Wireless Networks, do they need to be wired to something 1st

Yes, the router should connect to the broadband connection, and you should connect wirelessly to the router.


Your ISP's technical support should be able to walk you through setting all that up.

As drewdad said, it does have to be connected to something and that something is your broadband (Cable/DSL) modem.

Most wireless routers require a hardwire connection initially because they aren't configured yet. Without a configuration built, the router and your wireless network card aren't speaking the same "language" so they can't communicate.

Once you have the router and laptop properly configured through the hardwire connection you can go strictly wireless between the laptop and the router.

Some routers also have a security feature built in that doesn't allow anyone to access the admin controls through the wireless connection at all. That prevents someone from driving by your house and reconfiguring your network (locking you out and giving them full access). On Linksys routers you can toggle this feature on or off.

Nope, it's fucked.

All we've got is a wireless router. This is connected to the phone line with a filter and was connected to my laptop.

I spent 30 ******* minutes on the phone with some Indian guy who had no ******* clue what he was talking about.

The wireless connected. It remained connected for a while, yet as soon as the computer and or wireless router is turned off, once it's turned back on again it doesn't work.

I've had to re-install the ******* installation CD about 5 times now, just so I could connect to the wireless until it decided it wanted to piss off again.

So. Any ideas why it "can't find network address" depsite the fact it's been plugged into the router (I'm online wired now) and it has previously been connected to the wireless? What the hell am I supposed to do, what's the point in having a wireless router if it doesn't work.... and then even if it does decide to work I have to install the SAME CD before it actually connects...???!!!!

I am stressed , and I have no idea what in the hell else I can try.

Thank you for your replies.

P.S It's now rejecting the WPA key for some reason, so I can't even connect after reloading the CD.

Let's start with a little clarification here first. :wink:

Initailly you said you had a broadband connection. Now you've mentioned that it is connected to your phone line. Am I correct in assuming that what you have is a DSL connection?

And secondly, is your router also a DSL modem? (Both in one unit)

Would you also mind listing the manufacturer/model number of your router and network card?

Apparently "Yes." Says my BF.

"It's a DSL router + modem"

Router: Siemens Gigaset SE587 WLAN dsl....

Network card is: Dell Wireless 1490 WLAN mini card

Apparently that Router/Modem is specifically made for Tiscalli and Siemens doesn't have any support info for it on their WWW site.

But you aren't the only person having issues if that is any comfort. I reallly hate to do this but I'm going to refer you to the Tiscali Forums WWW site where there is quite a bit of dicussion on this specific router. Read through the thread and see if there is anything that helps. You might want to ask some questions there:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=144184&page=1&pp=15

Sorry, but I can't find enough tech info on that unit to be of much help.

Thanks Fishin, I'll have a look on there and if all else fails I guess I'll have to ring the Indian Call Centre again....

It is possible that your computer is not retaining the configuration it needs to talk to the router.


go to start - run and type in

cmd.exe

This should bring up a black box that you can type into.
type in "ipconfig"

This should give you something like -

Connection specific DNS Address = comcast.net
IP Address = 192.168.0.3
Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway = 192.168.0.1

Write down what you get when connected, then shut down and restart and do it again and see if the numbers have changed.

Both the computer and the router have to be on for the computer to get a DHCP connection. The router can take a minute or two to boot up before it is ready to connect. If you are turning your router and your computer on at the same time the computer could be checking for DHCP before the router is ready to connect to.

I've been told to turn the router on first, let the lights load up, THEN turn my computer on...so it's not that.

The guy I spoke to got me to enter a new DNS or something into those black boxes... It just seems odd that we'd need to reconfigure it every time.

I will give it a go in a minute. Thanks.

My wireless connection comes up with blank, 0.0.0.0, 0.0.0.0, blank for those four categories respectively. My local connection shows all IP address and everything. Could I edit the wireless details to match the wired ones and see if that works? Or will it screw up my system even more?