Newb with wireless networking. Please help.

[Enresshou]

So, from your guys' advice last month, I finally got around to picking up a wireless router. I saw this on sale on Newegg, and figured "what the hell": http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833130044

I've now spent the past hour wrestling with this thing, and can't even get it to act as a basic router (i.e. I can't access the internet with it as a wired router, let alone wireless). Is the router DOA, or--since I have no experience setting up a wireless connection--am I missing something absolutely obvious?

 

[figmentPez]

What type of internet do you have? Cable, DSL, dial-up, satellite?

 

[Enresshou]

What type of internet do you have? Cable, DSL, dial-up, satellite?

Comcast. A website I just found said I might want to try to cycle power to the cable modem and see if it recognizes the router first (since apparently, "Comcast only gives out one IP to one MAC address). I'll try this and see if it works; be back in a few.

What is a MAC address, btw?

EDIT: Nope, didn't work. It's still refusing to give me a connection online even when I have a wired connection (Cable => Cable Modem => Router => PC).

 

[GasBandit]

MAC address is the hardware address of a single network adapter. For instance, the network card in your computer has a MAC address, your router has two mac addresses, one for the "inside" and one for the "outside."

I've run into this problem before... most routers these days let you change the MAC addresses in them. You may have some luck if you change the "outside" MAC address to be the same as the MAC address of your computer's network card, as it will fool your cable modem into thinking it is still talking directly to your computer.

Or, conversely, if you just leave the cable modem off long enough to lose the lease on your IP address, it may begin to function (albeit with a new IP address) with your router.

 

[figmentPez]

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at [strike]192.168.8.1[/strike] DOH! see below.

 

[GasBandit]

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.

 

[figmentPez]

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, you're right. I didn't pay enough attention to the results in my hasty google.

 

[Enresshou]

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.[/QUOTE]

I could see it when I first connected the router, but now there's nothing. And I can get into its control panels via the web browser, but that does nothing--I tried following the set-up instructions/troubleshooting, but nothing's working.

 

[SpecialKO]

A lot of routers have a radio button/check option that says something to the affect of "clone my computer's MAC address".

You'll probably need to go wired first, set this option so the Comcast server "thinks" your router is your compy, then once your connection is restored, you should be able to go wireless.

 

[GasBandit]

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.[/quote]

Yeah, you're right. I didn't pay enough attention to the results in my hasty google.[/QUOTE]


Also, according to the manual for this router, there is an automatic feature built into the control panel to clone the PC's MAC address. (Page 26)

---------- Post added at 05:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 PM ----------

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.[/quote]

I could see it when I first connected the router, but now there's nothing. And I can get into its control panels via the web browser, but that does nothing--I tried following the set-up instructions/troubleshooting, but nothing's working.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, that's standard comcast "HOLY SHIT YOUR MAC ADDRESS CHANGED! GTFO!" bullshit.

Try using the "clone MAC address" option under dynamic IP configuration.

 

[Enresshou]

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.[/quote]

Yeah, you're right. I didn't pay enough attention to the results in my hasty google.[/QUOTE]


Also, according to the manual for this router, there is an automatic feature built into the control panel to clone the PC's MAC address. (Page 26)

---------- Post added at 05:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:46 PM ----------

Can you see the router from your PC and get into it's control panels via your web browser? Should be at 192.168.8.1

or 192.168.2.1, or .0.1, depending on the brand of router.

Edit: according to my research, the default internal address for this particular router is 192.168.1.1.[/quote]

I could see it when I first connected the router, but now there's nothing. And I can get into its control panels via the web browser, but that does nothing--I tried following the set-up instructions/troubleshooting, but nothing's working.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, that's standard comcast "HOLY SHIT YOUR MAC ADDRESS CHANGED! GTFO!" bullshit.

Try using the "clone MAC address" option under dynamic IP configuration.[/QUOTE]

Okay, tried doing that, and now I can't even access the web browser anymore. It threw up the 'Yellow triangle' exclamation point! after I cloned my MAC address, and now won't let me go back in to modify it.

 

[figmentPez]

I could see it when I first connected the router, but now there's nothing. And I can get into its control panels via the web browser, but that does nothing--I tried following the set-up instructions/troubleshooting, but nothing's working.

Okay, just to verify connectors. You've got the cable from the wall to the cable modem, then ethernet from the cable modem to the WAN port on your new router, then from one of the numbered ethernet ports on your router to your computer?

Go to the WAN setup page on your router and make sure it's set to DHCP client.

Then go to the Status page and tell us what it says under WAN Configuration, specifically if there is any number listed for IP address (besides 0.0.0.0) but you don't need to publish that. Also check to see if you've got Subnet Mask, Default Gateway and DNS.

If you don't have an IP adress for the WAN (Wide Area Network, the internet) then see if there are DHCP Release and DHCP Renew buttons somewhere.

---------- Post added at 06:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:58 PM ----------

Okay, tried doing that, and now I can't even access the web browser anymore. It threw up the 'Yellow triangle' exclamation point! after I cloned my MAC address, and now won't let me go back in to modify it.

You'll need to reset the router if you can't get into the configuration anymore.
"Plug out the power of ZSR1134WE.
Use a pencil to press and hold the default button on the back panel of
ZSR1134WE. Then plug in the power of ZSR1134WE.
Press and hold the default button for few seconds until the CPU LED
indicator stays green.
Reboot ZSR1134WE.
After above steps, the factory’s default settings will be restored in
ZSR1134WE."

 

[Dusty668]

Comcast dosen't usually use MAC binding so a power cycle should work, worst case scenario unplug power and remove co-ax cable, after a moment reconnect.

Ok basics, presuming all settings are at default and you are not using a static IP address somewhere, unplug power from cable modem, router, and power down PC.

Power up cable modem, once cable light goes solid, plug ethernet from it's LAN (ethernet) port to the WAN (Internet) port on the router, should be the port closest to the power cord according to the randomly selected ZSR1134WE manual I'm reading. Power up the router, once stable, your SYS and WAN lights should be lit on the front of the router, nothing else.

Plug in ethernet cable from computer to router, power on computer. See if the LAN light for the port you plugged into comes on.

Now tricky part, depending on your Operating system (what kind of windows you have) you may have to tell the computer it's ok to connect to the new network. If you have Windows 7, or Vista you need to go to control panel, then Internet sharing center and allow the network connection as a home network. If you have win XP make sure no firewall program is causing issues. Apple... dunno, never tried it, good luck.

According to the manual the gateway for the access to the router should be 192.168.1.1, open an internet browser, see if it gets to your home page, if it does, mazel tov. Either way empty the address bar-do not use a tool bar or search bar only the address bar-type in 192.168.1.1 hit the enter key.

The default username for most brands of router is admin with password of password, you may have a quick guide printed with the router if it is different, the crappy manual does not say. Sometimes it is "guest" for username and password. This should get you to the cofiguration page where you can set up your wireless, I would expect your WAN IP if it worked getting you online before to be a 10.10.x.x IP address which is why you would need to tell your 'secure' network connection it's ok to link in.

If none of this works FAQ and tech support help line is at: http://www.zonetusa.com/supports-36.aspx

Edit------------

Super ultra mega ninjad.....

 

[Enresshou]

Thanks for all the help, guys. Got it up and running, and I won't forget it.

 

[figmentPez]

How long are you giving the router to connect to the cable modem between switching back to directly connecting to your PC? I think you might be confusing the cable modem by switching back and forth.

 

[Rubicon]

mac clone the router, static ip it, power cycle the modem

 

[figmentPez]

mac clone the router,

Pointless if his cable company doesn't lock out other MAC addresses. I've got Comcast and I've never had to clone a MAC address.

static ip it,

Wut? Unless his cable company has given him a static IP, then this is not going to work. Chances are he need to set the router to DHCP because it won't work any other way.

power cycle the modem

Not a bad idea, once everything else is set up right.

 

[Rubicon]

mac clone the router,

Pointless if his cable company doesn't lock out other MAC addresses. I've got Comcast and I've never had to clone a MAC address.

static ip it,

Wut? Unless his cable company has given him a static IP, then this is not going to work. Chances are he need to set the router to DHCP because it won't work any other way.

power cycle the modem

Not a bad idea, once everything else is set up right.[/QUOTE]


Comcast does MAC filter, they don't publically admit it but they do look for devices connected to the modem and send out a signal that knocks them offline. I deal with this practically daily at work, I've seen a Comcast modem (cable not their dsl stuff), knock Linksys routers, Dlinks, etc not to mention the 20 or so odd company devices I have to deal with. This doesn't mean he'll be knocked offline a lot, but it can happen.

Static, would be a pain yea since he's probably renewing his IP fairly often with DHCP but it can help matters some, if he doesn't mind redoing it every now and then.

Get everything configured and connected, power cycle the modem. If the lights aren't off on the LED's when the power is disconned, its got a battery backup (usually a telephony modem), he'll need to pop that out and back in to power cycle it completely. Either way make sure the powers off for a minute or two so the IP resets, reconnect it and reconnect power to the rest of the devices in your network as you go, should work.

 

[Enresshou]

I guess people didn't see it earlier, but I got it up and running. Turns out it just took about five minutes to connect online. And it turns out that the configuration software is crap--if I waited too long (read: 2 minutes) before getting everything configured, it reset the MAC code to 000000000000 and kicked me offline.

Thanks for all the help, guys. I owe you one.

 

[figmentPez]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I owe you one.

You're welcome. I'm glad we helped more than confused.

Don't forget to change the administrator password for the router, enable WPA2 encryption on the wireless, and choose a strong password for both.

 

[Bowielee]

Thanks for all the help, guys. I owe you one.

You're welcome. I'm glad we helped more than confused.

Don't forget to change the administrator password for the router, enable WPA2 encryption on the wireless, and choose a strong password for both.[/QUOTE]

I never even set a password on my wireless router, I just don't broadcast the SSID.

 

[GasBandit]

I guess people didn't see it earlier, but I got it up and running.

Never let the solution stop the argument the problem started! Muahaha!

 

[PatrThom]

I never even set a password on my wireless router, I just don't broadcast the SSID.

Ahh, good ol' STO.

--Patrick

 

[figmentPez]

I never even set a password on my wireless router, I just don't broadcast the SSID.

If all you're worried about is your neighbors casually borrowing your bandwidth, then that will fix the problem. However, if your goal is to stop someone from doing something worse, not broadcasting the SSID won't stop them. The SSID is still being sent at other times, and can be discovered by hacking tools. If someone with enough knowledge wants access to your router, they'd still be able to get it easily. If you didn't change your admin password, either, then they could completely screw you over, changing your DNS settings and sending you wherever they want to on the internet.

 

[Bowielee]

I never even set a password on my wireless router, I just don't broadcast the SSID.

If all you're worried about is your neighbors casually borrowing your bandwidth, then that will fix the problem. However, if your goal is to stop someone from doing something worse, not broadcasting the SSID won't stop them. The SSID is still being sent at other times, and can be discovered by hacking tools. If someone with enough knowledge wants access to your router, they'd still be able to get it easily. If you didn't change your admin password, either, then they could completely screw you over, changing your DNS settings and sending you wherever they want to on the internet.[/QUOTE]

Dude, I live in the boonies. The only thing I'm concerned about is the neighbors leeching bandwidth.