Wifi network without Pc on?

I've posted this in Broadband too, it seems that one half of the post is for that forum, and the other half for this one...

"Hi,

I have had eircom brodaband for the last year, and everythign has been smooth, no problems, yesterday i bought the Linksys double pack in pc world. (WAG354G wifi router with the WPC54G notebook adaptor)

I succesfully installed this and now have it up and running.

Unfortunately i am having some slight problems. For instance, my broadband is now not "always-on" and prompts me to connect each time i load up the PC.

This means that unless somebody has switched on the internet on the PC that the laptop cannot connect, as it does not have the facility to Dial-up separately.

I am quite good with computers, but when it comes to networking i'm not the most up to date.

At the moment i have 2 connections open "Cayman Broadband" which is the eircom connection, but which needs to be switched on each time, and my LAN connection to the notebook which is always on.

So basically, i need help in turning my eircom connection back into an always on connection, and also i need to have it so that the laptop can connect to the net without the computer being on.

All help appreciated

Emmet"

irlrobins

Sounds like you have it set that the laptop card is set to connect to the PC and not the router/modem.

On the desktop open a command prompt (Start->run->cmd) and type ipconfig /all. Copy and paste the output to notepad.

Do the same on teh laptop. Paste both outputs back here.

How could i have done this though?

If the Router/Modem is actually the wireless transmitter.

irlrobins

Well that's what I'm trying to work out. There's not reason why the PC has to be one for laptop to work. Anyway post the output of the 2 ipconfigs and that will help.

I'm in work at the minute so i cant do it.

i really think that if i get the broadband part fixed (always on) then the laptop will not need the computer to initiate the internet, and will work.

And if i can't get the always-on to work (its not really that big a problem), then i would like to give the laptop the authorisation to connect to the internet, would this mean having to install the eircom broadband stuff onto the laptop?

irlrobins

Deleted User wrote:

i really think that if i get the broadband part fixed (always on) then the laptop will not need the computer to initiate the internet, and will work.

Broadband part shouldn't effect the wireless side of network at all. So don't think that is the solution.

Deleted User wrote:

would this mean having to install the eircom broadband stuff onto the laptop?

Nope. Only Eircom stuff required are teh settings on the router/modem. No software needs to be installed on either machine.

Maybe i didn't explain it properly.

i'll try and post up a screenshot of the info later.

But Linksys has a screen which shows your connection status e.g

1=Laptop
2=Router
3=Internet

and its like
1+2-3

as in, laptop is connected to router, but cant find internet connection...

irlrobins

ah i think ur using the setup wizard cd to do it. You're better off logging into the web interface and configuring it manually. Instructions are in the manual.

Thanks, but i tried that yesterday, and i couldn't connect to the router!

the IP address kept timing out...

(thanks for all the help btw)

irlrobins

Connect to router using a cable to set it up. Make sure the PC you connect is set to get an ip address dynamically.

I'm using the computer to access the router (trying). And thats connected by ethernet cable.

the weird thing is, i can connect to the internet, through the router, but not to the router!

irlrobins

Your settings are screwed somewhere alright. Anyway, wait till you get home and ask for help.

joe_chicken

I'm not sure about the problem you're getting but....

Eircom supply the Netopia router... you'll need to configure this for Bridged mode (if you haven't already done this) if you want to use another router in conjuction with it...

Alternatively you could get rid of the Netopia and put in the WLAN settings for eircom into the Linksys router (that's if it has a phone cable connection in the back i.e. can connect directly into the eircom network without the netopis)...

Deleted User wrote:

the weird thing is, i can connect to the internet, through the router, but not to the router!

This sounds like you're connected through one router and not the other... it's hard to know these things without actually seeing it

What way have you set it up at the moment?

irlrobins

You're confusing the issue joe!

Linksys modem has replaced the netopia. So it doesn't enter the equation at all.

I don't have the netopia connected anymore...

I've configured the Linksys to eircom's settings with the quick set up..

joe_chicken

Deleted User wrote:

I don't have the netopia connected anymore...

I've configured the Linksys to eircom's settings with the quick set up..

Ok... wasn't sure... you don't mention it in the original post

But the WLAN setting are probably the things that you have to configure manually in the router then...

I'm gonna write down as much information about the problem as i can while in work, and hope that makes it easier for someone to help.

I have a Computer and a Laptop.
I have a Linsksys WAG354G Router with 4 ethernet connections and wireless also.
My computer is connected to the Router with an Ethernet cable (it's yellow )
I have a Linksys WPC54G notebook adaptor. This is connected to the Laptop.
This links to the router to make a wireless network.

The internet works fine on my computer. On occasion it works on the laptop.

These occasions are when the computer has been switched on, firewall has been disabled, and someone has connected to the internet.

We have two networks visible on the Computer. LAN and Cayman Broadband

We have one network visible on the laptop, LAN.

Before i set up the router, with the netopia router, the internet was "always on"

Since setting it up, it now prompts me to connect each time (only on the computer).

The problem is that it does not prompt the Laptop to connect. You boot up Firefox and it just cant load pages.

So the problem can be fixed one of 2 ways (i think).

Basically, the router needs to be connected to the internet "always on".

OR

The laptop needs to be prompted to connect when it tries to access the internet.

AdrianII

Hook the laptop up to the router via a network cable

open internet explorer and type in the default address of the router

192.168.0.1 i think

in there you can set up the dhcp settings and all that.

If you cant connect to the router - try and ping it

start -- run -- cmd click ok

then type in ping 192.168.0.1

if you get no replys then the laptop cant see the router and id prob reset your tcp ip settings.

Did you set the IP on the machine manually or automatic??

To be honest, i used the automatic set up yoke, and it didn't work, and i tried it again and got a windows message saying somethig along the lines of "this network has limited availibilty and efficiency, click "repair" to fix it". i clicked repair, it fixed the IP address and then the internet worked...

irlrobins

You're having ip issues so. Anyway, wait till you get home and try the advice to date.

Also the yellow cable is a crossover cable. See if you can grab a normal ethernet cable from work.

I'm only a temp.. Don't wanna get caught stealing..

I have a proper ethernet cable its fine, i was just trying to inject some humour into a bland post.

joe_chicken

For the connection to be always on, you'll need to change the settings on the router, as suggested before...

To do this you'll need to be able to access the router...

To do this... go to the Desktop computer (the one connected through the ethernet), go into Network Connections check which one of these is the ethernet connection and if there are any others, disable them.
Go to the properties->TCP/IP->Properties

You should get a page with IP settings:
if you force them to be:

IP: 192.168.1.5
Subnet: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.1.1 ...(this is the address of the router - right?)

and DNS
213.94.190.194
213.94.190.236

... then try and connect to 192.168.1.1

If this still doesn't work... throw the router out the window and kick it down the street

Joe, excellent work, i can now connect to that IP...

one slight problem is that i haven't a clue what the user and password is though....

there was no password..

just put a new one on.

Got it all up and running, excellent work lads. Its things like this that make me appreciate boards even more!

Spoke too soon...

New Post in the other thread, since i think it's more to do with broadband than wireless as the wireless side is up and running beautifully.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054973513