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wireless routers


Tom 1960

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I purchased a wireless router today(Linksys E1000) after recently receiving as a anniversary present from my wife a HP laptop. Now besides the Dell desktop which I have upstairs, I can roam all over the house with the laptop which is pretty cool. Now here lies the problem. I've made numerous, many attempts today trying to establish a connection but have failed each time. People telling me, oh yeah it's real easy to do. Bullshit. The directions are fairly straightforward, yes. It's just not working for me. Does anyone have any idea what I might be doing wrong? I'm running off Windows Vista and a cable modem. The computer is a Dell desktop. Any help would sure be appreciated. I should also add, I did contact Cisco via there chat page but that wasn't much of a help.

Edited by Tom 1960
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Either that or there is something wrong with the Linksys settings. If your computer is successfully hooked up to Linksys, but you don't have wireless internet, there is probably something wrong with the Linksys settings for your internet signal. You can change those settings through the internet browser by going to a Linksys page. Give Linksys a call and they will take you there. I know that from painful experience. When I was using Linksys, my settings would go out of wack virtually every month. I have no idea why, but I don't use Linksys any more.

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I've had nothing but trouble with wireless routers. And the more I try to troubleshoot, the worse it gets (and more confusing). I suggest getting some professional help.

Having to get someone here who has experience with these issues is a real possibility. When I popped in the cd and it described how you connect the cables it WAS very simple. Figured at the time it might be fairly easy. After I had things hooked up, I kept getting an error message instructing to click on the link for the Cisco website for further information. I kept going back over and over thinking perhaps I had made the wrong connections, maybe I had plugged into a wrong port but no possibility of that. Very frustrating to say the least.

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I am not a computer wizard, but I had zero problem with the router I have, Netgear. Basically I had to hook up through a ethernet cable the router at the computer (Macs) and fix the settings, both of the router and the computer. Obviously if you don't know nothing about device address, etc, I suggest getting some professional help.

edit: on side note, if the router's software is older then six months, be sure to check on the website if there is an upgrade.

Edited by porcy62
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I've had nothing but trouble with wireless routers. And the more I try to troubleshoot, the worse it gets (and more confusing). I suggest getting some professional help.

Having to get someone here who has experience with these issues is a real possibility. When I popped in the cd and it described how you connect the cables it WAS very simple. Figured at the time it might be fairly easy. After I had things hooked up, I kept getting an error message instructing to click on the link for the Cisco website for further information. I kept going back over and over thinking perhaps I had made the wrong connections, maybe I had plugged into a wrong port but no possibility of that. Very frustrating to say the least.

okay, wireless routers (all of them) are basically the dumbest devices on the planet. if you've done your initial setup and still can't connect to the internet then the router probably isn't assigning your computer an actual IP address so it won't connect. So here's troubleshooting 101 for wireless routers.

1. turn everything off (modem, router, computer) - on the modem & router, unplug the actual power cable that goes into the back of each device. Wait 1 minute

2. Plug the modem back in. Wait 1 minute.

3. Plug the router back in. Wait 1 minute.

4. Turn the computer back on and check connection.

That fixes about 98% of all router problems. If it doesn't...and all the devices are new...then something wasn't setup correctly.

Edited by Shawn
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I suggest getting some professional help.

I suggest reading the manual. They usually provide solutions to the most frequent problems.

That's where the trouble STARTS (for me, anyway).

There is no manual. Only online instructions. Couldn't get around to making another attempt today. Just too much going on. Hope to give things another shot in a day or so and yes try Shawn's suggestions. Thanks guys for your help. I really appreciate it. :tup

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I consider myself pretty capable with consumer tech, and I found the LinkSys setup pretty challenging after an easy time, for years, with NetGear. The CD setup routine was vital, I could not just type in the IP address and find my way around the way I had been doing.

I also had to ditch using Windows to configure the connection, I now use a free Intel tool (PROSet Wireless). Whatever company makes your wireless adapter should also offer a decent configuration and connect tool. DHCP is trickier with a cable modem than with DSL, I would definitely get some help from your broadband provider. You should call them and verify for yourself that you can establish a wired connection, then immediately "open" the router using the Setup CD.

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Well after being busy the past several nights, I decided I would give this another go taking Shawn's suggestions under consideration. I carefully followed his steps but still no dice. What a pain in the ass. I've tried various connections as advised by the cd rom but no connection. The one thing I did notice is when I initially plug the router into the outlet, all 4 numbered lights come on very briefly for a couple seconds and then return to just 1 light. It briefly flashes again to all 4 lights on, then back to 1 where it stays in place. Electrical glitch? I don't know. It really kind of pisses me off when something which appears to be rather simple at least by the given directions, turns out to be a headache. I guess my only other alternative at this point is to get someone over here who knows something about these things and give them a shot. It would be worth the money, since I really dont have the desire to deal with this crap any longer. End of rant! :tdown

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There is also a chance that the router is defective. After a certain point, it's not really your problem - just bring it back.

BTW, I've owned Apple AirPorts for years, and literally never had a problem with it. The new one is a dual-band router, which means you can put a password on one band to protect your files, but leave the other without a password in case you want to share.

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You need to reset that router and see if you get a different light configuration. There is usually a reset button somewhere on the router, usually you have to get a pin or something to stick in a small hole, they are generally little red buttons, you hold them in for about 15 seconds while the router is plugged in and then it should go back to factory default setting. Routers are generally configured in an Internet Browser, they should have an address either on the bottom of the router or with the paperwork. You can type that into a browser window and it should take you to the setup screens (that's a good test to see whether it's talking to the computer or not).

Then you can start from a clean slate and make sure that an incorrect setting hasn't been locked in there. Sorry the easy suggestion didn't work.

This Microsoft page has the address settings for the most common routers and some basic setup instructions.

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/organization/wirelesssetup.aspx

Edited by Shawn
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Eureka, success! I made a call to Cisco and after about 30 minutes, I now have a wireless connection via my new laptop. I'm sitting outside right now as I type this. Fantastic. I will say there customer service over the phone was excellent. Glad to finally get things up and running. Thanks to all for your suggestions/recommendations.

Edited by Tom 1960
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So, what was the problem?

Well, the problem wasn't that I didn't have the connections properly set up. It was the fact that the desktop computer and the router weren't talking to each other. I had to go through a bunch of steps just to get that rectified. Then I had to get the laptop to accept the signal from the wireless router which involved going through a number of steps. It's a given when it comes to computers, clearly I'm no genius. It just seems to me, unless you're pretty knowledgable about this stuff, I really doubt you could figure this stuff out on your own. Well, at least it's running and I'm happy.

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Good stuff ! :tup

I had a broadband problem about a week ago. Speed had dropped to no better than dial up. Thought it was the router (I did the reset button thingy) but it turned out to be an issue with the local exchange (dropping the speed at night because I wasn't permanently powered up ;) - they occasionally check lines remotely to see if you are still 'connected' and if not they drop the speed big time ) and also an issue with the wiring routing through the extensions to my place which meant that the office was getting a corrupted signal. A call out of the BT engineer to fix the wiring and some tweeks at the local exchange sorted me out good. :)

Edited by sidewinder
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  • 2 weeks later...

I didn't have Internet connection at my apartment for almost two weeks so I wasn't able to help you Tom but I'm glad you got help with your wireless connection :)

I'm using Buffalo wireless router at home and it works like charm. Sometimes it's really pain in the ass to set them up but usually they work without any problems. Once the setup is completed and you have a laptop, you really don't want to keep your laptop in wired connection :)

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  • 1 year later...

I've had nothing but trouble with wireless routers. And the more I try to troubleshoot, the worse it gets (and more confusing). I suggest getting some professional help.

I was in the same boat until yesterday. For 8 months I've been pulling my hair out with -- not just one -- but two different Belkin routers. Horrible, horrible, horrible --- so bad that I wound up tapping into my next door neighbor's signal (with her knowledge) back in January. Yesterday, picked up a Netgear N900 for $180 and it is fabulous -- total coverage to the max. I'm flinging that Belkin piece of crap into the trash later today.

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