Wireless broadband
 

Hi guys.
I signed up for the Orange Broadband offer (mobile phone plus free broadband and wireless modem).

The modem turned up today and i've been trying to get it working. Connected to my lap top by an ethernet cable it works fine but i can't get it to work with the wireless thing. I've got a pcmcia wirelss card plugged in. Clicking on the icon by the clock brings up the wirelsss network box which tells me that i am connected to the Livebox (which is the Orange modem) but top right where i'm told it should say connected or disconnected it just says "validating identity" and the orange wireless set up routine say it cannot connect.

I'm an internet numpty so can someone help?

I'm running windows XP Home by the way.

Have you configured your wireless card with the network key for your router?

This is usually found on a sticker on the bottom of the router. Once armed with this double click on the green signal strength meter. Click the advanced tab. Make sure the network is highlighted in available networks and click configure. Enter the network key in the appropriate box and click OK. You should be up and running then.

Hello rockhopper

I have a wireless network setup (Belkin), don't quote me
but if you are getting a connection via ethernet cable
you need to type in something like http://192.168 etc etc in your brouser, which should bring up a setup page that allows you to set security for your (wireless thing) (router maybe) normally 64-bit WEP is ok then disconnect the ethernet cable and try wireless.

Good luck

maybe somebody will be along with more info

TopiToo

Hi Gents. Yes i've entered that code Chris, its just keeps saying validating identity. It loks like thats where the problem is though doesn't it? TopiToo, that address doesn't work, i guess i need to now what the etc etc bit actually is!

Found this, it may help

http://help.orange.co.uk/documentDisplay.do?clusterName=DefaultCluster&prev iew=1&groupId=1&page=http://ESERVER_c2e0c301-4908-4256-9aef-d3cdb6f7f027.xhtml&docType=1006&resultType=5002&do cProp=$solution_id&docPropValue=kb166

Thanks Chris.

I got into the router configuration thing an turned off he securty and i still couldn't connect to it so it looks like my wireless card is giving me trouble.

Also non of the configuration screens on my computer look quite the same as the ones on the Orange web site!

Hello rockhopper,

somewhere in the manual for the router should be a default web page ie 192.168 something , something etc there all different, Its a default that allows you to access the router to get to security settings etc.

sorry its how I set my belkin network up,


TopiToo

No thats fine, i got into the set up by the utility that Orange provide (once i'd found the password) but turning the secuity off all together didn't help.
The problem might be that i don't have any software or info for the wireless card i'm using so i'll get a new one at dinner time and see if that helps.

username: admin
password: admin

;)

You may need to press one of the buttons (I think it's button 1) on the box, as your wireless system is probably trying to connect with all the right details, but you have not be "hard" authorised - that is that the box doesn't yet know to accept your MAC address.

This is an extra layer of security. It means that even if someone has your network key (printed on the cd sleeve) they still can't get onto your network as they need physical access to the box to press the button and authenticate themselves.

I suggest you read through the manual that came with the box and make sure you carefully follow the steps, as you may have missed something.

Dam, you susssed my top secret passwords!

Yes, it has those two buttons, press one to put it into pairing mode as they call it.

I'll have another six hours at it tonight perhaps.

Default settings, innit! ;)

You can login and check that your MAC address is in the list, and I think (if I remember correctly...) that you can manually add them as well.

If you are already in there then it may be something with the key - I know they can be a bit iffy and require the hex in UPPER CASE.

I'm fairly confident that its a key issue as the computer can connect to the network but keeps telling me that it requires a network key to authenticate. The key on the bottom of the live box matches the key on the CD packet and i've entered it in upper case with figure zeros instead of letter O's and no gaps.

Ah, I think I had the same when setting up someone's before - in the Invensys software I'm sure there are a couple of different ways to enter the key (hex/string) so try the other way?

Hello antonye

can I ask if you don't mind
I was told that wireless devices have certain channels
that they prefer to work on ie 1, 6 and 11 due to interference
from other radio devices.

If for example if I am on channel 1 and goto connect
sometimes I see other, pc's on the same channel as me.


Can this slow down my connection?
would I be advised to select another channel


many thanks

TopiToo

Not too sure - I'm not an expert but have setup some Wanadoo (now Orange) kit for friends and family so know the ins and outs of them... and what a pain they can be!

As for the channels, that's not quite right. There are different specifications (read: speeds) of wireless which your computer may be able to work at.

The spec is IEEE 802.11 x, where x is a letter and the most common in use are:

802.11b - operates at 2.4GHz and supports upto 11Mbps, ~ 100 feet range.

802.11a - operates at 5GHz, upto 54Mbps, ~ 100 feet range.

802.11g - operates at 2.4GHz, upto 108Mbps, ~ 100 feet range.

I think these are the "channels" that you have been told about. The problem with the 2.4GHz range (b and g) is that this is the UK's "anything goes" range, so it gets flooded by everything from microwave ovens to bluetooth to video senders, so sometimes you can get interference on them.

The channels you can "see" in your wireless networks section are just other people's home/office networks. Unless you have the keys for them, you won't be able to get into them, and as such it shouldn't interfere with your network. The range is quite poor on wireless, especially as brick walls soak up the radio waves quite nicely, and this is why wireless is quite an attractive, low range option.

So, in summary, there's not much you can do about selecting "another channel" unless your hardware supports it, and you'll probably be running b or g anyway, and because they operate at the same frequency it won't make any difference!

As long as you're not actually connection to the other networks, it won't slow down your connection, but it may (slightly) degrade the quality of your connection.

So don't worry about it ;)

Hello antonye

Thanks for that

I have mine set at standard 802.11b &802.11g and the signal strength is around 74dBm, this signal can vary between day and night I guess due to interference.

is there any way of improving the strenght, barring putting the PC next to the router?

TopiToo

Within the 2.4GHz band, most routers offer you 13 channels you can choose from. The default channel offered by most routers is No. 11 and there is no need to change this unless you find that interference from other sources is affecting your connectivity on this channel.

I went out at lunch time and bought a Belkin wireless card. Came home tonight, ran the utility, plugged the card in and it works perfectly!

Many thanks for everyones help.

Thanks for buying a Belkin wireless card, my daughter works in sales for Belkin so I want as many people to buy Belkin stuff as possible so that she becomes extremely wealthy and can support her dads Ducati addiction into old age

Not exactly Ant, the channels are simply communication channels. If you set your AP to the channel 11 you may want to set all other devices to the same channel. I think it has been designed for busy environments (loads of wireless networks in the same area, using different channels may prevent data collision or something like this :lol: ).

The wireless standards (b, g, etc...) is something else as you explained it.

Finally what you call the channels seen in the "my network" or whatever MS calls them are wireless lans identified by their (SS)ID. Lucky people can enjoy free Internet connection by connecting to their neighbours unsecured ESSID :)

So basically, the channel doesn't matter as soon as all your devices use the same one :)