem was with Norton Internet Security. We had to do some serious digging to find the appropriate windows to configure Norton for the wireless link and network. Also mucho thanks to the advice about MS bridging. Hell, I don't understand it, but when we deleted the bridge, the whole thing just magically worked!
So not only have I connected laptop to internet (keeping She Who Must Be Obeyed happy with my company), but I can now root around the hard drives of all machines in the house. Truely awsome.
Thanks again to all of you. Kenny - family sends regards...
FJJP
Ausatco
23rd Nov 2003, 07:58
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, folks, but my impression is that crypto, as in WEP, is not all that good these days, even at 256 bit. There are tools out there that make it not all that difficult for an invader to get in.
I'm using an ad-hoc network so I can't check this, but I think you should look at MAC address control (is that the correct terminology?)
I think it means that each computer in your wireless network has a unique MAC address, and your modem/router can be set to respond to ONLY those addresses. An outsider would have to have a different MAC address and your modem/router would ignore it.
May be worth a look.
AA
BEagle
23rd Nov 2003, 14:51
Yes - that's precisely correct. But be very careful when setting it up in case you lock yourself out!
Find out what the MAC address for each computer is by looking at the W-LAN Association Control menu or somesuch in the modem software when all the computers are on, then write the MAC numbers down. Then set the Association Control to 'enabled' and allow the wireless modem to communicate ('associate') only with your list of MAC addresses.
Should keep the thieves out!
But if you happen to find in the course of your travels that your laptop will connect to an 'open' W-LAN access point, are you committing any offence by accessing the Internet through it? Obviously if the owner isn't using an 'always on' unmetered tarriff (unlikely in the UK) you might be running up the bill, but if the owner hasn't taken 'privacy precautions', would it be reasonable to assume that he had no objection to you 'free' access?
Setting up and enabling the WEP with my own unique key (128 bit and 26 alpha-numerics) on all 3 machines + the router should prevent all bar the most dedicated and sophisticated hacker getting into my network. Figuring out the correct combination of 26 digits should take some considerable time. Where I live, someone sitting around outside the house for that length of time would attract the attention of the residents, including your truely. Neighbourhood watch to the fore!
Woooo, Beags; making private calls on a Service phone - stealing electricity, remember?! I guess an accurate analogy would be because you left your front door open, it would be OK then for someone to walk in and steal your laptop? You got your tongue in cheek, methinks!
FJJP
BEagle
23rd Nov 2003, 22:46
The only private calls I ever made on a Service phone were using my own Global Calling Card on a freephone number. Though I know others were less honest.... In any case, the line quality was normally so cr@p that it was easier to use a GSM phone in areas where Plod paranoia permitted (hmm, aliterative that!).
You might be guilty of fraud if you caused the other person's account to receive a bill, or invasion of privacy if you snooped at his files - but how would you know from the AP name that it wasn't a free 'public access' site? In any case, how would he know unless he happened to be monitoring his W-LAN status at the time?
PS - NO, I'm NOT condoning this practice - just intrigued to know what offence would have been caused if no-one had suffered financially as a result and if only WAN Internet access had been gained?
Beags, interesting question, that. I couldn't even begin to figure out what offence it could be - trespass? I don't really know...
But I'll bet that there is a legal Ppruner out there who could enlighten us! Any takers?