Re: Router install problem

<old portion of thread snipped>

Well, Lem, I haven't earned those caipirinhas yet but I am trying.
I went into the D-Link configuration wizard and made what I considered
to be appropriate changes to get an internet connection. However, when
I clicked to save changes and restart the DI524, it went into a stall
(up to 30 minutes). So, it just wasn't happy about something.
Incidentally, before I give in detail what I did in the wizard, I will
mention that on the tab marked DHCP in this DI524 "site", it actually
specifies the DHCP server as being enabled.
I don't know if this signifies that this DHCP server is malfunctioning
as you suggested as a possibility.
Nevertheless, I set it to Disabled before proceeding.
I then returned to the Internet Connection Wizard and set the
following:
WAN IP 192.168.0.5 (was 192.168.0.1)
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0 (was the same)
Def. Gateway 192.168.0.1

It then asked for the DNS server addresses from the ISP. I actually
called the ISP twice to confirm these numbers but after being put on
hold for lengthy periods on each occassion, I gave up on this.

Firts I used these DNS addresses which come up when I run "ipconfig/
all" on the desktop:
200.165.132.147
200.165.132.154

It then asks for some security information and then I click to save
and restart the DI524. However, this is where it stalls.

I tried again with only one DNS server address (192.168.0.1 which just
doesn't sound right but that what I get when I run "ipconfig/all" on
the laptop.
However, the result is the same....an interminable stall.

Note that it had been my intention to set the DI524 IP address to
192.168.0.5 (with a static IP of 192.168.0.2 on the laptop) which is
why I set the WAN IP to 192.168.0.5. However, I fear this is my
inexperience coming through and the WAN is something else.
After I couldn't get the configuration to proceed, I click the LAN tab
in the DI524 configuration site. Here I was surprised to find that the
DI524 IP was still set at 192.168.0.1.
So, I changed it to 192.168.0.5
Then I opened another tab and subsequently went back to the LAN tab
and was surprised to find that the DI524 IP was back at 192.168.0.1

So, I'm puzzled and would appreciate any pointers.
Thanks
Paul


--
Lem MS MVP -- Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer



Paul,

I've been toying with the idea of emigrating to Brazil. Maybe I should just come down and start a computer repair business in São Paulo. Can I get by without any Portuguese?

A router is an interface between two networks that otherwise couldn't communicate directly. In your case, that's the Internet (the Wide Area Network or WAN) and your local area network (LAN). Usually, the WAN side of the router is configured to talk to the Internet via a cable or DSL modem which is connected to the router's WAN/Internet port and the LAN side of the router (the 4 LAN ports and the wifi radio) is configured to talk to the local computers. The router provides Network Address Translation (NAT) to translate addresses between those on the Internet and those on your LAN.

In your setup, I couldn't understand how to get the router to talk to your SpeedStream modem, so I've disregarded that portion of the router (the NAT function is provided by Windows ICS). However, when you used the DI-524 "Internet Connection Wizard" you were configuring the WAN-facing side of the router. I don't know why the router should have "stalled" for 30 minutes, but none of the settings you made in the "Internet Connection Wizard" are relevant to the way I was trying to setup your system. Put another way, all of those settings have to do with the DI-524's WAN/Internet port, which should not be connected to anything.

I don't have a DI-524, so I don't know what its "Wizard" screens look like, but for now, you needn't worry about settings you made there for the reasons explained above. I've downloaded the manual, and based on that, here's all that you need to do:

After you login to the DI524 configuration screens, you should see a screen with 5 tabs across the top (Home, Advanced, Tools, Status, Help) and 5 buttons on the left (Wizard, Wireless, WAN, LAN, DHCP).

Configure the DHCP server (which you seem to have already done, but for completness):
Click the DHCP button. On the Home tab, click the radio button for "Disabled" and click "Apply."

Configure the LAN-facing IP of the DI-524 (this is what you wanted to set to 192.168.0.5):
Click the LAN button. On the Home tab, set the IP address to 192.168.0.5 and the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0 (leave "Local Domain Name" blank) and click the "Apply" button.

Note 1: If you don't click the "Apply" button on any of these screens, any changes you make on the screen are discarded when you switch to another screen.

Note 2: As soon as you click "Apply" after changing the IP address, you probably will be disconnected. That's because you were talking to the router at 192.168.0.1, and it's not at that address any more. Just re-login to the router, this time using 192.168.0.5 in your browser.

Before you quit the DI-524 configuration screens, you can check that settings indeed have been applied by clicking on the "Status" tab and "Device Info" button. The parts of this page that you are interested in are the LAN and Wireless sections. The info in the WAN section is not relevant because your WAN port is not connected. Note that the "DHCP Release" and "DHCP Renew" buttons in the WAN section refer to the DHCP server *at your ISP* and NOT to the DHCP server that is internal to your DI-524.

Once you are working with the cable between the laptop and the DI524, here's what to do with the wifi:

Login to the router at 192.168.0.5

Click the Wireless button. On the Home tab, set the SSID to something unique, but not your last name or address. You can leave the channel at its default (6), or if you experience interference from nearby wifi networks, try setting it to 11 or 1 (due to overlap, there really are only 3 distinct channels, even though it looks like 11). Setup the encryption.

The downloadable manual only shows WEP encryption, but I assume that more recent versions of the DI-524 should be capable of better encryption. In order from worst to best: none, WEP 64, WEP 128, WPA, WPA2. In picking a level of encryption, you are limited by both the router and the laptop. If your laptop is relatively new, and fully up-to-date with Windows XP sp2 and subsequent Microsoft updates, you should have at least WPA, if not WPA2. A WPA "passphrase" can be up to 63 characters long. Pick one that is at least 8 characters, not a dictionary word, uses both letters and numbers, but is easy to remember. Many experts recommend using at least a 20 to 25 character phrase, but this may be overkill. There are also many WPA/WEP key generators on the Internet; Google for "wpa key generator".

One other thing: you probably should change the password used to access the DI-524. This is done from the "Tools" tab, "Admin" button. Remember to click the "Apply" button, and write down the password somewhere safe. You can also set the router's time from the "Tools" tab "Time" button. Other than compulsiveness, the only reason to do this is if you set up some of the router's features to limit Internet access at specified times.

--
Lem -- MS-MVP - Networking

To the moon and back with 64 Kbits of RAM and 512 Kbits of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
.