So Close But Yet Soooo Far...

besty

hi,
ive posted in a couple of the other threads but have had no joy as of yet!
i got a cnbr-914w CNET wireless router today and have spent the last 3 hrs trying to set it up. heres where i am;

- i have the eircom modem connected to the router and the pc connection is working fine

- My laptop is reading the signal as "EXCELLENT" but i cant browse any web pages.

- There is meant to be an online set-up type thing but the password/username combo that is given doesnt work. (maybe something to do with the eircom broadband settings?)

My brain is seriously sore so if anyone could help me at all I would really appreciate it!!!

Thanks a million...

JoyPad

Have you tried the solution from this thread?

Basically, if you want to use DHCP, set it up like this:
1. modem: fixed IP for LAN, ISP-assigned for WAN, DHCP server on (these are the default settings on your Netopia)
2. router: fixed IP for the bridge (make sure it's in the same LAN as the modem). DHCP server off -<<- very important!
3. PCs (wired or wireless): DHCP assigned IPs (select "Obtain an IP address automatically", and "Obtain DNS server address automatically").

An example config:
1. modem: 192.168.1.254/255.255.255.0; DHCP range: 192.168.1.100 - 110
2. router: 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0
3. PCs should get IPs from the DHCP range, with gateway=DNS=192.168.1.254

If you don't want to use DHCP, assign IPs manually, as follows:
1. modem: fixed IP for LAN, ISP-assigned for WAN, DHCP server off
2. router: fixed IP for the bridge
3. PCs (wired or wireless): fixed IPs, DNS=Gateway=IP of modem

An example config:
1. modem: 192.168.1.254/255.255.255.0
2. router: 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0
3. PC1: 192.168.1.100/255.255.255.0, gateway = DNS = 192.168.1.254
4. PC2: 192.168.1.101/255.255.255.0, gateway = DNS = 192.168.1.254

When you've finished this, you should be able to ping the modem from any of your PCs, and you should be able to ping this site as well (and any site, for that matter).


Cheers,
JP

besty

thanks a million for all that effort joy pad, but to be honest, i think its all over my head. i might just mess around with it and if i cant get it to work ill have to pay someone to come in and do it!thanks!

besty

ive been investing some more time with this and can now tell you
- that my laptop is still showing up the full strength signal

- i have located a DCHP assigned IP address, subnet mask and default gateway (dont be fooled, i dont undertstand this) on the laptop. i think this is a good sign...

- there are 2 network connections showing up on the pc. i think this is good because one is the "WAN Network Driver" which i think is the router and the "Cayman Netopia Eircom Connection".

- The PC "WAN Network Driver" as above has no Default Gateway in its status and has an "Automatic Private Address" as opposed to a DHCP one on my laptop.

- The Eircom PC Cayman connection has a DHCP assigned address, an IP address, subnet mask and default gateway

I hope this information can help someone who understands these things tell me what i'm doing wrong as i'm actually about to crack up!

JoyPad

Looks like your Netopia is plugged into your PC's USB port.
Furthermore, if your laptop has a DHCP assigned IP, it is from your access point.

The setup I described applies to a LAN configuration, where the modem is wired into the access point, and the PCs are wired or wireless to the access point. See here.


Cheers,
JP

besty

firstly, thanks for the help!
yea, the netopia is connected to the pc via the usb. does that change anything? In the diagram, i would theoretically have to change the ip addresses of the computers manually. i dont know how to do this.


my laptop ip is xxx.xxx.x.100
my pc ip is xxx.xxx.x.1
the "wan network driver" ip is xxx.xxx.xxx.152

from the diagram you have put up, i think this config is wrong. any ideas?

thanks again, really appreciated

JoyPad

So, you've got the PC hooked to the modem via USB, and the modem connected to the access point via UTP (this is a regular network cable, with 8 wires). You also have a good wireless connection for your laptop.

What you lack right now, by the looks of it, is a connection between the PC and the accesspoint. Also, your DHCP might be a little messed up, since you could be running servers on both the modem and the accesspoint.

Not sure what the "WAN Network Driver" on your PC is. It could be a LAN card, or something else. If it is a LAN card, you can unplug the USB cable and use a UTP cable to plug your PC into the accesspoint to realise the connections as in my diagram. But this is not a requirement. You can forget this interface exists for now. You can get back to it later if you want.


First thing to do is turn off the DHCP server on your accesspoint. This is probably what stops the laptop from accessing the web. For that, you need to rely on your access point's manual. I'm not familiar with this product, but here's a few tips:
1. on your laptop:
1.1. if XP or 2000, then open a CMD window (Start/Run, type cmd, hit Enter). The type ipconfig /all. Locate the DHCP server for the wireless connection. Write this IP down. It should be the IP of your access point.
1.2. if Win9X, click Start/Run, type winipcfg, a window will appear. Check to see if your wireless connection is selected (or select it if it isn't). Then, there's a button which I don't remember what it says, maybe Details, or Advanced, or something like that. This expands the window and displays more information, including the DHCP server. Write this IP down. It should be the IP of your access point.

Now, open a browser on the laptop. You then type http://<ip-of-access-point&gt; and you should be taken to the login page. How to login and how to turn off the DHCP server I don't know; it should be in your access point's manual. First search the info on login. You could have a simple password. Then locate some LAN settings and find DHCP server. If set to ON, it also has some fileds for Start IP and End IP. Turn it OFF.

When all this is done, reboot your laptop. Check your wireless adaptor details after the reboot: you should have a server assigned IP, but a different DHCP server.

Anyway, I'm just going on a limb here. You said your IPs were:
my laptop ip is xxx.xxx.x.100
my pc ip is xxx.xxx.x.1

I assumed that those xxx's are identical for both machines. If they were, then the accesspoint's IP should also be like this xxx.xxx.x.YY[Y], with the same xxx's as above.
If they're different, then you need to reconfigure your accesspoint's IP to match those xxx's.


Next time, if you still have problems, please post more info on your PCs. Windows version would help. Also the IPs would be helpful: why keep them a secret? They are private to your LAN anyway, and everyone uses about the same range of IPs, like 192.168.XXX.ZZZ.

Another question I almost do not dare to ask: have you secured your wireless network? Have you setup WPA or WEP? We can get to that later


Cheers,
JP

besty

firstly,
thanks a million for the help - you certainly have more valuable things to be doing with your time, i really appreciate it.

i accessed that interface through my web browser and turned dhcp off in the lan settings. now i cannot access the same interface on my laptop anymore. what should i do now?

my home desktop is windows xp home and the lappy is xp pro.

im not sure what my next step is as i cannot get back into the settings on the web interface thing for the router?!

any ideas?
p.s i havent secured the connection yet either. just concentrating on getting it to work for the moment

besty

im just looking through the settings now after the dhcp change for the laptop

- its ip address is different and is an "autoconfiguration" one

- there is no longer a "default gateway" listed for my laptop

- the ip address of the netopia modem is still dhcp assigned. do i have to change this like the laptop to autoconfiguration?

- the wan network driver ip address is an "automatic private address". again, for this there is no default gateway. the ip address for this is 169.254.101.152 i.e. its in a slightly different format.

thanks again joypad

JoyPad

Go to the laptop's Netowrk Connection, and manually assign an IP address, gateway and DNS.
The address should be in the same subnet as the accesspoint, and the gateway and DNS should be the address of the modem.

You know your accesspoint's IP address from the previous step. You should also know the IP address of the modem.
Basically, right-click your Wireless Connection (in the Network Connections window), select Properties, then scroll to Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and click Properties. In this window you currently have "Obtain an IP address automatically" selected. select the next option, "Use the following IP address", then TAB into IP address field, and type 192.168.1.101 (or substitute the first 3 numbers with whatever you have in your accesspoint's IP). TAB to Subnet mask and you should have 255.255.255.0 automatically filled in. Then TAB into Default gateway and type the IP of the modem.

Also select "Use the following DNS server" and type in the modem's IP again.
Then OK to close the window, and OK again to dispose the Wireless Connection Properties window.

After that, double-click the Wireless Connection and go to Support. You should see the recently inputted IP address, Gateway, etc.

Then open a CMD (Start/Run, type cmd, click OK) and try to ping the accesspoint: ping <ip-of-access-point>
You shuold get some replies (as opposed to timeout errors).

Then repeat with the modem's IP, and see if you can get some replies. If you do, try pinging www.boards.ie (you just type ping www.boards.ie) and see if you can get some replies.

Let me know how it went.


Cheers,
JP

besty

hi joypad
i was away for the weekend so havent had a chance to fix up the wireless yet.im not at home so ill have another bash at it later on.

thanks again for all the help

besty

hey joypad,
i just tried what you told me to do. thanks for all the detail by the way.i went through it step by step but it still didnt work. with that said,i tried pinging everything like you said and i could ping the laptop and the modem but not the router and the laptop.im pretty sure it was that way anyway.when all the ip settings were the like you suggested, the connection wouldnt work.

any more ideas?
the pinging as mentioned above is the first sign of progress though!

besty

i heard a rumour that it could be something to do with the modems connection. its connected to the pc via usb. the router however, is not connected to the pc via ethernet cable as it has no port for it!

im not sure if this is relevant but thought id tell ya anyway
thanks again

the gobbler

hi folks,,,
i have same set up,kind of,,
Eircom Netopia modem and same wireless CNet router.
Have Dell 3 notebooks all with wireless cards.

All 3 machine could see wireless Net and router fine,but could not access internet,got msg 'internet explorer could not open page' and some other errors.

After hours of messing around with ip settings etc,still could not access internet.

I found out this; there are 5 ports in total on back back of the wireless router;
Wan, Lan1,Lan2,Lan3,Lan4, i had the network cable,going from the back of the Netopia modem going into the Wan port on the Cnet router,as it said to do that in the manual.
It would'nt work,so when i plugged the cable out of the Wan port in the router and into Lan1 instead,i could now access the internet fine.

I used all default settings,dhcp automatically in tcp/ip properties for the wireless connection and all 3 machines are running fine now.

What i suggest you do is what i done,
First,reset the router,connect the cable from the Netopia modem into Lan1 port on the router.
Enable DHCP for you wiress network connection(as in assign ip automatically)
Just make sure all your firewalls are switched off,you have your wep encryption disabled, and see will it work. Just try this without the other computer connected via USB to see if it will work.

Let us know anyway!!

besty

i have the pleasure of writing this message wirelessly from my laptop. FINALLY it has worked. i did what you said gobbler. disabled the firewalls and stuff, changed to the lan 1 port on the router and its now working. thanks a million for the help. same to you joypad. i have to set up the network security now. ill trawl throught the manual and see how it goes.

thanks again!

the gobbler

good stuff!!

Only set this up last nite,it pretty fast and reliable,has'nt gone down on me yet!

besty

yea, mines going strong too. its very quick (especially since eircom doubled the speed this week). How have you set about securing the network? I'm not really sure what steps to take to do it!

the gobbler

did'nt get round to that yet,was having a few probs connecting 3 notebooks and an xbox,xbox would not sign in,but all is working fine now.
There is no security on the network,i'll prob have a look at it on monday,i think the eircom modem has firewall,i have zone alarm anyway,but i think anyone within range can access the network.
I'll check on monday as i'm away 4 the weekend

besty

ok,cool.i messed around with it for a while and added a "WEN" key to the network.not sure how effective this is because i dont get asked for it when i access the network

steveland?

Sorry to drag up such an old thread but I've a little problem with nearly the exact same setup (ZyXel Prestige600, not Netopia)

I've got the CNet CNBR-914W with the ZyXel plugged into the Lan1, my PC into Lan2 and my laptop into Lan3 (can't find my wireless card)

The laptop and PC can access the internet together no bothers but I can't get into 192.168.1.254 (just tells me it can't be accessed) so I can't change any settings on the CNet...

On my ZyXel I have it set with just the defaults and my username and password. I have a static IP setup (needed port forwarding) on my PC, automatic IP address on my laptop etc...

Anyone have any ideas why I might not be able to access 192.168.1.254?

besty

Ironically this was my original thread when I couldnt get my wireless setup working and it's now acting up again! Ugh, just as an off topic, does anyone know the default username and password for the netopia webpage thingy?

thanks

Good luck with the prob by the way!