Netgear WGT634U Can't Acquire IP Address from CM

Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
(resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
should try?

How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
the modem?

TIA.

Karen McDonald wrote:

> Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
> Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
> I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
> (resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
> the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
> should try?
>
> How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
> the modem?
>
> TIA.
Have you tried without the firewall ?.

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 15:25:34 +1000, "Reggy " <"Reggy
"@Hanky-Bannister.co.uk> wrote:

>Karen McDonald wrote:
>
>> Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
>> Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
>> I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
>> (resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
>> the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
>> should try?
>>
>> How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
>> the modem?
>>
>> TIA.
>Have you tried without the firewall ?.

Yes. Both Zonealarm and Windows XP firewall disabled. Still not joy.
And the OTHER WGT634U I have on another network will not allow me to
update the firmware to the latest version with either MSIE or Firefox.

"Karen McDonald" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
> Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.

That has nothing to do with the router's inability to obtain an IP from the
ISP (Internet Service Provider).

The Windows XP O/S is not running on the router nor is it running on the
modem.

> I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
> (resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
> the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
> should try?

Did you do a hard reset of the router holding the Reset button down 30
seconds or longer and thne turning the router off for awhile? Maybe the
router is just flatout broke. Did you do the reset with the modem too?
>
> How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
> the modem?

I don't think you need an IP from the ISP to access the router's Admin
Screens via the router's Device IP that you would enter into a browser's
such as IE or others address line if a computer wire or wireless has a
connection to the router..

However, if the router is shot it's shot.

Did you try connecting a computer to the modem and seeing if it can get an
IP from the ISP and connect to the Internet? Maybe, the modem is gone.

And lastly, did you pay the Internet bill?

Duane

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 07:12:02 GMT, "Duane Arnold" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Karen McDonald" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
>> Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
>
>That has nothing to do with the router's inability to obtain an IP from the
>ISP (Internet Service Provider).
>
>The Windows XP O/S is not running on the router nor is it running on the
>modem.
>
>> I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
>> (resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
>> the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
>> should try?
>
>Did you do a hard reset of the router holding the Reset button down 30
>seconds or longer and thne turning the router off for awhile? Maybe the
>router is just flatout broke. Did you do the reset with the modem too?

Yes. Both. Till I'm blue in the face ;-) Modem/router/PC as per the
manual.

>> How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
>> the modem?
>
>I don't think you need an IP from the ISP to access the router's Admin
>Screens via the router's Device IP that you would enter into a browser's
>such as IE or others address line if a computer wire or wireless has a
>connection to the router..
>
>However, if the router is shot it's shot.

It's kinda looking that way I guess.

>Did you try connecting a computer to the modem and seeing if it can get an
>IP from the ISP and connect to the Internet? Maybe, the modem is gone.

Yes. Modem is okay. I even swapped PCs and tried my laptop. But it
can't access the router either though it's okay connected directly to
the cable modem. Since I last posted I now have another Netgear router
(not a wireless one) wired to the same connection using the same PC
and everything is AOK. So, I suppose it has to be the router huh? The
guy at Netgear support said a firmware upgrade should solve the
problem. But, as I can't get into the router, I'm sort of stuck

>And lastly, did you pay the Internet bill?

Of course :-) As evinced above...

Much obliged for all your suggestions Duane. Appreciated.

K

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 05:19:40 GMT, Karen McDonald
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
>Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
>I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
>(resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
>the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
>should try?
>
>How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
>the modem?

You can set a static (fixed) IP address on your XP Pro machine and
avoid using the DHCP server. I recently had a mess where there were
three DHCP servers running on a network. My job was to find the other
two and strangle the perpetrators. I couldn't get on the LAN to find
these without setting a static IP address on my laptop.

There's something wrong with your description. The WGT634U has two
sides, the WAN (wide area network also known as the internet) and the
LAN (local area network). To connect to the internet via the cable
modem, the WGT634U DHCP client gets an IP address from the cable ISP.
You need that to surf the web, but NOT to talk to the WGT634U for
configuration. Failure at the WAN side has no effect on the LAN side
of the WGT634U. If working normally, you could unplug the cable modem
and still be able to configure the WGT634.

On the LAN side, the WGT634U acts as a DHCP server (not client) which
assigns IP addresses to your XP Pro client machine. You need that to
talk to the WGT634. I think that's what you mean is failing. You can
check if it's working by running:
Start -> Run -> cmd <enter>
IPCONFIG
If the IP address of your XP Pro machine is 192.168.0.xxx, then it's
working. Just point your web browser to the IP address of the
"gateway" and you should see the Netgear setup screen. If it says
169.254.xxx.xxx, then the DHCP server didn't deliver an IP address to
your XP Pro client and something is amis. If it says 0.0.0.0, wait
about 30 seconds and try again. It's busy.

You might wanna try just plugging the XP Pro box directly into the
WGT634U with a CAT5 cable and see if it works. That will temporarily
eliminate the wireless from the puzzle. If that works, then there's
something wrong with the wireless configuration. The traditional
problem is a mismatched WEP or WPA key. Try it with encryption turned
off.
--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Karen McDonald wrote:

> On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 15:25:34 +1000, "Reggy " <"Reggy
> "@Hanky-Bannister.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>Karen McDonald wrote:
>>
>>> Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
>>> Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
>>> I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
>>> (resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
>>> the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
>>> should try?
>>>
>>> How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
>>> the modem?
>>>
>>> TIA.
>>Have you tried without the firewall ?.
>
> Yes. Both Zonealarm and Windows XP firewall disabled. Still not joy.
> And the OTHER WGT634U I have on another network will not allow me to
> update the firmware to the latest version with either MSIE or Firefox.
You initial post suggested that you had upgraded WP, I gather from this
post that you actually upgraded the firmware on the 634. In that case
you may have had a problem with the upgrade. It is possible to restart
the upgrade but it requires opening the box, and attaching a serial
cable though a little adapter to 4 pins. Details can be found on the
OpenWRT and OpenWGT websites (google will find them). You can then
reload the firmware. Alternatively Netgear can also do this but may
charge you rather a lot to do it.

David
_________________________________________
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On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 09:17:08 -0800, Jeff Liebermann
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 05:19:40 GMT, Karen McDonald
><(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Following a recent Windows XP Pro update my Netgear WGT634U Wireless
>>Storage Router will not acquire an IP address from my cable modem.
>>I've tried all the fixes suggested in the manual and on Netgear's site
>>(resetting/switching off, then on again etc.) but now I cannot access
>>the router at all - either via cable or wireless. Anything else I
>>should try?
>>
>>How can you get into the router if it won't pick up an IP address from
>>the modem?
>
>You can set a static (fixed) IP address on your XP Pro machine and
>avoid using the DHCP server. I recently had a mess where there were
>three DHCP servers running on a network. My job was to find the other
>two and strangle the perpetrators. I couldn't get on the LAN to find
>these without setting a static IP address on my laptop.
>
>There's something wrong with your description. The WGT634U has two
>sides, the WAN (wide area network also known as the internet) and the
>LAN (local area network). To connect to the internet via the cable
>modem, the WGT634U DHCP client gets an IP address from the cable ISP.
>You need that to surf the web, but NOT to talk to the WGT634U for
>configuration. Failure at the WAN side has no effect on the LAN side
>of the WGT634U. If working normally, you could unplug the cable modem
>and still be able to configure the WGT634.
>
>On the LAN side, the WGT634U acts as a DHCP server (not client) which
>assigns IP addresses to your XP Pro client machine. You need that to
>talk to the WGT634. I think that's what you mean is failing. You can
>check if it's working by running:
> Start -> Run -> cmd <enter>
> IPCONFIG
>If the IP address of your XP Pro machine is 192.168.0.xxx, then it's
>working. Just point your web browser to the IP address of the
>"gateway" and you should see the Netgear setup screen. If it says
>169.254.xxx.xxx, then the DHCP server didn't deliver an IP address to
>your XP Pro client and something is amis. If it says 0.0.0.0, wait
>about 30 seconds and try again. It's busy.
>
>You might wanna try just plugging the XP Pro box directly into the
>WGT634U with a CAT5 cable and see if it works. That will temporarily
>eliminate the wireless from the puzzle. If that works, then there's
>something wrong with the wireless configuration. The traditional
>problem is a mismatched WEP or WPA key. Try it with encryption turned
>off.

Thanks Jeff. I just found your post. The problem has been fixed with a
new firmware upgrade. Musta been summat to do with a recent WINXP or
ZONEALARM upgrade that did for it last week. However...

What a bother upgrading the firmware. After an hour on the phone to
India, Netgear guy finally speaks to someone in charge who tells him
that the WGT634U router firmware MUST be upgraded sequentially. In
other words you can't go from, say, 1.4.1.5 STRAIGHT TO 1.4.1.10. You
have to do all the ones in between the two extremes. As it was I got
away with FIRST upgrading to the one immediately BEFORE the latest one
and it all worked OK.

Much obliged for your input, which I have filed away for future
reference.

K