Can't connect to Internet

[katana_one]

Hi folks, got a small issue here.

My father is in the hospital for a quadruple bypass and my mother asked me to stay with her until he is released to come back home.

So I brought my desktop with me from home so that I could pass some of the idle time with DDO.

Unfortunately, I can't connect to the wireless router. My computer sees the router, but it won't let me connect. I have verified that I have the correct password.

It is a Netgear router if that helps, and my OS is Windows 7 Ultimate.

What am I missing here?

[Reverand]

I feel for you. I myself was in the hospital for 2 weeks with a family member fighting with cancer. This was a hospital outside Philadelphia.

I had issues connecting to the wireless as well. IT was involved, etc. One of the nurses told me everyone had that problem, yet it never got fixed. Anyway... Simple things to check.

1. Is you wireless enabled? (Probably yes if you can see the router signal strength)

2. Are your Drivers up to date? (Probably not the issue, but it couldn't hurt to look.)

3. Are you sure the password that gave you is correct? (ANY other people on the network at all?)

4. Compatibility? You might want to ask the nurses if there is an IT extension to call.

I don't know if any of that helps, but at least you know there are other people with issues that keep them in the hospital and other hospitals with troublesome wireless.

[katana_one]

1. Is you wireless enabled? (Probably yes if you can see the router signal strength)

I'm pretty sure it is. I can see the router signal strength.

2. Are your Drivers up to date? (Probably not the issue, but it couldn't hurt to look.)

As far as I know, yes.

3. Are you sure the password that gave you is correct? (ANY other people on the network at all?)

4. Compatibility? You might want to ask the nurses if there is an IT extension to call.

It is not the hospital network, it is the home network at my parents' house. I am using my mother's laptop over the wireless connection to check the forums, email, etc.. I just cannot connect my wireless desktop machine to said wireless connection. I looked up the password on her machine, and verified that it was the correct password, but still no luck establishing a connection.

Thanks for the reply and support.

[Dulcimerist]

I have two guesses:

- Perhaps the router is set up for Wireless N only, but your wireless card only supports Wireless G.

- Perhaps the router has MAC address filtering enabled, in which case you'd need to go into the router's settings and ensure that the MAC address of your wireless card is typed in and allowed to connect.

[katana_one]

****. I was afraid that it might be something over my head...

:P

[Dulcimerist]

Can you post the make and model of the wireless router?

Can you post the make and model of your computer's wireless card?

I might be able to walk you through it.

If all else fails, get a long LAN cable and connect the ethernet port of your computer to the ethernet port of the wireless router.

[katana_one]

Busy busy. But at least the surgery is over and my dad is in recover now.

Anyway.

Router is a Netgear WNDR3300 RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router.

I don't know where to look for info on my system's wireless card without opening the case.

[Dulcimerist]

To find out your computer's wireless card, right click on "My Computer" and click "Properties." Click "Device Manager" and then you can look for your network adapters. The wireless card will be listed in there.

That Wireless-N router could very well be set to accept Wireless-N devices only, which was one of my guesses. Another possibility is that it's set for 5GHz signals only, and your wireless card has a 2.4GHz signal. The MAC address filtering is still a slight possibility. Are you able to access the administration menu of the router through your mother's computer?

I'm glad your dad got through the surgery, and is recovering! Please wish him well for me!

[katana_one]

Under 'Network Adapters' is the following:

Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter
Microsoft Virtual WiFi Miniport Adapter
SiS190 100/10 Ethernet Device

As for the router's admin menu, I have access to some options via routerlogin.com.

I don't have a spare Ethernet cable with me.

Thanks for the assist, and thanks for the well wishes for my father - he's still under heavy sedation, and in intensive care because he's having trouble breathing on his own, and was running a high fever earlier.

[Dulcimerist]

Broadcom 802.11g Network Adapter is your wireless card. It does Wireless-G at 2.4GHz.
My guess is that the router is set up to operate at Wireless-N at 5.0GHz only, which is why you can't connect.

There is a firmware upgrade to that router, which could solve some connectivity problems:
http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12689

For full access to the router's administration, connect to the internet and open a browser on your mom's computer to the URL listed in step 3 on that page.

In the administration options for the router, you'll need to make sure it's set to do the following:
- Wireless Mode - 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g/n mixed mode (Dual band should allow you to keep 5.0GHz enabled as well.)
- Operating Mode - mixed mode
- In security settings, see if Wireless MAC Filtering is enabled, as enabled will block your computer.

I couldn't find a users manual for the router, otherwise I could've walked you through it more thoroughly.

[katana_one]

Looks like that firmware patch is already installed, if I'm reading the version number correctly.

I don't see the options you mention.

Mode is currently: "Up to 270Mbps at 5GHz & 54Mbps at 2.4GHz"

I suspect MAC filtering may be enabled, but I can't find the option to turn it off.

It's late here, and I've had a long day. Maybe I'll have better luck tomorrow.

[My2Cents]

if this helps - Here are the setup guides for the WNDR3300

WNDR3300V1 : http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1902 (12 NOV 07)

WNDR3300V2 : http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14066 (25 MAR 2010)

I've got the WNR2000v2. I don't know if this matters, but when I first purchased it I bought the NetGear because it was about half the price of the LinkSys and the first one I bought gave me connection problems. I talked to their tech support and they advised me the model I bought was way out of date and I should get one with updated firmware, so I did.

I'm still using it as a wired router for now....so can't be much more help with wireless, but I'm sure Dulcimerist can.

[Dulcimerist]

Thanks to My2Cents for the manuals!

I looked through one, and couldn't find MAC Filtering, so I think that router doesn't even have that feature. There are some useful setup and troubleshooting hints in the manual, though.

Before you log into a wireless connection on your computer, do you see more than one wireless network that you can log into? I think this dual-band router broadcasts two separate networks you can try to connect to - the main is the 5.0GHz that your computer can't connect to, and the other is the 2.4GHz that your computer is compatible with. Try logging into different wireless networks you're able to see.

[Steven]

Ok first of all forget about the 5ghz channel your card cannot even see that SSID.

What you need to do is log into the Netgear and go the security page.

Find out what security settings are set up.

Wep, WPA, WPA2 all of these should be PSK

Second while in this page verifiy the PSK key as this is different than the passcode to log into the router.

If mac filtering is enabled it will be on this page as possibly a sub category but unless someone that really knew what they where doing set this up I doubt it is on.

3rd if all else fails change the PSK key and try that.

Final Thing is to make sure that under Wireless settings that the 2.4ghz channel is set for B/G/N and not just N only.

[katana_one]

Ok, no idea what's different today, because I changed no settings on either my machine or the router. But I am now connected. Totally confused now.

But at least I can play DDO now while I'm away from home.