smcwbr14-G installation

I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC and then
use it as an additional wired access point but I can no longer find its
installation CD. I went to their website to see if I could download it but
all I could find to download is the manual.

Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?

I reset it pressing on the reset button.
When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to http://192.168.2.1/
(from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot connect.

Anything else I can do?

Thanks

Jeff

Hi
You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one of the
LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work as an
Access Point.
The principle is described here.
Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

"(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC and then
> use it as an additional wired access point but I can no longer find its
> installation CD. I went to their website to see if I could download it
> but
> all I could find to download is the manual.
>
> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>
> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
> http://192.168.2.1/
> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
> connect.
>
> Anything else I can do?
>
> Thanks
>
> Jeff
>
>
>

Thank you Jack, I discovered my cabling error. However I am now in deep
trouble and I really need your help. (You do not live in northern Virginia
by chance, do you?)

As a "trial run" to avoid damaging anything, I used my laptop "A" which was
connected wirelessly as usual to my home wireless network.

I connected the SMC router (that I want to use later as an access point)
using a cable from one of its LAN ports to my laptop's ethernet port and got
to the login screen, logged in etc. I entered what I believed should be the
correct settings in that SMC router that I want to later use as a wired
access point. One time in the setup screens I accidentally used the same
SSID which may be what caused the problem though I later changed it to
something else. This was all in the SMC setup screen.

I then disconnected from this SMC router to do some other "real" work and
discovered to my horror the following:

This laptop "A" now can no longer connects to the internet via the LAN! The
network SSID shows up as usual when I view available networks and connects
as usual but no internet and whenever I try to access the internet (browser
etc) a popup appears trying to connect via an ancient dialup conection I
have not used for years. Also, the wireless connection is dropped constantly
and becomes disconnected even though I am not far from the router.

My other laptop (not used as part of this experiment) still connects fine to
the internet via the wlan. So I messed something up on this laptop and do
no know how to fix it.

Finding an old ethernet cable I can connect this troubled Laptop "A" by
cable directly to the router and then I can access the internet with it -
which is how I am sending this message.

I am on XP SP3 and therefore did a restore to see if that might correct
things, but nothing changed.

A windows "repair" of the wireless connection did not help matters. Neither
did a reboot.

So I need help desperately!!

Jeff


Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
> Hi
> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
> password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work
> as an Access Point.
> The principle is described here.
> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>
> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>> and then use it as an additional wired access point but I can no
>> longer find its installation CD. I went to their website to see if
>> I could download it but
>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>
>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>
>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>> http://192.168.2.1/
>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>> connect.
>>
>> Anything else I can do?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jeff

May have just got a hint of the trouble. I got as windows error message
that said "There is an IP conflict with another system on the network".

Maybe a entered something wrong in the SMC router that is now conflicting.
Thaqt SMC router is not connected or powered. How do I resolve this
problem? Where in Windows do I change things?

Jeff

Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
> Hi
> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
> password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work
> as an Access Point.
> The principle is described here.
> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>
> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>> and then use it as an additional wired access point but I can no
>> longer find its installation CD. I went to their website to see if
>> I could download it but
>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>
>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>
>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>> http://192.168.2.1/
>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>> connect.
>>
>> Anything else I can do?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jeff

Additional info to help in resolving the problem (see below).

I did an ipconfig /all on the problem laptop :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network
Conne
ion
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-D4-22-C2-CE
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, July 26, 2008 4:57:50
PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, July 26, 2008 5:57:50
PM

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
Netw
k Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-02-AB-32-8E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Checking my ZA firewall settings I see that this laptop "used to have" an ip
of
192.168.1.102 (not 100, or 101)
(The ip for the other working laptop is
192.168.1.101)

So that is the conflict.

How do I correct things on this laptop?

Thanks.

Jeff

Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
> Hi
> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
> password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work
> as an Access Point.
> The principle is described here.
> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>
> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>> and then use it as an additional wired access point but I can no
>> longer find its installation CD. I went to their website to see if
>> I could download it but
>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>
>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>
>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>> http://192.168.2.1/
>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>> connect.
>>
>> Anything else I can do?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jeff

This is really wierd:

After rebooting the laptop I decided to check something again and repeated
the ipconfig /all and this time I get different results! Now the ethernet
adapter's ip is 0.0.0.0 !

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : ToshJSM
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG
Netwo
k Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-02-AB-32-8E
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL Network
Connec
ion
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-D4-22-C2-CE
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, July 26, 2008 5:32:59
PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, July 26, 2008 6:32:59
PM

Jeff


(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Additional info to help in resolving the problem (see below).
>
> I did an ipconfig /all on the problem laptop :
>
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 PL
> Network Conne
> ion
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-16-D4-22-C2-CE
> Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
> Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.101
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
> DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
> DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
> Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, July 26, 2008
> 4:57:50 PM
> Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Saturday, July 26, 2008
> 5:57:50 PM
>
> Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
>
> Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless
> 3945ABG Netw
> k Connection
> Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-02-AB-32-8E
> Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
> IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100
> Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
> Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :
>
> Checking my ZA firewall settings I see that this laptop "used to
> have" an ip of
> 192.168.1.102 (not 100, or 101)
> (The ip for the other working laptop is
> 192.168.1.101)
>
> So that is the conflict.
>
> How do I correct things on this laptop?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Jeff
>
> Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
>> Hi
>> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
>> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
>> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP
>> and password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to
>> work as an Access Point.
>> The principle is described here.
>> Wireless Router as an Access Point -
>> http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>>
>> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>>> and then use it as an additional wired access point but I can no
>>> longer find its installation CD. I went to their website to see if
>>> I could download it but
>>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>>
>>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>>
>>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>>> http://192.168.2.1/
>>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>>> connect.
>>>
>>> Anything else I can do?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Jeff

Ok (big sigh of relief) I got internet access back through the wlan.

But I did it because I went to network connections\properties\ and thanged
the TCPIP properties setting to
"Obtain an IP address automatically"
and
"Obtain DNS server address automatically".

*But, is it not better to set it to "use the following IP address" which is
what it was before I changed it?

Thanks for any advice.

Jeff



Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
> Hi
> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
> password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work
> as an Access Point.
> The principle is described here.
> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>
> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>> and then use it as an additional wired access point but I can no
>> longer find its installation CD. I went to their website to see if
>> I could download it but
>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>
>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>
>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>> http://192.168.2.1/
>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>> connect.
>>
>> Anything else I can do?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jeff

Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
> Hi
> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one of
> the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
> password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work as
> an Access Point.
> The principle is described here.
> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>
> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC and
>> then
>> use it as an additional wired access point but I can no longer find its
>> installation CD. I went to their website to see if I could download
>> it but
>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>
>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>
>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>> http://192.168.2.1/
>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>> connect.
>>
>> Anything else I can do?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>>
>>
>

It's not clear from your posts how you have things set up, but here's
some info that may help you figure out what's going on.

On any single local area network (LAN), no matter whether some of the
computers are connected via wire and others via wireless, all must be in
the same subnet in order to communicate properly. The subnet is
configured with a combination of the IP address and the subnet mask.
Moreover, each computer must have a unique IP address.

In most home LANs, including yours, the subnet mask is set to
255.255.255.0. What this means is that the first 3 octets of all IP
addresses on the LAN *must* be the same, while the last one can be
anything from 001 through 255 (although 255 generally is reserved for
"broadcast" messaging).

Thus, if the IP address of your router (the one that you use to access
the router's configuration utility) is 192.168.1.1, all of the other
computers on the LAN should have IP addresses between 192.168.1.2 and
192.168.1.254. The "default gateway" in this example would be
192.168.1.1 because the router *is* the gateway between the LAN and the
Internet.

In general, home routers include a DHCP server that automatically
provides IP addresses to all of the computers connected to the router
(it doesn't matter if they are connected via wire or wireless). A
router's DHCP server should be configured to allocate IP addresses in
the same subnet as the router.

You should have only one DHCP server on any given subnet. If you forgot
to disable the DHCP server of the second router, that may be the cause
of your problem. If the second DHCP server is allocating IP addresses
in a different subnet, some computers will not be able to communicate
with others, but should be able to get to the Internet. On the other
hand, if you have two DHCP servers allocating IP addresses in the same
range, that easily could result in two different computers obtaining the
same IP address. That, as you have discovered, will not work.

As far as your wireless connection is concerned, you should get to the
list of wireless networks (e.g., View Available Wireless Networks >
Change Order of Preferred Networks) and delete all of the entries. Then
go back to the View Available Wireless Networks screen, refresh it, and
then login to your wireless network. This should take care of any
lingering incorrect wireless configurations.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> Ok (big sigh of relief) I got internet access back through the wlan.
>
> But I did it because I went to network connections\properties\ and thanged
> the TCPIP properties setting to
> "Obtain an IP address automatically"
> and
> "Obtain DNS server address automatically".
>
> *But, is it not better to set it to "use the following IP address" which is
> what it was before I changed it?
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
> Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
>> Hi
>> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
>> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
>> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP and
>> password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to work
>> as an Access Point.
>> The principle is described here.
>> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
>> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>>
>> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>>> and then use it as an additional wired access point but I can no
>>> longer find its installation CD. I went to their website to see if
>>> I could download it but
>>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>>
>>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>>
>>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>>> http://192.168.2.1/
>>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>>> connect.
>>>
>>> Anything else I can do?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Jeff
>
>

You can use either "Obtain an IP address automatically" or set it
yourself manually (this often is called using a static IP). Some folks
suggest using static IP addresses (particularly for things like network
printers) so that there's never any question about "where they are".

But if you set a static IP, you have to know what you're doing. See my
other post for some relevant detail.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm

Lem wrote:
> Jack (MVP-Networking). wrote:
>> Hi
>> You do not need any CD. Connect a computer via network cable to one
>> of the LAN ports (Not the Internet side).
>> Use your browser to log to the Router's menu (using its default IP
>> and password as describe in the manual) and configure the Router to
>> work as an Access Point.
>> The principle is described here.
>> Wireless Router as an Access Point - http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html
>> Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)
>>
>> "(E-Mail Removed)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>>> I have an old smcwbr14-G router that I want to install on an XP PC
>>> and then
>>> use it as an additional wired access point but I can no longer find
>>> its installation CD. I went to their website to see if I could
>>> download it but
>>> all I could find to download is the manual.
>>>
>>> Is it possible to install a router without its setup CD?
>>>
>>> I reset it pressing on the reset button.
>>> When I connect it (Ethernet cable) with my PC and go to
>>> http://192.168.2.1/
>>> (from the manual I downloaded) all I get is that the browser cannot
>>> connect.
>>>
>>> Anything else I can do?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
> It's not clear from your posts how you have things set up, but here's
> some info that may help you figure out what's going on.
>
> On any single local area network (LAN), no matter whether some of the
> computers are connected via wire and others via wireless, all must be
> in the same subnet in order to communicate properly. The subnet is
> configured with a combination of the IP address and the subnet mask.
> Moreover, each computer must have a unique IP address.
>
> In most home LANs, including yours, the subnet mask is set to
> 255.255.255.0. What this means is that the first 3 octets of all IP
> addresses on the LAN *must* be the same, while the last one can be
> anything from 001 through 255 (although 255 generally is reserved for
> "broadcast" messaging).
>
> Thus, if the IP address of your router (the one that you use to access
> the router's configuration utility) is 192.168.1.1, all of the other
> computers on the LAN should have IP addresses between 192.168.1.2 and
> 192.168.1.254. The "default gateway" in this example would be
> 192.168.1.1 because the router *is* the gateway between the LAN and
> the Internet.
>
> In general, home routers include a DHCP server that automatically
> provides IP addresses to all of the computers connected to the router
> (it doesn't matter if they are connected via wire or wireless). A
> router's DHCP server should be configured to allocate IP addresses in
> the same subnet as the router.
>
> You should have only one DHCP server on any given subnet. If you
> forgot to disable the DHCP server of the second router, that may be
> the cause of your problem. If the second DHCP server is allocating
> IP addresses in a different subnet, some computers will not be able
> to communicate with others, but should be able to get to the
> Internet. On the other hand, if you have two DHCP servers allocating
> IP addresses in the same range, that easily could result in two
> different computers obtaining the same IP address. That, as you have
> discovered, will not work.
> As far as your wireless connection is concerned, you should get to the
> list of wireless networks (e.g., View Available Wireless Networks >
> Change Order of Preferred Networks) and delete all of the entries. Then go
> back to the View Available Wireless Networks screen, refresh
> it, and then login to your wireless network. This should take care
> of any lingering incorrect wireless configurations.

Thank you very much. As you probably guessed from my panicked emails losing
internet access was quite stressful for me. So, now that it is working I'm
going to leave things alone for a while - at least until tomorrow ;-)

I have the main router setup to only accept access from certain MACs. Does
this influence whether I would be better allowing the network to
automatically set IPs or assigning them myself. I think I recall reading
that assigning the IPs (or the defrault IP?) myself results in more rapid
connections.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer in such detail.

I do not know how people managed before the internet ........

Jeff