Floundering With Router

[philby]

Hello All

Wonder if anyone can help: I'm trying to help a neighbour, literally, by setting up a router for notebook wireless internet access.

He has a Netgear DG834GT that at some point earlier was used with a desktop wireless connection.
His notebook can connect to the internet via a wired connection without the router.

I managed to get the notebook to see the router and Windows (Vista SP2) shows "connected to SSID" but when I try to access the router (with or without an ethernet cable from the notebook to the router) to set up internet connectivity by typing in 192.168.0.1, I can't get the interface open. I get the dialogue box for log in and type admin/password (the defaults) but then IE gets stuck on Opening Page.

I've tried the following:

hard-reset the router
checked his NIC
tried another browser
reset IE
checked DHCP settings (automatic)
cleared notebook TCP/IP using netsh winsock reset

The only thing I overlooked at the time I initially tried to help was to check the IP address in ipconfig /all on his notebook - but he's never at home and I haven't had a chance yet...

My question is this:

Does hard-resetting the router guarantee that the default gateway will have been reset to 192.168.0.1?

My suspicion is that someone has previously changed this and it's not been cleared by the hard-reset.

Is there anyhthing else I should be thinking about other than checking the notebook's ipconfig, when I get the chance to try to help him again?

Sorry if this is a little convoluted and thanks in advance for any pointers.

philby

[Meriadoc]

Suppose I'd ping the router first, then look at the other network connections. Can that default even be changed?

[philby]

Thanks Meriadoc - I'll ping as soon as he lets me back in his house!

Re. the default 192.168.0.1 - that's the first thing I changed on my router, just to get away from factory setting.

Don't suppose that made it any more secure though...?

philby

[BlueZannetti]

Just a few things:If you're not sure of LAN IP addresses, use something like Look@LAN (http://www.lookatlan.com/download_lal.html) to discover what's on the LAN. There are plenty of other similar tools and they're good to have handy for debugging.
A reset is just that (assuming it's the hardware-push-the-reset-button-with-powerup reset), it should reset to all factory defaults.
Blue

[philby]

Thanks Blue

-{ Quote: "If you're not sure of LAN IP addresses, use something like Look@LAN to discover what's on the LAN. There are plenty of other similar tools and they're good to have handy for debugging." }-
Looks useful, I'll give it a try.
-{ Quote: "A reset is just that (assuming it's the hardware-push-the-reset-button-with-powerup reset), it should reset to all factory defaults." }-
Yes, that's exactly what I did, so 192.168.0.1 should open the router's UI if I'm connected to the router wirelessly, right?

philby

[BlueZannetti]

-{ Quote: "Yes, that's exactly what I did, so 192.168.0.1 should open the router's UI if I'm connected to the router wirelessly, right?

philby" }-According to the manual (http://kbserver.netgear.com/pdf/dg834gt_manual.pdf) (that's a direct pdf download link), that's the correct IP address. Now, the default in most routers is (or should be) that management is via a wired (not wireless) connection. I'm not sure of the default here - consult the linked to manual. However, you should be presented with a logon dialog box, not the router interface.

Blue

[philby]

Yes, default 192.168.0.1 is correct as per manual - I have the same router myself.

Also, sorry: I should have said the UN/PW dialogue box and not the router's UI. I can get to that log in box, enter admin/password and that's when IE sticks on loading page.

.....................................................................................................

-{ Quote: "Now, the default in most routers is (or should be) that management is via a wired (not wireless) connection" }-
I have seen this written almost everywhere too - I'd be really interested in knowing why it should be so - I've been thinking about it for ages and it's driving me nuts. Why should it be that internet connectivity must be set up via wired? Surely if the pc is hooked to the router via wireless, this should not make any difference in accessing the router for subsequent set up?

Thanks again Blue.

philby

[BlueZannetti]

-{ Quote: "I have seen this written almost everywhere too - I'd be really interested in knowing why it should be so - I've been thinking about it for ages and it's driving me nuts. Why should it be that internet connectivity must be set up via wired? Surely if the pc is hooked to the router via wireless, this should not make any difference in accessing the router for subsequent set up?" }-Easy - it's a secondary security measure. To log onto the wired side you need physical access, which means you're more likely the owner of the device.

If you have an unsecured wireless connection and haven't changed the default password, it's trivial for virtually anyone to logon to the admin interface and have at it to their hearts content, which really means that they can make some adjustments (for example, depending upon the unit, adjust wireless power levels, lock the owner out by changing the admin password, and so on) to optimize their experience, possibly at the expense of owners.

Blue

[philby]

-{ Quote: "Easy - it's a secondary security measure." }-
OK, that's clear, but in terms of simply being able to access the router to configure it, wireless is OK?
I was thinking there must be a technical reason for wired being a must.
Thanks.

So, back to the problem - I can get the laptop onto the newly created wireless network (connect to SSID, no security as yet) but the router's UN/PW dialogue simply will not take me to the router UI, despite the things I've tried as per my first post.

Thanks for your help here!

philby

[BlueZannetti]

-{ Quote: "I was thinking there must be a technical reason for wired being a must." }-Firmware upgrades if you're looking beyond simple security. If you perform a firmware upgrade wirelessly, there's a somewhat higher chance of issues. It's always recommended that these be performed over a wired connection. One way to enforce this situation is to require administration to occur over a wired connection.
-{ Quote: "So, back to the problem - I can get the laptop onto the newly created wireless network (connect to SSID, no security as yet) but the router's UN/PW dialogue simply will not take me to the router UI, despite the things I've tried as per my first post." }-Try using IE if you're not, and make sure you're not blocking anything.

Blue

[philby]

IE it is, with a total reset.

It's annoying as the guy was going to let me take another look at the problem tonight, but he's gone out! Oh he of little faith...

When I get a chance to attack the problem again, I'll post back with results of the various relevant ipconfig /switches I'll be able to run. I'm going to fix it even if it takes me months :'(

Thanks very much for your help (so far) Blue.

philby

[wat0114]

According to the manual Blue references, the initial configuration is done with a wired connection from pc -> router. Power up router first, ensure correct leds are lit, then power on pc. hopefully that works, otherwise i'd suspect a faulty router. As for upgrading firmware, always use a wired connection, otherwise it is likely the router will get blown away during the wireless firmware upload to the router.

[philby]

Thanks wat0114.

Fixed it now - in the end I re-installed IE8 and that cleared the way through to the router interface.

I then spent about an hour entering and re-entering the user's broadband UN/PW and watched the test page fail until suddenly, I was in. ;D

Thanks all

philby

[wat0114]

-{ Quote: "Thanks wat0114.

Fixed it now - in the end I re-installed IE8 and that cleared the way through to the router interface.

I then spent about an hour entering and re-entering the user's broadband UN/PW and watched the test page fail until suddenly, I was in. ;D

Thanks all

philby" }-

Good to see you got it working, philby :thumb: