Setting up virgin broadband

abbas5001

Hi guys

Been trying to set up Virgin broadband today eeek! It has not gone so well!

Basically, i set up the cable modem they sent me downstairs with the wall socket, with one coaxial cable going to the set top box and the other to the cable modem, via a splitter. I then phoned them up to activate the cable modem as per the instructions.

After this i followed the instructions to set up wireless networking, I've connected the wireless router and cable modem together via the Ethernet cable and they are pretty much sitting side-by-side. The USB adapter has also been installed on my PC

Once this was done i used the wireless set-up CD they sent me to try and set the network up. Went through all the stages and then when trying to register/finalise the wireless network with its name and password etc. it couldn't quite complete it and i got the message to check everything and try and move the router closer to the PC.

Eventually i went to view which networks were available in Windows (i'm using Vista) and seen one called virgin media so i connected to that and it connected. Tried it again and this time the wireless network was created. After that it asks whether you are a new or existing broadband customer, if new you have to register the account. So i click it but i get an error message saying that although the wireless network is created it can't connect to the Internet .

I'm sure the problem is signal strength, it is 'Low' but i can't really do much to make it stronger since my cable wall connection is downstairs and my PC is upstairs.

I've tried restarting the PC and turning off the various appliances for 30 seconds etc but nothing has worked so far.

I'm going to call VM tomorrow but thought if anyone has any tips then I'd be very grateful

Cheers

flashy

hello.

i dont think your issue relates to your wireless reception here, as you got past that by being prompted about wch customer you are.

I would to start with, connect your PC directrly using the big long ethernet cable they provided, and try to connect to the internet without wireless to eliminate that portion of the network.

If you havent registered, it will take you to a registration page, where you will enter your name, account number and unique pin code supplied on a letter to you seperatly from your modem delivery.

If that works, and you have internet access, then power off the cable modem, \do as you did above again and give it a go via wireless.

you need to remember, whenever you change the piece of connected equipment to the cable modem, (e.g. pc or wireless router using the ethernet cable on the router, you need to power off the cable modem, it remembers what you used previously)

I hope this is enough to get you started.

Regards

TechTerry

Does Virgin Media not setup their hardware anymore? When i had it installed they sent a guy over to wire it all up and make sure it was all working.

flashy

well you usually get asked, if not, you get a quickstart box to do it yourself

abbas5001

Hi flashy, you were right.

I took out the router and connected the cable modem to the wall socket via the co-axial cable and then used the ethernet cable to connect my PC to the cable modem. Tried going online but when i try activation.virginmedia.com i just get the "Internet Explorer could not display this webpage". Funnily enough, when i check networks it does say i am connected to a local network called Network 3 which is a bit odd.

Called Virgin, who put me through to like 3 different departments because each said it wasn't something to do with them and was then on hold so got annoyed of waiting and will call later.

Any further help would be appreciated.

exup

TechTerry wrote: »

Does Virgin Media not setup their hardware anymore? When i had it installed they sent a guy over to wire it all up and make sure it was all working.

I'm not sure - All I got was the installation - he made sure the lights on the modem were working ok - then left me the CD drivers and the instructions and that was it.

abbas : I think that vista should have the drivers on it to be able to connect via your modem anyway - maybe not the wireless router but as you have the driver disk with it anyway.

What sort of router is it by the way?

(just an aside - if you have connected to your router - whether wirelessly or wired then as far as your PC thinks - it is now connected to a network. even thought it is really your home local area network this won't matter to your PC.
If your router then cannot connect to virgin via your modem - this is another problem.
you may have ports available in the back of your router to connect ethernet cables - so I would use cables to everything first before trying to use the wireless network - just a bit easier to set up your modem.)

flashy

hi mate.

next thing to check, go to the properties of your local area network connection (in control panel) and check to see if your ethernet connection has an ip addresses assigned from virgin, e.g. 217.x.x.x if youy have, thats good news. If you havent, let me know what it says.

Then you will know if the modem is connecting to the virgin network or not.

Cheers

abbas5001

OK guys got another problem, last night my brother took our the ethernet cable from the PC and connected it to the PS3 in the desperate attempt it would work there and he could play some online games. I tried explaining to him it wouldn't work!

Now the PC isn't even recognising a LAN? I thought he might have damaged the cable by pulling it out since it can be a bit difficult to get out but the ethernet light on the cable modem is green?

exup

I wouldnt try to get online with any consoles until you have the connection working fine with the PC -it is easier to diagnose problems that way - brother may have to just be a bit patient until you get it sorted.

abbas5001

exup wrote: »

I'm not sure - All I got was the installation - he made sure the lights on the modem were working ok - then left me the CD drivers and the instructions and that was it.

abbas : I think that vista should have the drivers on it to be able to connect via your modem anyway - maybe not the wireless router but as you have the driver disk with it anyway.

What sort of router is it by the way?

(just an aside - if you have connected to your router - whether wirelessly or wired then as far as your PC thinks - it is now connected to a network. even thought it is really your home local area network this won't matter to your PC.
If your router then cannot connect to virgin via your modem - this is another problem.
you may have ports available in the back of your router to connect ethernet cables - so I would use cables to everything first before trying to use the wireless network - just a bit easier to set up your modem.)

Its a netgear 54mbps wireless router. at the moment i'd be glad if i can just get it working using cables!

aliEnRIK

Plug it all in via ethernet WITHOUT the wireless router

If that doesnt work then theres a fault at virgins end