Another newbie ... probably a simple problem...!

Hi everyone,

I hope someone can save me here!

About 5 months ago we set up a wireless network in our apartment
between 3 people, using a Linksys voice-over-ip device (although nobody
has ever used the vioce-over-ip function, we just wanted wireless).
The setup is: the router has our internet LAN cable going in one
socket, and one other LAN cable coming out and into one non-wireless
PC. The other 2 residents in the apartment had wireless enabled
laptops. And it all worked fine.

But there was always one thing that bothered me - the guy who set it up
(one of the wireless users), was the only one who knew how the thing
had been installed, and any time there were problems he would come
along and fix it, without explaining what he was doing. Now we are 2.
A few weeks ago he moved to another country, and just like I predicted,
we are now faced with a connection problem and neither of the 2 of us
has a clue how to fix it.

When our friend left, he did not make any changes, and our connection
worked fine as usual. Then yesterday, I simply unplugged the router
from the power supply for a few seconds just so I could put in an
adapter (for my new printer), and as soon as I plugged the router back
in, both of us (me, the wireless user, and my boyfriend, the
non-wireless PC user) lost our connection.

What is really strange is that when I connect the LAN cable directly to
my laptop (bypassing the router) the connection works fine, but when my
boyfriend does the same thing to his PC he still cannot get a
connection.

This is why it's frustrating that we do not know how this was set up -
let's forget the wireless for a min - obviously something was
configured differently on my boyfriend's PC than mine that prevents him
from using the LAN cable whereas I can.

Someone told me that the IP address of my router has been reset and now
I have to log into the linksys configuration utility (http://192...
etc) and change the access password for the wireless laptop (we have
wireless security enabled as there are other wireless users in our
apartment block who once tried to access our network). The other thing
I was told to do was to change the DHCP setttings on my boyfriend's PC
for him to obtain an IP address automatically.

Is this true? I do not want to meddle with this unless I have to. And
if worst comes to the worst, how can I totally remove all traces of
that router installation and do it again myself from scratch so at
least I can learn what is going on?

Thanks,

Joey

cried out

> Hi everyone,
>
> I hope someone can save me here!
>
> About 5 months ago we set up a wireless network in our apartment
> between 3 people, using a Linksys voice-over-ip device (although
> nobody has ever used the vioce-over-ip function, we just wanted
> wireless). The setup is: the router has our internet LAN cable
> going in one socket, and one other LAN cable coming out and into
> one non-wireless PC. The other 2 residents in the apartment had
> wireless enabled laptops. And it all worked fine.
>
> But there was always one thing that bothered me - the guy who set
> it up (one of the wireless users), was the only one who knew how
> the thing had been installed, and any time there were problems he
> would come along and fix it, without explaining what he was doing.
> Now we are 2. A few weeks ago he moved to another country, and
> just like I predicted, we are now faced with a connection problem
> and neither of the 2 of us has a clue how to fix it.
>
> When our friend left, he did not make any changes, and our
> connection worked fine as usual. Then yesterday, I simply
> unplugged the router from the power supply for a few seconds just
> so I could put in an adapter (for my new printer), and as soon as
> I plugged the router back in, both of us (me, the wireless user,
> and my boyfriend, the non-wireless PC user) lost our connection.
>
> What is really strange is that when I connect the LAN cable
> directly to my laptop (bypassing the router) the connection works
> fine, but when my boyfriend does the same thing to his PC he still
> cannot get a connection.
>
> This is why it's frustrating that we do not know how this was set
> up - let's forget the wireless for a min - obviously something was
> configured differently on my boyfriend's PC than mine that
> prevents him from using the LAN cable whereas I can.
>
> Someone told me that the IP address of my router has been reset
> and now I have to log into the linksys configuration utility
> (http://192... etc) and change the access password for the
> wireless laptop (we have wireless security enabled as there are
> other wireless users in our apartment block who once tried to
> access our network). The other thing I was told to do was to
> change the DHCP setttings on my boyfriend's PC for him to obtain
> an IP address automatically.
>
> Is this true? I do not want to meddle with this unless I have to.
> And if worst comes to the worst, how can I totally remove all
> traces of that router installation and do it again myself from
> scratch so at least I can learn what is going on?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joey
>
>

the router should not have lost any settings when only unplugged for
a few mintues. I have left mine unplugged for days at a time and it
still has everything. If you want to completely purge the settings,
there is a small reset hole on the front (for a paperclip) or a
larger hole in the back (most likely) depending on your model. Hold
that reset button in for about twenty seconds release, wait about
ten seconds then unplug the router for about a mintue. After you
plug it back up wait about ten seconds then direct the browser on
the pc connected directly to the router via cat5 to
http://192.168.1.1 the default username is blank and the password
is admin. Any further configurations depend greatly on your model
and firmware version number. The firmware version number is in the
upper right hand corner of the configuration main page. This process
should reset the router to factory defaults and in theory the router
should pull an IP address automatically therefore any computer
connected directly to the router should have internet access. The
linksys website can probably give you detail specific instructions
on how to further configure your router. Be sure to change your
administration password!

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message ..
> Hi everyone,
>
> I hope someone can save me here!
>
> About 5 months ago we set up a wireless network in our apartment
> between 3 people, using a Linksys voice-over-ip device (although nobody
> has ever used the vioce-over-ip function, we just wanted wireless).
> The setup is: the router has our internet LAN cable going in one
> socket, and one other LAN cable coming out and into one non-wireless
> PC. The other 2 residents in the apartment had wireless enabled
> laptops. And it all worked fine.
>
> But there was always one thing that bothered me - the guy who set it up
> (one of the wireless users), was the only one who knew how the thing
> had been installed, and any time there were problems he would come
> along and fix it, without explaining what he was doing. Now we are 2.
> A few weeks ago he moved to another country, and just like I predicted,
> we are now faced with a connection problem and neither of the 2 of us
> has a clue how to fix it.
>
> When our friend left, he did not make any changes, and our connection
> worked fine as usual. Then yesterday, I simply unplugged the router
> from the power supply for a few seconds just so I could put in an
> adapter (for my new printer), and as soon as I plugged the router back
> in, both of us (me, the wireless user, and my boyfriend, the
> non-wireless PC user) lost our connection.
>
> What is really strange is that when I connect the LAN cable directly to
> my laptop (bypassing the router) the connection works fine, but when my
> boyfriend does the same thing to his PC he still cannot get a
> connection.
>
> This is why it's frustrating that we do not know how this was set up -
> let's forget the wireless for a min - obviously something was
> configured differently on my boyfriend's PC than mine that prevents him
> from using the LAN cable whereas I can.
>
> Someone told me that the IP address of my router has been reset and now
> I have to log into the linksys configuration utility (http://192...
> etc) and change the access password for the wireless laptop (we have
> wireless security enabled as there are other wireless users in our
> apartment block who once tried to access our network). The other thing
> I was told to do was to change the DHCP setttings on my boyfriend's PC
> for him to obtain an IP address automatically.
>
> Is this true? I do not want to meddle with this unless I have to. And
> if worst comes to the worst, how can I totally remove all traces of
> that router installation and do it again myself from scratch so at
> least I can learn what is going on?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Joey

Sounds like the settings got lost or fangled during the power cycle. It
"shouldn't" happen, but sometimes it does. My main router loses settings in
~ 1 out 20 power cycles. Has the SSID name reverted to it's default? Thats
usually the first sign that I see when I lose settings.

Do a factory restore like Rosco said, by holding down the button inside the
"pin hole" for a few seconds.

You didn't give a manufacturer or model of your router, so nobody will be
able to tell you the default gateway IP. It may by 192.168.1.1, or
192.168.0.1 (if it's a DLink).

With DLinks, DHCP is disabled by default -- so the first time you connect to
it so you can config, you'll have to manually give the connecting computer
an IP in the default address range and subnet (i.e., DLink: 192.168.0.100,
255.255.255.0). Once you enable DHCP, you can set the computer back to
obtaining it's IP automatically.

Read one of the "Quick Install Guides" at http://support.dlink.com/ Even
if you aren't using a DLink, the illustrated QIG's will take you through how
to manually set IP's so you can initially connect.

It sounds like your setup is pretty basic, so there really isn't a whole lot
you need to do other than enabling DHCP, picking a name for an SSID,
enabling WPA (or WEP), entering a WPA (or WEP) key, and as Rosco said
changing the admin password. If it has a "telnet server", it would be good
to disable that as well.

Oh, after you get it configed, save the config to a file on a local computer
for future convienence. There is usually a function in the "Tools" or
"Utility" menu to save your config. If you lose settings again, you'll
still have to do the IP dance, but afterwards can just upload the config and
reboot.