Wireless Laptop help needed please!

boosas

Hi,

Pls can someone help! I've looked through all the existing posts but still cannot connect my laptop wirelessly to my connection! :mad:

I set up my wireless connection last night and managed to get it working fine on the PC and link it up the laptop. I noticed it wasn't secured so I searched on this site and found lots of help to secure the connection but now my laptop refuses to connect to the wireless connection!

This is what I did:

Enabled WPA for security
Set up Wireless MAC Authentication and inputted my laptops physical address
Disabled the SSID broadcast

The wireless connection now shows as secure but every time I try to connect to it it times out. It states "Security enabled wireless network (WPA). This network requires a network key". When I click on the properties its states the Network Authentication as WPA and Data encryption as TKIP but the Network Key is greyed out? I even did a system restore but no use...

PLEASE HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP IM GOING CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! :wall:

Timmy

I'm no expert on this sort of thing so I hope I don't confuse you more. I set up the same sort of thing 2 days ago and this is what I had to do.

On the router set up I enabled WPA and it then asked me to put in a passcode of my choice. I then went into control panel/ wireless network set up wizard which gives you the option to put in the same passcode. That was it and it all worked fine.

Does this sound anything like what you've done?

boosas

Hi Timmy,

Thanks for replying I really appreciate it. I have gone back into the config control panel and checked whether there is a "passcode" field (after WPA settings) which unfortunately there isn't?! There is a field called "Group Key Interval" and it's set at 802.1x with the server IP and Port address detailed... I have changed the Group Key Interval to a password anyway to see if it would work and no joy......

I think I'm going to throw this brand new laptop out of the window soon....

Any other ideas please? Anyone?

:embarasse

Chriswil

Best thing to do is to return it to how it was and then start again. I would only diable the SSID broadcast when you have everything else working properly.

Also I wouldn't worry too much about setting up the MAC authentication - as you did, did you exclude the dashes between the address, ie E0-49-A6... although they are displayed, they are not actually included in your MAC address.

What type are your router and laptop cards? If you let me know, i'll track down a guide for you.

HTH

Chris

espresso

boosas wrote:

Hi Timmy,

Thanks for replying I really appreciate it. I have gone back into the config control panel and checked whether there is a "passcode" field (after WPA settings) which unfortunately there isn't?! There is a field called "Group Key Interval" and it's set at 802.1x with the server IP and Port address detailed... I have changed the Group Key Interval to a password anyway to see if it would work and no joy......

I think I'm going to throw this brand new laptop out of the window soon....

Any other ideas please? Anyone?

:embarasse

First you should go here and get yourself a good long random hex password.

Cut and paste this into a notepad file.

You need to select WPA-PSK and then cut and paste your saved password into the passphrase field in the router and then into any other PC that you want to be able to access your network.

:rolleyes:

boosas

Chriswil wrote:

Best thing to do is to return it to how it was and then start again. I would only diable the SSID broadcast when you have everything else working properly.

Also I wouldn't worry too much about setting up the MAC authentication - as you did, did you exclude the dashes between the address, ie E0-49-A6... although they are displayed, they are not actually included in your MAC address.

What type are your router and laptop cards? If you let me know, i'll track down a guide for you.

HTH

Chris

ohmy I set it back to default settings and it completely messed up my broadband connection! I can't even connect back onto my broadband connection through the desktop PC let alone the laptop.... have just plugged back in my old router for now....

Thanks for all the comments, I am going to take a break before I hulk out and try again later tonight....

... and I thought it was only going to take me 10 minutes... its take me a whole day so far!! wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Thanks

espresso

I does only take ten minutes when you know what you are doing!

wiraone

It will be helpful if we know the make and model of your router.

boosas

Since I've set it back to Default Settings within the config panel I am no longer able to access my broadband connection on my new wireless router. I've uninstalled it and installed it and it just refuses to accept the broadband login anymore... have also tried clearing my cache and cookies but no joy!

I had it working before but just couldnt get my laptop to connect to it, now unfortunately I can't get it connected at all...

Would I need to flush my DNS? Has anyone else had this problem?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I am getting more and more frustrated!

:sad:

boosas

wiraone wrote:

It will be helpful if we know the make and model of your router.

Sorry it's a ACTIONTEC 54 MBPS WIRELESS DSL GATEWAY MODEL GT701-WG. Not sure if they even do this model anymore coz I couldn't find it on the Actiontec site and when I click to upgrade firmware on the config panel it says page cannot be displayed...

wiraone

1. First thing first, may be this site will be useful for you:

http://www.qwest.com/internethelp/modems/gt701-wg/index.html

2. Are you trying to use your wireless connection to access the configuration page? If yes, by restoring to default setting, the wireless connection is turned off by default. Use wired connection instead. The URL to access the configuration page is:
http://192.168.0.1

3. If you couldn't access the configuration page using wired connection, turn off the router, turn off your PC .. restart router and restart PC. Try access the configuration page again. If else fails, press the reset button for 15 seconds and this will reset to factory default, and try going to configuration page again.

4. If you've access to configuration page, just configure the ADSL part first. When successfully connected, try enable the wireless w/o security.

5. If you've successful with no.4, enable wireless using WPA .. do not enable MAC filtering nor hide the SSID.. they're not the best way to protect your network. Use WPA-PSK with long phassphrase (a mix of number & alphanumeric is preferable). Here is the way to enable WPA-PSK:

   1.  On a computer connected to the Modem, open a Web browser and enter http://192.168.0.1 in the Address text box.
   2. When the Main Menu screen appears, select Setup/Configuration.
   3. When the Set Up/Configuration screen appears, select Advanced Setup.
   4. In the next screen, click Begin Advanced Setup.
   5. When the Configuring the Advanced Settings screen appears, select Wireless Settings.
   6. In the Wireless Settings screen activate On (next to Wireless), and enter the ESSID and Channel values in the appropriate text boxes.
   7. At the bottom of the screen, activate WPA (next to Security).
   8. The Wireless WPA Settings screen appears. There are two levels of WPA. Actiontec recommends that you use PSK (Pre-Shared Key). The Group Key Interval, Server IP Address, Port, and Secret text boxes, along with the 802.1x radio button, are enterprise network specific, and should only be accessed by experienced information systems professional. 

To set up a PSK (Pre-Shared Key):

   1. Click in the circle next to PSK String.
   2. Then enter at least eight alphanumeric characters in the text box.

      Note: All wireless-enabled devices must support WPA and know the PSK to join the network.
   3. When finished, click Save and Restart. 

Last but not least, good luck .. hopefully you can revive back your router.