Network Setup failure

A

Anjistar

Geek Trainee
Hi there,
So, still working on this wireless setup,2 months later!

As previous posts, have good wireless access on main PC, nothing upstairs.

Advised to get 2 access points (2 because areas are on different ring mains, so apparently need one plugged into Router/Modem and mains downstairs, one into mains upstairs).

Can I set them up? Can I *&^%!!

Netgear Tech help is useless! Am more than happy to field phone bills, but after two weeks exchanging 4 emails and about 3 hours on an 0870 number, with not only no result but losing wireless connectivity and being put back to ethernet cable as well, I think they're taking the michael.

So, had a go at starting from scratch, and have managed to get wireless connection back to Main PC.

But when I tried to get the wireless net adapter to set up on the upstairs PC, it seems to be installed, but the Wireless Connection in CP/Network Conns insists it is still unplugged (?).

The net adapter icon appears in the tray, and the utility comes up, but if I try Set up Network Connection, it tells me it is unplugged. The Net adapter itself has a flashing LED, which I guess means it can't connect. No surprises there, without the extra access points, which I can't install.

Last odd thing, tried to check run/cmd/ipconfig_all on upstairs PC and got this:

Host Name: 2550c86064064a0
Primary Dns suffix:
Note type: mixed
IP routing enabled: No
WINS Proxy enabled: No

Ethernet Adapter Wireless Network Connection
Media state: media disconnected
Description: Belking Wireless G USB network Adapter
Physical address: 00.11.50.B0.Fa.2F

Where's the IP address gone?!!!

Don't suppose anyone (in the UK - my phone bill!) would like to help?

Please excuse the long rant!
Here's hoping...
Anji
 
Anjistar said:
So, still working on this wireless setup, 2 months later!
Click to expand...
i think you only need 1, and possible add a wireless extender or a bigger aerial
Anjistar said:
IP routing enabled: No
Click to expand...
i think you need to enter your routers web configurator and set it to release IP's (for connected devices)

but I'm not expert in networking, and i've never used wireless, its just what I've picked up on HWF, for all i know, i could be completly wrong
 
Thanks for reply, Donk, but not too sure what you're referring to, as quote is re: 2 months and reply seems to indicate something else!

I have it on reasonably good authority that I should be able to extend the range of the wireless network with 2 access points, one stuck into the router/modem via ethernet cable and plugged into the mains downstairs, and another one upstairs just plugged into the mains. The 2 will then communicate wirelessly to boost the signal. It's not possible with a range extender or with just one access point because of the separate ring mains. The trouble is, I can't get them configured. You have to plug them into the main PC, log onto the website 192.168.0 etc and set them up, but I can't find a way to do that, as if I plug them in, the modem goes offline and I have no internet connection.

Extra aerials shouldn't be necessary as the Netgear equipment I have has multi-directional aerials built-in. They just don't go through 2 ft stone walls and up stairs!

So exactly how do you get configurators to 'release IPs'? These are things the manuals and web guides never tell you.
Cheers
Anji
 
Hi Thoonie, Thanks for looking
Apart from Win XP SP2 downstairs and Win Media Centre (XP Pro) upstairs,
I have the following equipment:

Downstairs:
Netgear DG834PN Router/modem
Netgear WPN111 Net Adapter
Netgear WPN802 Access Point - 2 of
Also onboard VIA ethernet adapter and 1394 connection both currently disabled

Upstairs:
Belkin USB G Net Adapter.
Also on board Nvidia Ethernet Adapter and 1394 connection, also disabled.
Cheers
Anji
 
how far is the first WPN802 to your DG834PN. If they are quite close to each other, theres no point there coz their range are the same.
 
The 802 is nowhere because I can't configure it.

The setup Netgear recommended was to have one 802 connected via ethernet cable to the router/modem. It would then communicate wirelessly with the other 802 which would be plugged into the mains upstairs.

The router/modem can't by itself communicate wirelessly with the upstairs 802.
So the final set up would look like this: ...... wireless ------wired (ethernet)

Router modem:
..........PC(1)
--------802(1)

802(1) (plugged into mains, ring circuit 1)
...........802(2)
-------PC(1)

802(2) (plugged into mains, ring circuit2)
...........PC (2)
...........802(1)


Is that really confusing?
Anji
 
hmmm... have you tried what Netgear said? That setup is almost the same as my setup on one of my clients.
 
Hi,
Netgear says in their setup guide for the 802 on http://kbserver.netgear.com/pdf/wpn802_install_guide.pdf

"b. Prepare a computer with Internet access and an Ethernet adapter. If this computer is already part of your network, record its TCP/IP configuration settings. Configure the computer with a static IP address of 192.168.0.210 and 255.255.255.0 as the Subnet Mask."

a. is open the box. c. & d. are plug in the 802. e. is turn the PC on! When did I turn it off?

What do they mean 'prepare'?
I have a PC and active wireless internet access. There is an on-board ethernet adapter, but it's part of the LAN which is currently disabled. Do they mean I need the LAN enabled?
I find the IPconfig via cmd, but where do I change it to static? In Wireless Connections or LAN Connections?
Anji
 
Prepare means your going to setup your 802 to be able to serve wireless connectivity.

The guide is quite straigth forward.

1. Connect the WPN802 to your LAN Port/ethernet adapter(enable it).
2. Assign a static ip to your LAN Port not the wireless (be sure both of them dont have the same IPs.
 
Anjistar said:
I find the IPconfig via cmd, but where do I change it to static? In Wireless Connections or LAN Connections?
Anji
Click to expand...

Oh, dude! That's not how u do it! Don't use IPconfig or w/e. It sounds to me like your entire problem is in dealing with the IP addresses. Okay I'm gonna focus on that little bit you quoted from Netgear and give u a 3-step process how to accomplish what it tells u to.

Here's what u do. 1.) Go into control panel, then go into "network connections." Thumbnail 1 (first from the left). I'm assuming that, since the Netgear guide talks about an "Ethernet" adapter, they want that computer to be wired, not wireless. So that means u gotta mess with the "Local Area Connection" settings, not your "Wireless Network Connection". (If this comp does not have a wireless adapter, a "Wireless Network Connection" icon won't even appear). Therefore, right-click on the "Local Area Connection" icon, and select properties.

Now u're in the Local Area Connections Properties window. 2.) In the general tab, select "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and click the "Properties" button. Thumbnail 2.

Now this is where you finally get to put stuff in. 3.) In the next window, in the general tab, click the radio button "Use the following IP address:". Now enter the numbers the guide tells u to, like I did. Don't touch any of the other fields. Thumbail 3. Then click okay, okay, okay, u know the deal... And you're done! (With that part, anyway.)

Now, here's what happened. When the guide tells you to "configure the computer with a static IP address", this is precisely what it means. When you enter a specific IP address to be used, like you just did, it becomes static. That is, it's fixed to a single number, which you specified. In the original setting, when the radio button "obtain IP address automatically" was selected, that meant that the IP address was dynamic. When it's dynamic, the router assigns the IP address to your comp. The guide is just stupid for not elaborating it clearly.

-

Hope this helps. Only thing is I'm not sure which computer exactly that section of the guide is referring to. Cuz u got more than one PC and all these access points too, so it's rather confusing me... But I think I have a general idea of what the rest of your problem is and how to go from here. I may be wrong though. But post back again. Hopefully we can get through this step by step.
 

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BIG thankyou for the plain (American) English explanation!
As usual time is my enemy and I have to go away now til Monday.
Please don't close this thread! I'll be back then to try out all you suggest.
Have a good weekend yourselves.
Cheers
Anji
 
Ok, I'm back now.
So, I have started the process, and got as far as this:
Go to LAN connections, set static IP 192.168.0.210 and subnet. Turn off PC.
Plug in WPN802 Access point, turn on PC.

The 802 power is on, the test light blinks and the Ethernet light is on.
However, the guide says that the WLAN light should be on as well, and it isn't.

My WLAN is working, because here I am on the internet and the Router/modem ethernet cable is unplugged from the PC, so I must be connecting through the Wireless connection. And the 802 ethernet cable is plugged into the only ethernet socket on the PC.

BUT I can't open the page to configure the 802, which is http://192.168.0.231

I can open the Router settings page, which is the same only 0.1
 
Sorry, no brain here - how do I disconnect from the router without disconnecting the modem? Tis one and the same box, and I don't know how to separate the two in terms of usage.
Thanks
Anji
 
This is brilliant - it's actually doing what it's supposed to! This is the first time I've been able to log onto the .231 page.

It says in the guide, click Basic settings and configure the IP settings for your network. The default for the Access Point is .231, but I'm not sure what if anything I should change it to.

My settings for IP address are 0.1 for the Lan Port on the Router according to the Netgear Router status page, and 'cmd/ipconfig' gives me 0.3 for the Ethernet Adapter Local Area Connection, default gateway 0.1, and 0.4 for the Ethernet adapter Wireless net connection also with default gateway at 0.1. should it be any of those, or a totally different one?
Cheers
Anji
 
Anjistar said:
It says in the guide, click Basic settings and configure the IP settings for your network. The default for the Access Point is .231, but I'm not sure what if anything I should change it to.

My settings for IP address are 0.1 ...
...should it be any of those, or a totally different one?
Click to expand...

Are u asking if the IP setting for the Access Point should be the same as any of those that u listed? Or what do u mean by "it"? If that is what u're asking, then no, I don't think it should... Everything connected to the router should have a unique IP address. If any device had the same IP address as any other on the network, there'd be chaos.

EDIT: Is the access point supposed to have a static IP address, not dynamic? (I'm not sure how AP's work.) If so, then I think the only thing u gotta worry about is that the access point's IP address is within the range of dynamic IP addresses that the router gives out. For example, I provided a pic of a part of my router's setup page. It has a number for the starting point from which the router gives out IP addresses and the max number of addresses given out. That is, if I had a device with a static IP of, say, 192.168.1.50, then it wouldn't work because its number is lower than the starting point (100), and is therefore outside the range. Also, if I had more than 5 devices connected at a time (wired and wireless cards each count as a separate device even if they're on the same PC), anything over 5 wouldn't work either. So just make sure u don't have any problem like that, but then again you probably don't.

-

I'm not sure what exactly u still need to configure or play with in the settings of the Access Point(s). On a typical network, where it's just PC's connected to a router (like mine), once u've accessed and configured stuff in the router setup page, u're done. All u do then is revert your PC IP addresses back to dynamic, and u can connect to the internet and everything.

-

EDIT: So, if u can log onto the internet now, then what exactly is still not working correctly?
 

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I'm sorry, I'm sure it must seem glaringly obvious to you, but to me it isn't, and I know you're taking the time to help me and I do appreciate that.

By 'it' I mean the IP address.

I have at least reached the page where you configure the Access Point.
On the Basic Settings link I get the option to enter :

DHCP Client Enable or Disable
IP address 192.168.0.231 entered already
IP subnet mask 255.255.255.0 entered already
Default gateway 0.0.0.0 entered already
Primary DNS Server nothing entered
Secondary DNS Server nothing entered

If the default of .231 is within the range, which it is, what does the guide mean when it says 'Click the Basic Settings link and configure the IP Settings for your Network'
Which bits of the above do I change?
Anji
 
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