Best setup help

bigbadish

bigbadish

bigbadish

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Joined
2 Mar 2004
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706
Location
Shropshire
Hey guys,

Skimming through the stickys there's some fantastic information but there is so much it's quite scary.

I was after a little info on my soon to be set up. I am do to get a Starter 2mb set up kit from VM and I'd like to set my desktop (bedroom) and Laptop (all around house) up to wireless. I was after some advice on what would be the best course of action and any reccomendations on hardware I will need if possible.

Also am I correct in thinking if I get a wireless router and 2 USB (cards?) for the PC and Lappy is it a case of plumbing the modem in to the router and sticking the 2 usb cards in each pc and in a perfect world it should work?

Thanks a lot.
 
Basically yes - but most routers have built in modems these days.

The router is connected to the phone line (ideally at the master socket but not required).

The Wireless card (or USB) will then scan for wireless signals in the area.

It will pick up the Router and connect to the internet/LAN

You set the secuity (WEP/WPA) in the router and when the wireless card finds your router it will ask you for the security password/phrase on the initial setup (will connect automatically after that if you save the settings).

Simple :D
 
moid said:
Basically yes - but most routers have built in modems these days.

The router is connected to the phone line (ideally at the master socket but not required).
Click to expand...

Doesn't apply for cable.

You'll need to set up some security on the router and wireless cards, but that's about as hard as it should get. In order of (decreasing) preference, use WPA2/WPA/WEP, but if you're buying new kit it should all support WPA2.
With WPA2/WPA, you want to use a long passphrase - the longer the better.
 
Thanks for that.

Though that's where my problems may be as I have not done anything like this before and I'm hoping the instructions for the initial Cable VM 2mb line starter kit are good and then the wireless router/cards are equally as simple.

As it's kit that VM are supplying I would hope it will have the latest software and security measures ready to go!

We shall see tomorrow when the kit is arriving via special delivery, wish me luck hehe. I will report back if I need some help.

Cheers.
 
Hey guys,

So I bought myself a wireless router, a wireless PCI card for the desktop PC and a wireless USB stick for the laptop. I'm having a little trouble getting the lot working together, with security in place aswell.

The VM modem is plumbed in to the Router, which is wired in to the lappy at the mo because I was having trouble getting the USB stick to pick up the router, which is 2 yards away from it. The router/modem and lappy are all in the lounge btw.

The PC upstairs, using the software that came with the PCI card finds the router without a problem, although I am having trouble switching on the security so I think I'm doing something wrong somewhere, but I can't seem to figure out what it is.

I was told to have security enabled I need to have a PC plumbed in to the router directly via an ethernet cable, but that will be difficult as they are in opposite ends of the house and that's the whole reason I am trying to go wirless!

A few pointers and tips on how to start would be appreciated, as the instructions make it sound so complicated...and they are in pdf format, grrr!

Thanks.
 
You don't have to use a cable, just set the encryption key on the router and keep a note of it (in notepad or something) on the laptop.
When you apply the settings on the router you'll get kicked off and have to enter the key to connect. Job done.
 
Thanks for that Tolien, much appreciated - one problem I am getting though.

When I hook the laptop up to the router via a ethernet cable ( USB stick doesn't seem to be working) I look at the encryption setting and there are 4 rows of generated? passwords but I can't see them...they are all asterix's which really is confusing me as I can't note the password to use when I want to use the desktop PC upstairs lol.

I guess it's something I'm doing incorrectly.
 
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What encryption system is it set to use - four sets of keys sounds like WEP, which isn't a worthwhile option.
 
Yes I beleive it was set up for WEP ( i use set up in the losest sense hehe). Though that's where it's confusing as the WPA setting ( should I be using that instead? ) rather a lot of options to change, have etc and the instructions that came with the router are shockingly poor :(

I'm confused as to how I can set the security up on the router, if I do it via the web (putting in the router IP etc), saving the setting will I be prompted for the preshared key when I want to use either the lappy or PC on the network...or does it depend on what machine you use to actually make the changes?

I think at the moment the only things we've altered to hopefully get some security is only allow certaion MAC addresses access to the router, but I'm not sure if that has worked or not hehe.

Cheers.
 
bigbadish said:
should I be using that instead?
Click to expand...

Yes. Provided you're using WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK, the defaults (other than the key itself, obviously) should be fine. There's no issue with asking specific questions though...

will I be prompted for the preshared key when I want to use either the lappy or PC on the network
Click to expand...

Yes.

or does it depend on what machine you use to actually make the changes?
Click to expand...

No.

I think at the moment the only things we've altered to hopefully get some security is only allow certaion MAC addresses access to the router, but I'm not sure if that has worked or not hehe.
Click to expand...

Even if it has worked, you aren't getting any useful security.
 
That's brilliant thanks for all the help Tolien, much appreciated I think I have set the security set up correctly now as when I search for networks in the area mine has a little key security symbol by it, so woohoo :)

One last one though, when I make changes to the router and have to reboot it, when it comes back online I will get a connectivity bubble stating the connection has limited to no connectivity....which is weird as I can still access the net and it seems to be fine. So I guess my question is - is that normal hehe?

Thanks.
 
Hey guys,

I changed my USB wireless adapter for a PCMCIA card today as the USB pen stuck out far too far lol and I couldn't get it to work :(

Well I am having the same problems with this PCMCIA card, I can hook up the laptop to the router via an ethernet cable, but I installed the PCMCIA card, and it can find my connection on the wireless connectivity utility, but whenever I try to connect to the network it just does not work.

I have tried both utilities as it seems I can change from 1 utility to the other for some reason? But still neither will work.

I have also checked that the PCMCIA slot is working ok and device manager seems to think so so I am scratching my head on this :(

Cheers.
 
bigbadish said:
I think I have set the security set up correctly now as when I search for networks in the area mine has a little key security symbol by it
Click to expand...

You'll get that for WEP too, so don't read too much into seeing a padlock.

One last one though, when I make changes to the router and have to reboot it, when it comes back online I will get a connectivity bubble stating the connection has limited to no connectivity
Click to expand...

"Limited or no connectivity" == didn't get an answer from a DHCP server. It's probably a result of the router disappearing when it restarts, and it should have disappeared when the machine was able to get to the internet.

What happens when the connection "doesn't work"? Have you entered the key?
 
If you mean entering the key for the PCMCIA card on the lappy then yep. Depending on whether or not I use the software that came with the card, or windows to find the network connection I double click my connection from the list, pop in the passphrase, click ok and two things tend to happed.

Using the utility that came with the card I launch my connection, input the passphrase and hit ok, it then tells me in the little connection box in the bottom left of the utility that it's "connecting" but instantly changes to "disconnected" and I'm confused why.

Using the Windows tool to find the network, I can find it and I try to connect, input the passphrase and a new connection box comes up and stays there processing for a good 45 seconds, but doesn't work :(.

So I'm a little stuck, as if I grab an ethernet cable and plug that in, it works a treat :(
 
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You should not really be using any utilities that come with wifi cards, windows will manage it much better than any util that ships with the cards themselves :)

Just install the core driver (usually a inf file or driver file) manually by pointing new hardware found wizard to the cd, Windows will do the rest.

When I first went Wifi I had the same issue which was all solved once I ditched the software and used Windows to manage wifi!
 
I will try that when I get home then, thanks for that guys.

I haven't Tolien no, if mrk's suggestion does not work I will try it without encryption - Which I am using WPA at the moment, but I can connect the PC upstairs to the router without a problem via a PCI card so does that negate the fact it would have anything to do with the Security?

Thanks.
 
I will give it a go when I get home from work tonight then. My money is on the actual software as I took my laptop to a friends house and using the PCMCIA card it got a lot further along the connecting path on his ADSL router, than on mine.

Though that was using the windows software, but it wasn't a great test as he didn't know the password so I couldn't connect fully hehe.

Would it have anything to do with the PCMCIA slot on the laptop, or the fact the ethernet port is enabled in device manager along with the PCMCIA slot too?

I did try a USB wi-fi device also, which didn't connect either but I did install the software that came with that also.....so I hope it's the software :)

Thanks for that guys, much appreciated.
 
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