internet on a secure site
 

I want to log onto a secure wireless network (with their permission), I have the log in info but cannot seem to get it sorted. When I logged on it asked me for a password, sorted that out OK and thought I was OK but all I have got is "local access", how do I sort it so I can get onto the internet from here?

Sounds like the router / firewall has not been configured to allow your IP address through the firewall to the internet.

On my Linksys, it is possible to set up rules / filters to allow / prevent IP addresses from accessing the internet. I set up a range large enough for the IP addresses allocated and assign permissions to the that range.

If you are running Vista, you might have to RTFM. Vista seems to set out to make a relatively simple and straightforward network connection process into an over-complicated nightmare.

If you have a software firewall running, you might need to adjust it accordingly.

SD

OK,
I am moderately computer literate, so how do I actually sort this?

Surely if it's a router setting then you will have to get "the administrator" to sort it out ie the owner of said router as you wont have the passwords needed.

Yes I have the passwords, and access to both their computer and off course my own, just do not know what to put in where to get more than local access

Firstly I'd check your IP address. If it's a 192.168..... or a 10..... there's no problem with addressing. If it's a 169..... there is. Check you have a default gateway, and if you can ping it, ask the network admin if he's running any kind of proxy for web access.

All this is great if you know how to do it, as I say, I am moderately computer literate, by which I mean, if you tell me " go to control panel/internet options on your own/host PC and click XYZ" then I can do it ok, just "check your IP address and ping this" does not tell me where to go and what to do. Fairly sure no proxy being run, but not 100% on this (wireless network is on girlfriends computer, set up by someone else).

If that is what "moderately" computer literate means (monkey see, monkey do), then God help us all.

If you haven't a clue just say so.

FBW

I can find my way round much of the stuff for setting up all sorts on the computer - for this bit of it I have not a clue where to start, once pointed a bit more in the right direction I will probably manage OK.

Start -> Run...
Type "cmd" and press ENTER
On the black window, type "ipconfig" and press ENTER, that should give you your IP address. Prolly something like 192.168.xxx.xxx or perhaps 10.xxx.xxx.xxx
Now type in "route -n" and ENTER again. Look for a line saying Gateway or maybe just "gw". Note this number, prolly something like 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.254, 10.0.0.1, or similar.
Type "ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx", where all the xxxs are the number you got from the route bit above. If you get a reply, you can talk to your router, which is good.
Now try "ping 4.2.2.1". If you get a reply, you can get out to the internet, which is good.
Now try "ping google.com". If you get a reply, then you can get out to the internet, and your DNS settings are good.
If all of the above went Ok, your problem is with your browser configuration. If any of the above failed, report back.

Somebody please correct the instructions above as needed. I'm not a Windows type[*] and only vaguely remember the process through sheer repetition.


[*] Just a basic Unix user. I only ever wrote a couple device drivers.

Thanks LH2, not got chance to try this as I am away for away, but will try it when I can. Looking at what I have been getting I will be OK on the router but not on the internet.

I suppose my moderate computer literacy is like a PPL calling himself a moderately competent pilot when he is OK flying a Pa28 around, put him in an Extra and ask him to do Gyros and he will need a bit more guidance!

The PING might not be conclusive, and awful lot of routers and firewalls block ICMP packets, in which case PING won't work, but TCP/IP may work fine.

I'd echo checking what IP address your machine is using though. 169.x.x.x are the auto assigned addresses Windows uses when it can't get a DHCP allocated one, so if you have a auto-assigned address then it is likely that even if you can sign onto the wireless network, the DHCP server is ignoring you. This can be down to a few causes, but the most likely are (a) It has run out of leases or (b) It is using a MAC address white list, and yours ain't on there!

Well, running Vista, so the above instructions were not quite right for finding these bits - no "run" command, but a bit of work showed (and this is why I say moderately literate, once pointed in the right direction I can usually find my way through):-
IPv4 address 192.168.0.7

Default gateway 192.168.0.1

This is working on my home wireless network which is fine.

You need to change your default gatway to that of the new network

If the DHCP server on the network he is trying to join is working properly, it should provide the correct default gateway address for him, as well as DNS server addresses, unless he has some forced manually settings on his machine. Another point that might be relevant is that that address is a bit unusual for a default gateway, which is usually x.x.x.254, i.e. in his case I would have expected to see : 192.168.0.254.

OK, 2 questions - How (though I can probably sort this using "help")? And, if I do this will it cause problems connecting on my home network?

That is actually incorrect. If his netwok setup is not set to use DHCP or has a static route aleady programmed, then the new network will not over wriite it

Against established good practise, yes. But I thought advising to use "nmap -P0" might have been a bit overkill :)

Not a given by any means. I take you're not a sysadmin / never configured a DHCP server?

A gateway is just a computer which allows you to talk to a different network. It could be any valid non-broadcast address whatsoever, as long as it's within a network you are connected to.

I think you're assuming a standard wireless home ADSL router setup. He might well be trying to connect to his corporate net.

Further advice: try a wired connection and see if it works.

OK,
Now on location and here for a couple of days. Tried most of the above,
IPv4 address now shows 169.254.221.203 but NOTHING showing on Default gateway, tried to set this manually to the same as another computer on the wireless network but it did not seem to like it. It is a home network.
Ping was OK on the IP address, but failed on 4.2.2.1, returning a 1231 error code.
Worked OK direct wired.
Be good if I can sort this whilst here.

That is an APIPA address - what a client with DHCP assigns itself if it can't get an address from a DHCP server (because there isn't one, or it can't connect to it or the server has no addresses etc.).

It is non-routable, so can never access the internet. It will, by definition, never have a default gateway.

It is only ever useful where you need to get a bunch of PCs on a single network to talk to each other, with no requirement to access any other networks (e.g. the internet).

You can attempt to manually assign an IP address, subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server address - but you have to be certain that you know what they should be and you know how to assign them.

But it may still not work if there is a network failure - i.e. the PC cannot access the network. Very probable in the scenario you outline.

Or you can find out what your DHCP server is, whether or not it is working correctly with sufficient addresses etc. and why your PC is unable to access it.

As I mentioned previously, examine carefully the various levels of security at the router / firewall / DHCP server. Does it have MAC address filtering enabled? Is WEP / WPA enabled? Are there sufficient IP addresses in the DHCP scope? Is the DHCP service working?

Etc. Etc.

SD

If it works OK connected "wired" to the same network, then that narrows down the problem a bit.

Does the wireless device on your computer "see" the network you're trying to connect to? Can you then "Connect" to it? Is it WEP, or WPA, or what security, and is it asking you for the code?

If you aren't getting as far as connecting to the wireless bit,then you will get that "Windows default" 169.xxx.xxx.xxx IP address - which will do nothing for you.

If your wireless connection reports that you are connected to the server, what else does it tell you? The "Properties" ought to tell you something - even if not an IP address.

What information do you get at that stage?

I'd say step 1 is to be sure you are connected to the network. Once that's done, the rest should be easy. From my experience, getting the wireless bits to "see" and accept each other is the tricky bit.

If you read my earlier posts you will see that I can connect to the network OK but it just says "local only" and I cannot get onto the internet. There is another computer on the network that accesses wirelessly and that works OK on the net albeit a bit slowly (but I think that is another issue).

If it's "local only", and is connecting but isn't getting an IP address from the DHCP server, it sounds as if the server is running some kind of security protocol - maybe MAC address checking, maybe "fixed IP addresses only" for all wireless connections. I do that with my home network: if you know the WEP code, you still can't connect to the Internet through it. I tell it your MAC code, and the IP to give you.

This thread may be some help.

Is it a Vista, or an XP machine?

I've never used Vista (other than to remove it for several non-PC-literate friends), but it seems there are additional hurdles to be jumped (or disabled) to make WiFi work.

Clutching at straws now...

Try opening a "cmd" window, then type:

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /renew

Last suggestion:

Followed Keefs link in post #23 and was doing fine until
How do I tell which to go for? I have:-
{3a539854-6a70-11db-887c-806e6f6e6963}
{50400352-FDC1-4DF1-8CBB-48264FCD8CFC}
{8595E907-0C99-4DD2-9B9D-36D150B7433B}
{BBFE635B-99B1-4D30-AA28-9218EE60274C}


No idea how to tell which one is connected to the network

Sorted!

Looking at the subkeys I found the one with the same IP address and then followed the guide, did not think it had worked at first but did a restart and Bingo - all OK.
Thanks Keef and everyone else that tried to help.

That's a very useful link to a very revealing article!

Typical MS insisting that it's the rest of the world that's doing it wrong. Just looking at the number of hits in google for "DHCP BROADCAST flag" suggests that "outdated" to MS = "mainstream" for everyone else.

Such breathtaking arrogance never ceases to amaze.

SD