I need some serious help trying to configure a wireless network.

After unsuccessfully trying to set up a wired network - 1 XP Pro & 1 XP Home, I stumbled on the idea of buying a wireless network router, PCI card and a PCMCIA card for my laptop and networking the easy way. I am in the country and do not have broadband access - only dialup.

I settled on a D-Link DI-524 Wireless Router, a D-Link G510PCI card and a D-Link G630 PCMCIA for the laptop. I read all instructions fully and carefully before attempting any installation. I turned off my main PC (Athlon 3000 64bit, Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 M/b, 1024 Kingmax RAM, 185 GB IBM HDD,128 MB PCI Express Video Card, on board Gigabit Ethernet) and installed the DI-524 as required. When I rebooted, there was no new Hardware Wizard. Upon investigation, I could not "see" the 524, I checked the Device Manager which didn't see the 524 either.

I tried most things that I could think of, then I contacted D-Link support by phone. After some minor configuration alterations (caused I think by the previous unsuccessful Cat 5 network attempt) I was able to launch IE browser, enter the required network address "http://192.168.0.1" and it opened the required D-Link page. I was advised to then install the PCI & the PCMCIA cards, and then to finish configuring the network. I installed the software drivers for the "slave" PC (Athlon XP 3000+, Asus A7V600-X M/B, 512 ram, 80 GB Seagate HDD, Radeon 9200SE 128MB Video and on board LAN) and the Laptop (IBM ThinkPad 50e, 256 RAM & 40 GB HDD).

The slave & the Laptop each identified with the New Hardware Wizard upon reboot, and each installed correctly, but still neither could communicate with the 524.

I then used the D-Link wizard in an attempt to setup the network; went through:
1] set password
2] choose timezone
3] select Internet Connection Type (WAN)
4] set Dynamic IP Address
5] Set Wireless Connection
6] Setup Complete
7] Restart Device

When I attempted to do that later in the night, I was still not able to do so. I waited over the weekend then rang the D-Link Support line and explained my problem. Then I was told "we're not authorised to troubleshoot networking problems. You'll have to get a network specialist to sort out your problems." I said "I'm not very happy about this; I don't expect you to sort my networking problems out, but I do expect that at least you'd help me get the 524 installed and configured."

I was told "There's nothing to install or configure, it just works." I asked "Why no new hardware wizard?" I was told "No hardware wizard because nothing's been installed; it's just a router that's working."

I asked how he could be certain that it was working. He instructed me to do the following; start button, run, type in "cmd". Then into the DOS box, enter "ipconfig" to which I got the following:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : HOME
IP Address...................... : 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask..................... : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway................. : 192.168.0.1

I was then told to enter "ping 192.168.0.1"

Following are the responses:
pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time <1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time <1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time <1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.0.1: bytes=32 time <1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% Loss)
Approximte round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

He then said "There you go, it's working. I suggest you try Windows Support Centre, or type in wireless network in GOOGLE, you'll find thousands of online help groups. It's then up to you to find the right one."

PLEASE : is there anyone who can help me sort out this networking problem?

Re: Wireless Router not recognised

I hate to be the one to say this, but I can see why the D-Link guy wanted to give you the minimum amount of help, then get you to find a networking expert to sort out your problems. Because your problem is that you don't know what you don't know. You've tried it the easy way and failed, and now you're trying the hard way. That's not a good sign that you're going to succeed without a lot more help.

If all you've got is a dial up connection then the PC that connects directly to the internet has to be running something like Microsoft's Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) software. Otherwise it doesn't share its internet connection. And the other PCs connected on the local area network to it have to be set up as ICS clients. Have you done that? Microsoft provides a wizard for setting it up. You can find it through Help.

(Maybe you thought ICS was so obvious you didn't mention it, but in helping people we've found that things people don't mention are usually the things they don't know about or don't know they need.)

If you'd done that your two other PCs should then have been able to see the internet over their wired LAN connections though the ICS server when the ICS server was dialled up.

By trying to do it with wireless you haven't made it easier, you've actually made it a lot harder. You should consider putting the wireless stuff aside and going back to trying to do it the easy way. At least until you understand the whole thing better.

I suggest that for two reasons: Firstly, because I'm not real strong on wireless myself. And secondly because even with my lack of expertise in that area I can see you've purchased the wrong wireless product. You've purchased a router that's designed for sharing a broadband internet connection when what you need to do the job you are trying to do is a Wireless Access Point (WAP). The wireless equivalent of a hub or switch. In technical terms it has to operate as a bridge not a router. Short of reading the manual I don't know whether the DI-524 can operate as a WAP.

That's what I'd do if I were you. I'd read up on ICS and try to get it working on the two clients over a wired connection. Without wireless. Then, if you really want wireless, you could get back to D-Link tech support and make it clear this time that you only have a dial-up connection, not broadband, that you need to use the DI-524 as a WAP, not a router, and ask them whether and how it can be done.

(Someone else tell me if I'm wrong about you needing a WAP not a router, please.)

Re: Wireless Router not recognised

Gordon:

I did have the ICS setup when trying to do the Cat5 network, and for a [very] short period of time, it worked - though I didn't have the laptop at that time. I did neglect to mention that the "MAIN" PC is also running Norton Internet Security 2006, although this is configured to allow network access to the "Slave" PC. I spent another 45 mins with the D-Link Support Desk today, and it looks as though the router may have a problem.

But my underlying thought for the day is: Why doesn't the main PC recognise the router which is connected to it by an ethernet cable from the LAN port, instead of it only seeing the "NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller" that is listed as the network adaptor? Because if the PC that the router is connected to, can not see same - obviously no other PC will be able to, either.

For the record, I will be moving in the near future and have arranged for a 2 way satellite broadband setup [courtesy of the Federal Govt. & HiBiS] and the wireless gear will supposedly suit that installation; but still I can't see why - AND I ADMIT I DON'T KNOW - BUT why should it matter what type of internet connection is available, because the networking side should be able to be configured without an active internet connection.

Re: Wireless Router not recognised

Yes, the hardware you have will suit a broadband connection. Dial up connections are easy with one PC, more complex with more than one, and more complex still if you add in wireless. By comparison, broadband connections through a router are just as easy whether its one PC or a lot of them, because all you have to do is configure the router properly, tell everything else there's a gateway to the internet connected to the LAN, and plug them all into it.

I've always thought that there was a market out there for a router you could plug a dial-up modem into so people like you could buy it, use it for dial up connections to the internet, then later if they want a broadband connection just unplug the dial-up modem and plug in a broadband (satellite/cable/ADSL) modem instead. After all, there's a huge number of people thinking about doing that. But no-one seems to sell anything like that. The nearest you can get are some broadband routers targetted at the corporate market (ie, they are expensive) with a dial-up modem port for fall-back if the broadband connection fails. Sometimes things aren't the way they'd be if you were to design them now. They're the way they are because they've evolved over time for historical reasons that look pretty stupid now and make things difficult.

A Windows PC needs to recognise hardware connected to it through certain sort of connections. In internal card slots. Connected to IDE and SATA drive ports. Connected to USB ports. Connected to Firewire ports. That ability to recognise connected devices does not extend to devices connected on network connections. If Windows reported everything it could see that was connected to it through a network when you were connected to the internet it would have to report all couple of hundred million computers in the world and every peripheral connected to them. It'd take months and gigabytes of network traffic sending messages identifying them all. Its just not practicable. So Windows doesn't try to do it. Windows will get smarter, some future version of it will figure out which stuff you need to know about, but not yet.

Re: Wireless Router not recognised

Hi Chris.

OK, the first thing to do is re-install your PCI network card - physically. This should be as simple as shutting down the PC, removing the card, re-inserting it (make sure it is pushed all the way down) and firing it back up again. If the Windows Hardware Wizard thing doesn't appear, try again. If after a third time it doesn't work, I'd consider ringing the tech again and asking for details about installing the PCI card, not the configuration of the router. This, as the tech so eloquently put it, should "just work". However, this is just the start for networking, if the card is not detected, it cannot be set up.

You mention that you can get the D-Link page up in IE - the one setting you really need to look for is "DHCP" - check the manual for this if you need to. When the tech told you to configure Dynamic IP addresses, he was assuming you had a DHCP server to tell your network card what IP address to use. This is a bit of a topic within itself, but needless to say, you want the DHCP server on the router to be ON. It makes things a LOT easier.

Once that is done, reboot your PC and then check the IPCONFIG command again - this time you should have TWO network adaptors - one is the existing wired card, the other is the D-Link card. Both cards (the wired one should still be wired up at this stage) should have an IP address of something like 192.168.0.x (where x can be any value between 1 and 254). That last number should be different to each other and the one you used to get to the D-Link router's IE page. So you will have three unique numbers - one for the D-Link card, one for the existing wired card, and one for the router, but all starting with 192.168.0 - this is good and what we want.

Now, PING test. Try to ping the IP address of the router and see if you get responses. I am expecting you will. Now the tricky bit - unplug the cable and ping the router again. If this works, you are pinging the router over the wireless connection - success! Well, you have a link to the router.

To find out the IP address of your wireless card, run IPCONFIG again. One will say "Media state disconnected", and the other will have an IP address. This is the IP address for your wireless card - remember this, we'll need it later.

Repeat almost everything from the laptop (excluding the bit about DHCP configuration on the router - that is set up and working, don't touch it). Once you have both the laptop and PC pinging the router successfully, try pinging each other - this should work, using the router as the link between the two. This then leads to file sharing, which leads to streaming music and video, which leads to LAN gaming... OK, I'll stop now.

BUT - not internet. It is a lot easier to set up a network with broadband, but there is a trick. Plug the broadband modem into the router and you SHOULD be OK. The problem may be if the b/band modem is ALSO a DHCP server - this sends conflicting information out and can wreck the configuration of your network. You only want ONE DHCP server on the network - my advice is to let the modem do it, and it can look after everything from there. Use IPCONFIG and PING tests to make sure this is working just as I described above. Using ICW for a dial-up can work, but only if you turn the router's DHCP OFF, and let the PC (if that's where the dial-up modem is) do it -ICW should do this for you. When you do go broadband, remember to turn ICW off, otherwise you get the two DHCP server issue again.

Last tests - once you have set up your internal network (ie PC and laptop can ping each other) and the modem is working, try pinging the modem, and then the DNS server - this will be another IP address (but is outside your network, so is NOT a 192.168.0.x address) that appears when you use IPCONFIG /ALL. If you can ping that address successfully, then try pinging www.google.com - and it should work too. Run this last test on the other machine, and if all is working, you should now be able to surf the internet on both PCs.

Hopefully all this makes sense. I've rebuilt my network connection a few times, so it's kinda second nature to me. Let me know how you go, and if it doesn't work, let me know where and what both IPCONFIG and PING say. These are the basic tools of networking, and are invaluable.

One last thing - turn off Windows firewall and Norton/Symantec right up until you start browsing the internet on both PCs. This gets in the way of networking (that is their job after all), and can block an otherwise good network connection. You don't want a simple tick box bringing you to the "throwing tools" stage!

Good luck.

Jason

Re: Wireless Router not recognised

Chris,

The Wireless access point on the 524 will need configuring. I configured my access point on a D-Link 604 by connecting my laptop to the 604 directly via cable (which bypasses the wireless), then using IE and an IP address of 192.168.0.1 to log into the router.

Cheers, Ian

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