Tech Help Needed: Wireless router and DSL

[Stupendous_Man]

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I've got Bellsouth with the Westell modem, but I have a Linksys router.

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I almost went with the Linksys router, as a friend has this set up with his cable modem. He's had it for 2 years with no problems.

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...but I found that if I plug in the modem and let it boot up until the three lights are on, then plug in the router, it worked.

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I did this, but nothing. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] The directions actually say to wait 2 minutes before turning on the router, which is way more time than needed, but I followed the instructions anyway.

[Stupendous_Man]

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Since you can plug your PC into the DSL modem and connect to the internet, the modem would seem OK.

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This is true... I can connect directly to the DSL modem and it works fine.

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Your wireless card in the PC works OK? You should be able to go to settings/network connections/wireless something and see the status of your wireless connection. Is it not finding a wireless network at all?

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I haven't fully gotten to this point. Initially, I set up the router as instructed, the light indicating the wireless feature didn't stay on, so I went through the set up again. When the light went out the 2nd time, I thought maybe it's because the adapter wasn't installed in the desktop (while this didn't seem right, I was grasping for straws). So, I then followed the instructions for the adapter, which said to load the drivers first then physically install the adapter. Got all this done and was getting a message about XP wireless conflicting with the Netgear settings (or something like this. I don't recall exactly what the message said).

After that message, I decided to uninstall the adapter and drivers and get the router part fixed. The instructions for the router specifically noted that the wireless light should stay lit (the steps have you connect an Ethernet wire from the desktop to the router to set up a LAN. Did this initially and then scrapped it, as the desktop is going to be moved to the 2nd floor - thus my reason for getting the woreless router and adapater.). Anyway, with the adapter uninstalled, I tried and failed a 3rd or 4th time.

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Does your router have any LAN ports (that you would use to plug in a PC via ethernet cable)? If it does, you could plug in your PC and look at the setup. If you can connect via cable and connect to the internet, then it shows that the problem is in the wireless router.

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Yes, it does have LAN ports (4 actually). I haven't tried what you note, mostly as this is where I'm a computer n00b. I can understand the set up (honestly, didn't even need the directions for the router, as I understand how the data needs to flow - no different than when your cable tv was run through your VCR), but once you start talking about the set ups inside the modem and/or ruoter, I get lost. Having said that, I'm not afraid to try the different things recommended in the posts.

Thanks for the reply [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] and reading through the long post! [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] Thought it would be important to provide details of the problem in order to get quality replies/recommendations.

[TomR]

I would suggest asking your question at DSLReports.com. Someone in one of these two forums should be able to help you:

Netgear
Bellsouth

I used to hang out in the forum for my provider and we were better able to resolve people's problems than the provider's tech support could in most cases. I am sure you will be able to find someone who has the same equipment and provider as you who has been through this before.

[Stupendous_Man]

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Check the Router
1. Forget about the wireless stuff first.
2. Using a network cord, connect one pc to the router.
3. Get the connection from the PC to the router working - you should be able to reach the router's setup screens through a web browser at 192.168.1.1 (or some similar ip address).

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I want to make sure I follow this... I should have the ethernet cable running from the PC to a LAN port in the router? Does it matter if the ethernet cable is running from the DSL modem to the router as well? Or, am I supposed to run the ethernet cable from the PC to the Internet port of the router? Sorry for being a n00b.

I'm assuming that, if I don't get to the setup through the IP address (which the one you mentioned looks similar to the one Bellsouth provided) then it points the figure at a bad router. Right?


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Check the wireless
1. Try the wireless stuff now. Unplug the wired connection.
2. You should be able to reach the same router setup screens. If not, it is a problem with the wireless settings. Problems I've run into - network adapter security not same as router, network card broken, wireless turned off in the router.
3. No success, try a product called NetStumbler (at netstumbler.com) to see if you can even see your router's signal at all.

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Will try after the first parts, as you recommend.


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Check the Internet
Sounds like this is working when you directly connect the dsl modem to your computer.

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This is 100% correct.



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Check the Router - Internet with Wired Connection
If you can see your router's web setup access, then this should work by making sure your network card is in Dynamic IP address mode (something like - 'Request and IP address').

Check the Router - Internet with Wireless Connection
Same issues as above.

Breaking the problem down will limit the ability for one company to blame the other.

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This would be great! I hate it when two companies are blaming each other and I don't know enough to determine who's full of crap.


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Finally, re: the advice you were getting from BellSouth.

IP addresses are your address on the Internet. You get a new computer - plug it into the same dsl modem and it has the same old IP address. Think of this as a street address.

MAC addresses are essentially unique serial numbers for every network adapter and device every created. Think of this as a social security number.

Bellsouth probably sets up their dsl modems to work with one MAC address only. This MAC address is remembered. They're telling you that turning off the dsl modem for a couple of minutes will cause the MAC address to be forgotten so a new one can be remembered.

BTW, I've had ISP providers that store that MAC address on their servers, and those need to have a customer support person manually reset or forget them.

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While some of the terms don't sound familar the concept does. I beleve that's what the one Bellsouth person was telling me by having me hit the reset button in the back of the DSL modem. The person said that this puts it back in "bridge mode", which led me to believe that the IP address would be "given up" to the router. This pretty much went in line with what the Netgear tech person said. Thanks for the analogy. I knew what an IP address was, but not a MAC.



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Good luck - it can be a really frustrating process.

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Thanks and that's an understatement when I "lost" 5 hours of playing time on Sunday night trying to get this to work.


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Make sure you install the strongest security available, even think about changing the passwords every now and then.


rabbit

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Any recommendations on this? I saw a similar comment about this in a post the TacoVendor linked in his reply. It's one of the biggest concerns I had about going wireless.

Thanks for all the great information! Will have to check it all out tonight.

[nnoobi]

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Check the Router
1. Forget about the wireless stuff first.
2. Using a network cord, connect one pc to the router.
3. Get the connection from the PC to the router working - you should be able to reach the router's setup screens through a web browser at 192.168.1.1 (or some similar ip address).

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I want to make sure I follow this... I should have the ethernet cable running from the PC to a LAN port in the router? Does it matter if the ethernet cable is running from the DSL modem to the router as well? Or, am I supposed to run the ethernet cable from the PC to the Internet port of the router? Sorry for being a n00b.


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I imagine you've moved pass this already. The computer should be connected into one of the several LAN ports. Only the cable to the DSL modem should be connected to the Internet port (also called the WAN port on some routers).

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Any recommendations on this? I saw a similar comment about this in a post the TacoVendor linked in his reply. It's one of the biggest concerns I had about going wireless.


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Well, wireless signals are out for everyone to listen to. Encryption makes it harder for those signals to be meaningful. The original specs for wireless networks provided a pretty weak encryption. New systems are general much better.

What does that mean for you? Nothing much, if you are really paranoid, realize that it is conceivable that someone is reading any plain-text you transmit. That includes any non-encrypted websites (they are much better encrypted - using a public key / SSL methodology), any e-mails, your e-mail password.

I have no idea if your communication through various Poker programs in encrypted. It would be remarkable if it wasn't, but many remarkable things have happened.

All the above is about people listening in on your network - passively observing what you are sending and receiving.

If you want to prevent people from being attached to your network (probably another really good idea), you should do the encryption as well and also enable something like 'MAC filters'. Some where in your router's web setup, you can specify the MAC addresses (i.e. social security numbers) you want to allow to wirelessly communicate with your router. Some routers are easier to configure than others.

If you need help finding out our MAC address, go to a DOS prompt and type 'ipconfig /all' - you will get a lot of information on every network adapter you have installed - read carefully to pull the right information.


rabbit

[andrewbross]

I had identical problems recently with QWEST DSL and a LINKSYS router. The bottom line is what is important. Rather than even trying to do this myself from jumpstreet I ordered the system to be installed by QWEST at the cost of $99. The QWEST man came and couldn't solve the problem and left after 5 hours, QWEST claims that he was just there to install the modem and that QWEST did not support wireless solutions. I received a credit over the phone for the $99 and called my own local computer geek who fixed the problem in 10 minutes and charged me $60. You are representative of most posters here in that you are stupid and/or stubborn to resolve these issues with your own brainpower; then you are to cheap to resolve the issue(s) with an expert. Then to add salt to your own wounds you waste more precious hours trying to find a free fix. If what you are saying is true you have wasted 10-15 hours of time you could have been playing poker. If you are a winning player then you have cost yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Time is the only asset a pro poker player has without it, no income. So get a life and here's a dime to call someone who really cares.

[Stupendous_Man]

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You are representative of most posters here in that you are stupid and/or stubborn to resolve these issues with your own brainpower; then you are to cheap to resolve the issue(s) with an expert. Then to add salt to your own wounds you waste more precious hours trying to find a free fix. If what you are saying is true you have wasted 10-15 hours of time you could have been playing poker. If you are a winning player then you have cost yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Time is the only asset a pro poker player has without it, no income. So get a life and here's a dime to call someone who really cares.

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Where the hell are you coming from here? Where do you get off saying I'm "stupid and/or stubborn to resolve these issues with my own brainpower"? Don't recall you making the same comment in other peoples posts seeking help with a tech problem. I never said anything about wasting 10-15 hours of playing time. At max it was about 5 hours, which doesn't cost me anything near thousands of dollars. And where the hell do you come up with me being a pro or ever claiming it? I think my posts will support the fact that I play ~10M hands a month and that I'm a 2/4 player trying to move up to 3/6 and that I 4 table. Even if I was able to crush 2/4 for 4BB/100, that would equate to only $1,600 over the course of a MONTH. Over the course of 15 hours (as you suggest) that's about $240.

With the exception of you, every reply in the thread has been helpful and exactly what I see in the zoo on a daily basis. If you're that worried about income, then how can you afford to respond to such a post as this? If you're such a winning pro, how much did it cost you to waste your time responding? Keep your dime, as it sounds as though you may need it.

[TylerD]

I have had two alerts from my Firewall in over 2 years, both were minor issues.