Can you help me configure my Linksys router?

[Larry_OHF]

My router works just fine for me, being the hardware firewall I bought it for.
However, my brother-in-law has need of my cable internet connection for a work-related project where he can link to his work and download onto his laptop. I thought I configured the router correctly by checking or unchecking all the right options, but he could not get access and what's worse, he tried connecting the Cat5 straight to the modem and still could not get connection. I wrote that off as having to do with IP address and my ISP realizing that suddenly my PC is not the one connected. I think that if I could get the router configured correctly, all would be well.

Anyone want to brave this one? I can take screen shots of the menu fields if needed.

[Larry_OHF]

Here are the most relevant pages that I thought you might use to help.

[Ilander]

Typically, you have to familiarize yourself with both sides of the installation process, and try to correlate all the settings on both pieces of hardware (laptop/desktop and router).

My secret for getting them set up is lots of hard-resets.

[Bungleau]

Okay... Larry, you need a good geek friend nearby

First things first... when you get the chance, change your SSID from "linksys" to *anything* else. Never leave any ID field at the default setting.

For that matter, change your Linksys password from admin as well, if you haven't done so already.

And third, turn on at least WEP for wireless security. I *suspect* that your router is wide open for abuse right now, but I could be completely wrong. It's happened before

Now, for your BIL's situation...

First, is he connecting wired or wirelessly? If it's wired, you should have to make *NO* changes to the router.

Well, *one* change if you've narrowed down your DHCP client range tight enough. If that doesn't mean anything to you, then you haven't

If he's wired, then he should just be able to plug into one of the ports on the back of the router and connect in. You should see a light (solid or flashing) on the front display for the port he connects to. They're in order... if the light doesn't come on, try a different port. They have been known to go bad.

Once he's connected, go to a command prompt and enter this command:

ipconfig /all | more

Look for the line with the IP address. It will be one of two things:

1. 192.186.x.y, where x is probably 1 and y is probably 2, 3, or some other low number.
2. 169.254.x.x
3. Some other number range... post it

The first one indicates that he's connected to your router and received an IP address. That's good...

The second indicates that he's not connected. That's bad.

The third indicates that he's still connected (or thinks he's connected) someplace else. Probably.

On another approach, it could be a firewall issue. His computer may not be allowing him on the network. Check firewall logs on his machine and make sure your network is allowed.

There are some starters. Check that out and come on back

[Larry_OHF]

Bungleau, Thank you for the help! Your suggestions got my router set up correctly and I was able to get my father-in-law on during a test run tonight. There was one problem. He typed in the WEP passcode when prompted and it did not take. I had it set to 128 bit encrypt and the passcode was six digits long. When I disabled the WEP, he was able to gain access, but of course it was on an unsecured link. This was all done wirelessly, since we wanted that one to work moreso than the wired connection.

Any more suggestions to make it even better? (I have since re-enabled the WEP and changed the passcode to something else, longer than 6 digits).

[Bungleau]

Glad to hear it, Larry. It almost always comes back to the basics...

As for the WEP key, you definitely want to put it on. If it was only six characters, I don't think it was 128-bit WEP. Doing a quick check...

64 bit wep algorithm uses 40 bits long wep key, this is either 5 ascii characters or 10 hex digits long. 128 bit wep algorithmn uses 104 bits long wep key, this is either 13 ascii characters or 26 hex digits long.

Five or six characters... meh. If you were using 128-bit, it would be 26 characters and a real pain to type I think your problem is that your FIL was using 64-bit WEP while the router was using 128... or vice-versa.

On my Linksys, I use a passphrase which gets converted into a WEP key. Some clients can use a passphrase, while others can't. For the others, you need to enter the hex equivalent.

I do know folks who have used WEP codes like 1111111122222222... easy to type (and hopefully remember), but not (necessarily) easy to guess.

[Larry_OHF]

Okay, tonight was the run, and although my FIL's laptop picked up the transmission, my BIL's had to be connected with the CAT5. I was wondering, somebody told me at work that I could not run VPN and WEP at the same time, and my VPN is enabled, as well as the WEP (which I have not taken the time to configure a new key like you suggested above....)


IPSec Passthrough: Enabled
PPTP Passthrough: Enabled
L2TP Passthrough: Enabled

So do I disable these and keep my WEP and come up with a 26-letter passcode?

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

For that matter, change your Linksys password from admin as well, if you haven't done so already.

Can someone clarify this part Bumbleau for me? I have a wired router. Should I be doing something like this, or does it not apply?

[Bungleau]

That's a new one, Virile...

If your router is just wired, and not wireless, you don't need to do any special security setup. Someone has to physically connect to it, and by that point... well, it's already too late

As for yours, Larry, whoever said you can't do WEP with VPN may be dealing with a very specific and unique situation. I do it all the time, and I don't do any special setups for it. And AFAICT, I have the same router that you do.

Later tonight, when I reboot my wireless router ('cause it needs it ), I'll take a look at my settings and let you know what needs to be where.

How do you define "doesn't get the signal"? There are several places it can get interrupted. For your BIL's laptop, you need to...

1. From the DOS prompt, post the results of ipconfig /all. Make sure you get just the WLAN connection; there may be more than one in there.
2. From the DOS prompt, have him try to ping the router. Command is:
   
   ping 192.168.1.1
   
   or whatever the address is. Tell me whether it succeeds or fails.
3. Ermmm... there are more things, but my stream of thought is diverting. More later...
   

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

What are the acronyms: BIL & FIL & WEP?

I'm sure VPN is "voice over internet protocol"? I'm fortunate to work from, so I use that everyday.