Laptop & Desktop

I'm trying to create a semi-wireless set up at home. I'm trying to have my laptop connect to the web wirelessly and my desktop wired. I can't get it to work though. What am I doing wrong? My router is connected to the cable modem and the desktop is connected to the router but the installation software says it can't find the router. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

unplug power to both router and modem for 10s and try again. make sure all wires are in place.

 

Didn't work.

 

See if the direct connection works. Maybe your internets down. If not, turn off power to both router and modem for 10 secs like i said. ALso try pressing the "reset" button on the router for 10secs. You usually have to use something sharp like a pencil or something. then replug the modem and router and see what happens.

 

wait what...........your connected to the cable modem, whats sending a signal to the router?

sorry I read that wrong

what model laptop do you have.....and what model router

 

did it work out?

 

The internet's not down, I have my desktop connected to it now. Still can't get the router working. I've tried resetting, unplugging, disconnecting and reconnecting wires; nothing seems to be working.

"what model laptop do you have.....and what model router"
I have an Asus s96s and the router is a Buffalo Wireless G. I'm using Comcast cable as my internet connection and I think the modem is a Motorola.

 

Just want to clarify a couple more things. When the desktop is connected by ethernet to the router can you get on the internet? Have you tried connecting to the router without using the install software? To do you should uninstall whatever tried to install from the setup software, then reboot everything again. Once your desktop and router is back up and running open up a web browser and type 192,168.11.1 in the address bar (I think that is the default address for Buffalo products, but if that doesn't work you might also want to try 192.168.1.1 and 192.168.0.1). If you are connected to the router a login window should pop-up (the username and password will be with the materials that came with the router). Let us know how this goes and then we can work on next steps.

-Dylan

 

Dylan, I tried what you suggested and it still didn't work. It just dawned on me that my desktop is connected to the cable modem via USB. Is it possible that I have to have the router connected via USB as well?

Thanks!

 

Type in ipconfig, then ping the default gateway and the loopback ip 127.0.0.1.Also try resetting the router to factory setting by holding the reset button for 10 to 30 seconds.Also you can try resetting it from the routers home page. Just type in the default gateway address in the browser.

 

Forgive me if this is really basic, but you are not trying to hook up the router to your desktop and still have the cable modem going to your desktop are you?

The standard setup should be cable from wall --> cable modem --> ethernet to router--> ethernet to desktop computer. And then after that gets set up wireless to the laptop, but concentrate on getting the wired connection working first because that should be easier, once that is working we can figure out what is going on with the wireless.

You shouldn't have to connect your modem to the router via USB, many routers offer both options, but I've only used an ethernet connection.

What OS are you using on the desktop and how old is the computer?

 

The standard setup that you have listed is how I have it setup. The cable guy set it up with the USB which I thought was weird. (I wasn't there when it happened so I don't know why he did it that way). The desktop (& laptop) are running XP and the desktop is probably 3-4 years old.

 

I'm kind of at a loss, you can try to download new drivers for your desktop network card. You might also want to try hard wiring your laptop to the router to see if you can connect to the router that way.

Out of curiosity, if you open up the command prompt and type in "ipconfig" what does it say?

 

The command prompt closes as soon as it opens so I can't read it. I tried connecting my laptop to the cable modem via ethernet and it won't connect, could it be something with the way the cable company set it up?

 

Look in Device Manger and see if there is an X going through your network adapters,and if they're enabled.

 

"Look in Device Manger and see if there is an X going through your network adapters,and if they're enabled."

There's no X and they're enabled.

 

You have to open a command prompt by typing cmd first, and then type ipconfig from there. Could you show us the results here? I'm assuming this is from your desktop that has a successful internet connection.

I'm a little bit confused though as to what the problem really is. Your desktop works, and it's connected to the router with an ethernet cable. It is not connected to the modem directly with a USB cable, correct? And it's the laptop that isn't connecting wirelessly. Does your laptop connect to other wireless routers successfully?

 

This is from the ipconfig...
Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>ipconfig

Windows IP Configuration


Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection 2:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.ma.comcast.net.
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 76.19.182.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.254.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 76.19.182.1

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>

The desktop is connected to the cable modem via USB, not ethernet. I followed the instructions that came with the router to connect it to my desktop & cable modem (via ethernet) but it won't connect. I haven't tried any other wireless routers yet.

 

Hmm, ok. If you connect your desktop to the router, does your computer register that your network card is connected but you still don't get internet access? If that is the case, it may be that your cable modem isn't connected to the router correctly. There may be a port labled WAN on the back of your wireless router, if it's there then try connecting the modem to that using an ethernet cable. If it's not there, then I don't believe that it should matter which port you connect the modem to, not with any modern router.

If your desktop can connect to the router but not to the internet, please run ipconfig again and show the results, just the connection-specific line and the 3 lines with numbers are necessary.

If your computer doesn't register a network connection, then there's something wrong with the NIC, or the router, or possibly even the ethernet cable. It's hard to diagnose some of these problems without components that you know work.

 

If he has a cable modem...doesn't he need the MAC address of the router to be the same as the computer directly connected to it previously? That's what I had to do.

 

That's possible, I didn't think of that. If he can connect to the router from his desktop, do an ipconfig, then we'll find out what ip he should enter in a browser to find the router setup utility. It'll be the default gateway from the ipconfig output. Hopefully we can figure out what's going on from there, and also in there should be a "clone MAC address" option.

 

Sorry, I've been away for a couple of days. I'm thinking this is an ethernet issue. I tried connecting my cable modem to the desktop via ethernet and couldn't establish a connection. When I connected them with the USB again, I was able to establish a connection. Is there a way to make my desktop & cable modem connect through an ethernet connection? I think that'll solve the problem.

 

What we need to do first is determine whether or not you have an issue with connecting to a network through ethernet or if you have an issue connecting to the internet through ethernet. Please try all of the steps I described earlier, and also look into cloning the MAC address on your wireless router.

 

why would the cable installer connect the modem using your USB port? This requires driver installation and configuring. A regular connection through enternet port must not have been possible. Maybe a chance that your ethernet port isnt working? IS it on board or do you have a pci card? Maybe if its on board it might be disbled in BIOS. GL

 

I've seen installers do this before. My install instructions for Comcast a couple of years ago only showed a hook-up via USB (even though the modem had an Ethernet connection that worked just fine).