Continuous arguments with Orange

Hi All

A friend of mine has just had his exchange upgraded so he can now receive a
8mb service.

Orange advised him he would be without an Internet service for a day. That
was a month ago. They have now replaced his Speedtouch 330 modem with a
Orabge Live Box. The box is connected via Etehrnet. We are unable to get an
IP address form the box. We have tried two PC`s and a laptop. All three
machines can obtain an IP address from another router I have loaned him.

Orange have told us that the box is ok , as "the light flash sequence is
correct".

I am 99.9% convinced this box is duff , as we cannot get any IP address ,
yet all PCS can get an IP address from another router.

We cannot see this box wirelessly either. Yet Orange agin insist its my
equipment thats at fault.

Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP Home. New
ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to Orange.

brian

Big Brian wrote:
> Hi All
>
> A friend of mine has just had his exchange upgraded so he can now receive
> a
> 8mb service.
>
> Orange advised him he would be without an Internet service for a day. That
> was a month ago. They have now replaced his Speedtouch 330 modem with a
> Orabge Live Box. The box is connected via Etehrnet. We are unable to get
> an
> IP address form the box. We have tried two PC`s and a laptop. All three
> machines can obtain an IP address from another router I have loaned him.
>
> Orange have told us that the box is ok , as "the light flash sequence is
> correct".
>
> I am 99.9% convinced this box is duff , as we cannot get any IP address ,
> yet all PCS can get an IP address from another router.
>
> We cannot see this box wirelessly either. Yet Orange agin insist its my
> equipment thats at fault.
>
> Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP Home.
> New
> ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to Orange.
>
> brian

erm, seems quite simple, the orange box either has the dhcp server switched
off (unlikely) or it is not working. I have set up a number of the liveboxes
and not encountered this. Insist it isnt working.

Gaz

> ... Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP
> Home. New ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to Orange.

I had 2 main problems with this box - but that was with wireless
connections. Wired should work easily enough provided :-

a. your telephone line is in the WHITE labelled RJ11 socket

b. your ethernet cable is in the RED labelled port and

c. you press the "pair" button ONE once every 10 minutes until you get a
working connection (a mechanism which I have only ever come across with the
Livebox). In fact this peed me off so much when I was setting up a wireless
connection that I disabled it.

If you get as far as wireless, you may need to try upto 3 channels to get a
clear one.
Good luck
--
Grumps

Musicrab wrote:
>> ... Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP
>> Home. New ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to Orange.
>
> I had 2 main problems with this box - but that was with wireless
> connections. Wired should work easily enough provided :-

Their encryption method is confusing and can cause windows 'wireless zero
configuration' utility to screw up. It seems to simultaenously broadcast
both WEP and WPA encryption or the flag used to tell the wireless device
which security is in use is unreliable, which causes several wireless
utilities to connect on what it thinks is a WEP connection, but is in fact a
WPA encryption, resulting in the wireless device being unable to pick up an
ip address. I presume, in the name of security, the box tries to connect at
the highest form, and falls back to wep if WPA is not supported.

The solution is to change the settings in the livebox to do either wpa or
wep, not both.

Very odd, a problem I havent come across with anyother router, and a problem
that might be hidden because most users will only try to connect the usb
wireless devices that automate the wireless process, that come with the
Livebox.

Gaz

"Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Musicrab wrote:
>>> ... Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP
>>> Home. New ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to
>>> Orange.
>>
>> I had 2 main problems with this box - but that was with wireless
>> connections. Wired should work easily enough provided :-
>
> Their encryption method is confusing and can cause windows 'wireless zero
> configuration' utility to screw up. It seems to simultaenously broadcast
> both WEP and WPA encryption or the flag used to tell the wireless device
> which security is in use is unreliable, which causes several wireless
> utilities to connect on what it thinks is a WEP connection, but is in fact
> a WPA encryption, resulting in the wireless device being unable to pick up
> an ip address. I presume, in the name of security, the box tries to
> connect at the highest form, and falls back to wep if WPA is not
> supported.
>
> The solution is to change the settings in the livebox to do either wpa or
> wep, not both.
>
> Very odd, a problem I havent come across with anyother router, and a
> problem that might be hidden because most users will only try to connect
> the usb wireless devices that automate the wireless process, that come
> with the Livebox.
>
> Gaz
>

Just spoke to Orange an dthey are adamant that the box is ok . We have asked
for a MAC code , as my friend is so knarke dthat even if they do get it
sorted , he has lost faith.

He is now switching to telewest , as he has tv through them.

> Their encryption method is confusing and can cause windows 'wireless zero
> configuration' utility to screw up. It seems to simultaenously broadcast
> both WEP and WPA encryption or the flag used to tell the wireless device
> which security is in use is unreliable, which causes several wireless
> utilities to connect on what it thinks is a WEP connection, but is in fact
> a WPA encryption, resulting in the wireless device being unable to pick up
> an ip address. I presume, in the name of security, the box tries to
> connect at the highest form, and falls back to wep if WPA is not
> supported.
>
> The solution is to change the settings in the livebox to do either wpa or
> wep, not both.

I agree that wireless is fragile with the Livebox. However, I have security
set to "WPA or WEP" with the orignal WEP key set and it works.
My problem was finding a clear channel. I tried 1, then 6 (the channel of
my original router) and finally got it working on 7. Weired.

Oh, and without pairing disabled, that's another thing that can bugger
things up.

--
Grumps

Gaz wrote:

> Musicrab wrote:
> >> ... Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP
> >> Home. New ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to Orange.
> >
> > I had 2 main problems with this box - but that was with wireless
> > connections. Wired should work easily enough provided :-
>
> Their encryption method is confusing and can cause windows 'wireless zero
> configuration' utility to screw up. It seems to simultaenously broadcast
> both WEP and WPA encryption or the flag used to tell the wireless device
> which security is in use is unreliable, which causes several wireless
> utilities to connect on what it thinks is a WEP connection, but is in fact a
> WPA encryption, resulting in the wireless device being unable to pick up an
> ip address. I presume, in the name of security, the box tries to connect at
> the highest form, and falls back to wep if WPA is not supported.
>
> The solution is to change the settings in the livebox to do either wpa or
> wep, not both.
>
> Very odd, a problem I havent come across with anyother router, and a problem
> that might be hidden because most users will only try to connect the usb
> wireless devices that automate the wireless process, that come with the
> Livebox.
>
> Gaz

Hi Gaz,

>From what you have posted, I assume you think that as long as the
livebox is set to WPA only encryption, the fact that the key is 'WEP'
does not mean the encryption is WEP.....?

Gaz wrote:

> Musicrab wrote:
> >> ... Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP
> >> Home. New ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to Orange.
> >
> > I had 2 main problems with this box - but that was with wireless
> > connections. Wired should work easily enough provided :-
>
> Their encryption method is confusing and can cause windows 'wireless zero
> configuration' utility to screw up. It seems to simultaenously broadcast
> both WEP and WPA encryption or the flag used to tell the wireless device
> which security is in use is unreliable, which causes several wireless
> utilities to connect on what it thinks is a WEP connection, but is in fact a
> WPA encryption, resulting in the wireless device being unable to pick up an
> ip address. I presume, in the name of security, the box tries to connect at
> the highest form, and falls back to wep if WPA is not supported.
>
> The solution is to change the settings in the livebox to do either wpa or
> wep, not both.
>
> Very odd, a problem I havent come across with anyother router, and a problem
> that might be hidden because most users will only try to connect the usb
> wireless devices that automate the wireless process, that come with the
> Livebox.
>
> Gaz

Hi Gaz,

>From what you have posted, I assume you think that as long as the
livebox is set to WPA only encryption, the fact that the key is 'WEP'
does not mean the encryption is WEP.....?

Kevvy

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Gaz wrote:
>
>> Musicrab wrote:
>>>> ... Is there anything else we need to check. All PCs using Windows XP
>>>> Home. New ethernet cable tried. All settings correct according to
>>>> Orange.
>>>
>>> I had 2 main problems with this box - but that was with wireless
>>> connections. Wired should work easily enough provided :-
>>
>> Their encryption method is confusing and can cause windows 'wireless zero
>> configuration' utility to screw up. It seems to simultaenously broadcast
>> both WEP and WPA encryption or the flag used to tell the wireless device
>> which security is in use is unreliable, which causes several wireless
>> utilities to connect on what it thinks is a WEP connection, but is in
>> fact a
>> WPA encryption, resulting in the wireless device being unable to pick up
>> an
>> ip address. I presume, in the name of security, the box tries to connect
>> at
>> the highest form, and falls back to wep if WPA is not supported.
>>
>> The solution is to change the settings in the livebox to do either wpa or
>> wep, not both.
>>
>> Very odd, a problem I havent come across with anyother router, and a
>> problem
>> that might be hidden because most users will only try to connect the usb
>> wireless devices that automate the wireless process, that come with the
>> Livebox.
>>
>> Gaz
>
> Hi Gaz,
>
>> From what you have posted, I assume you think that as long as the
> livebox is set to WPA only encryption, the fact that the key is 'WEP'
> does not mean the encryption is WEP.....?

Well, maybe what I wrote was not clear. If you have it set for WPA only, the
encryption key will be only for wpa. If you set it for WEP only it will be
for WEP only.

It seems their process makes sense if you buy theiu usb sticks, as they auto
connect at the most secure setting. But to have a system that knocks over
Windows own utility is a bit daft......

Gaz