We have a desktop and two laptops connected with Netgear Wireless router and SBC Yahoo DSL.

We just bought hubby a Belkin wireless card (so we can hook up a third laptop) from Wally world--the clerk said it "should" work. We've been trying all day to figure out how to and what to do. Can't find the Netgear info booklet/papers.

Can anyone tell us how to get hubby's up and running? It's an old, refurbished Dell, with Windows ME, very small 4.8 gb and 128 mb ram. Still plenty of room on it.

We already have two-wire (SBC) installed on it; we're just not sure what to do next. Can't remember how we got the other two laptops working with the wireless.

Will the Belkin card actually work with the Netgear router?

Please help! Hubby has waited months to get a wireless card and it's his birthday present today.

Thanks in advance if anyone is even available to help today.

If you secured the router to prevent other from accessing your DSL you may have to login to your router and set the premission so the new card can be seen.

Thanks, acklan. Not sure how to login to the router but will look around and see if we can figure that out. I'll most likely be back with more questions....

What is the LAN IP address for your computer. It should be..

192.168.1.xxx
or
10.1.1.xxx

Whatever your listed gateway is you should type into the IE or FF address bar.

Example:

192.168.1.1
or
10.1.1.1

Then a popup will prompt you for a password. the default password is admin.

Is the LAN IP the same thing as IP address? If so, it's just that the LAN threw me off. If not, sorry to be so dumb but how do I find out what my LAN IP is?

We started over with the Belkin card software install. Right now it is asking for the SSID; would that be the name of the mother/host/main/whatever computer?

Edited later....we got the SSID off of one of the other laptops. Now it wants the network key, but on the other laptop where we got the SSID, the network key is little black dots (like a secure password)---how do we find or know the network key?

The LAN (Local Area Network) is the network that the computers in your house/buiness have access to. If you are behind a router, which your are, the router will issue your computers a LAN IP.
The other IP address is the WAN (Wide Area Network) or internet IP address. This is the IP your ISP (Internet Service Provider) assigns you, so that your computer/LAN can be found on the internet.
The LAN IPs are not able to be seen from the internet unless you open a port to purposely allow it. That is not important right now, what is important is a router greatly increases you security.

As was once said," Why reinvent the wheel". I am going to provide you with several relevent links...

SSID

Belkin Wireless Router Configuration

I hoe this was of some help, althought it was more than you wanted.


Merry Christmas.

Thanks anyway, acklan. Can't say you didn't try.

You have wireless security configured on the Netgear router which is good. You seem to have mislayed or forgotten your network key (sort of a password) which is bad. You have two options:

1) Think back to when you set up the other two laptops, you would have had to enter the same SSID and network key into them to make them work. Did you write it down somewhere, is there something which you used as a mnemonic for the password?

2) Change the key. You need to access the router configuration menu, go to the WEP settings and enter a new key. Once you set a new key on the router you will not be able to access it from any of the wireless laptops without reconfiguring them with the new key.

If you are having difficulty accessing the Netgear router check their website for configuration settings. The Ip address could be 198.168.0.227 but it depends on your network. Unless you have changed it the login will be admin/admin or admin/password.

hth

Thanks, Rimmer.

We finally called Belkin and Netgear. Belkin's tech said we MAY have to change channels on the router, but didn't know how it was done so told us to call Netgear.

Called Netgear and she was trying to take us through START RUN CMD and then ping 192.168.1.1 which was similar sort of to one of the links acklan gave me.

The ping thing wasn't working; kept timing out (Request timed out)...she said it had to do with the ZoneAlarm firewall. Said to disable it and try again. Which we did, but it still kept saying timed out. She thought maybe I didn't disable the ZA properly.

The only thing I knew to do to disable ZA was right click on it down by the clock and then choose to shut it down--is that correct?

Well, it still didn't work. I remember seeing the other day, a "Windows firewall" (?I think?) somewhere when I was looking through some stuff on this laptop of mine but don't know how to find it again. I was thinking that maybe I'd need to temporarily disable IT too??

Windows firewall should have been disabled by ZA when it was installed. You can find the windws firewall at Start>Control Panal>Windows Firewall. Cauion, Do not run two firewall programs at one time.
Try My Network(right click)>Local Network Connection>Support. What is the IP Address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway?

Yes that's all you have to do to disable Zone Alarm temporarily.

So the Netgear router address is 192.168.1.1 is that correct?
You are trying to ping it from your own laptop, which currently has working internet access?
The pings time out?
That makes no sense if the IP address is correct.

At the command prompt (start>run>cmd) type ipconfig /all. Wherever you see "IP Address ..." write down the address and the heading that it was listed under. Post it back here.

If the address 192.168.1.1 is listed under "Gateway" or similar then open a browser window and type 192.168.1.1 in the address bar, then click the 'Go' button. What comes up?

acklan: Yes, I see that the Windows firewall is OFF. I can't yet find "My Network".


Rimmer: I'm not sure WHAT that number is...but the Netgear lady was telling me to put in that number. However, on the Belkin configuration link that acklan gave, the number is 192.168.2.1---but when I put in that number, all I get is a list of Search Results all containing that number, and yes, I'm putting it in the address bar, not the search bar.

We tried the ping thing from both the laptop (my working one) and the desktop. Yes, it keeps timing out.
When I tried your ipconfig /all I see a black box/screen for a split second then it's gone. It's not staying there long enough to see ANYthing.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Gateway" but when I put either number address (either the 1.1 or the 2.1) in the search bar, I get a list of search results for that number.....each one looks like this:

http://192.168.2.1:4444/

the 4444 is different on each result. And it gives two pages of results for each---192.168.1.1 or 192.168.2.1


Rimmer, you asked if the Netgear router address is 192.168.1.1
I don't know, but the number the Belkin link says is only that one number (2) different from the one the Netgear tech lady was telling me to put in (the one with 1.1).

?

That's because you are not opening a command window. Go to Start>run and type cmd then in the black window that opens type ipconfig /all. Sorry I did not make that clear. Follow the instructions from my previous post now you can run this command.

Are you using IE or Firefox as the browser? Whichever you use you have "search from the Address bar" enabled which is confusing things. Please find that option and disable it.

FYI - 'My Network Places' should be in the Start menu (first menu that comes up). Alternatively see 'Network Connections' under the Control Panel.

THANKS, Rimmer!

acklan: here is the info you asked for:

IP Address: 172.16.1.35
Subnet Mask: 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway: 172.16.0.1


Rimmer: I gotcha now. Okay, here it is:

Under the heading of 'Connection' it says the IP Address is 172.16.1.35

Okay, in your browser address bar type 172.16.0.1
What happens?

aha! I got a SBC page with my info on it. Info like "Network at a Glance" and has the different names of my laptops...that kind of thing...what do I need to tell you from there?

ETA: Forgot to tell you that I was using IE (IknowIknow!) and that I haven't a clue where to find how to turn off "search from address bar"--I'm looking though...

AND, I guess I should have told you a little more about what was on the page with "Network at a Glance"?

It has:

HomePortal 1000HW and under that it has
Software: 3.5.5
Password: Set
Change system password
Privacy policy
View details

Broadband Link
Connection Speed:
*Incoming: 608 kbps
*Outgoing: 384 kbps
Monitor your Internet connection
View summary

Home Network
Computers:
MAIN
and the names of my two laptops that are on the wireless router and
View the home network

Is the name of the main laptop what I need to put on the Network key? Or could it be the number/character combination that I see listed under HomePortal>View details>Key Code?

I'm just kind of lost...as if you couldn't tell already! I'm sorry to be such a PITA!

ETA: Oops, I changed my mistake. The purple is correct now.

You see a key code there?
Under "view the home network" is there a list of IP addresses which includes your 172.16.1.35?


I think we're talking to the wrong device and that's your DSL modem. Did you get that gateway IP address from your laptop or from the directly connected PC? Run that ipconfig /all command from the other wireless connected device (I think you said there was another laptop?) and also from the directly connected PC (write down the IP addresses) and post back the numbers here please.

What is the model of the Netgear Router? Was it supplied by SBC DSL as part of the package or did you install it?

But then again.....

If your DSL 'modem' is a HomePortal 1000HW as it says then it is a wireless router (so why do you have the Netgear router as well???????????????????????????) in which case it is the correct device to be looking at to change the wireless security settings.

I'll see if I can find a manual online. (You wouldn't have one would you?)

There seems to be some vagueness about model numbers on different sites, does this look like your product?:
http://www.2wire.com/?p=266 (see the userguide next to 'HomePortal')

If that is your device the manual says your wireless encryption key is on a sticker on the bottom of the DSL 'modem' underneath the serial number.

I'm sorry I left you hanging; we had an unexpected visitor.




No, sorry, not there. I edited my post above--the Key Code is under HomePortal 1000HW>View details
but I'm thinking that's not the Network Key that we need.




No.



I got that IP address from the brand NEW laptop that is already connected to the internet. When you say from your laptop or from the directly connected PC are you meaning the laptop we are wanting to get hooked up and the desktop? or the laptop that we want to hook up and the laptop that is already hooked up?

I did run the ipconfig /all from the new laptop that is already hooked up to the internet.
I'm confused on all this, as you probably are. I don't know which 2 computers you are wanting me to get the numbers from. Let me do it this way:

We have a desktop (which I'll refer to as the desktop) (which is connected to internet via the SBC DSL modem).

We have a brand new Dell laptop (which I'll refer to as "NEW" and which is connected to the internet via the Netgear router (and the SBC DSL modem, I presume))

We have a brand new Walmart laptop (I'll refer to as laptop 2 and which is already hooked up to the internet via the Netgear router (and the SBC DSL modem, I presume)).

We have the refurbished Dell laptop (that we WANT TO get hooked up to the internet via a Belkin wireless card that plugs into the laptop itself and the Netgear router).

When we're installing the wireless card software, it wants us to input the SSID and a Network Key. We got the SSID from NEW Dell but the Network Key is like a secure password, ie: little black dots instead of actual characters.

I THOUGHT the ping thing was going to show us info about our Network Key?



It wasn't supplied by SBC. We ordered it from Dell when we ordered the NEW laptop. I'm not sure what you mean by "model". Is it the name of the router as in: 54 Mbps Wireless Router WGR 614 v6
or is it a serial number or the number under the serial number called MAC: 000FB5EB779C ??



I don't knooooooowwwww why we would've needed the Netgear router if the SBC DSL modem is a router too--boy am I going to be ticked if I find out we didn't need the Netgear router at all. <---you got that right!!




The picture on the link you gave looks very similar to our SBC DSL modem. The Netgear router is slimmer and white.

Here is all the info that looks important from the bottom of the SBC DSL modem:

SN 194117033438
then a barcode and under the barcode is:
[0230015241]

Here is all the info that looks important from the bottom of the Netgear router:

Serial: 1662577404344
MAC: 000FB5EB779C
Default access: http://192.168.1.1
user: *****
password: ********
54 Mbps Wireless Router WGR614 v6

So the number in brackets is the encryption key?? [0230015241]
Is that the same thing as "Network Key"?? The Network Key seems to be what we need to proceed with the installation of the Belkin wireless card software....and as I said above, somewhere in all my confusion, "I thought the ping thing was going to take me to somewhere on my computer that was going to let me SEE what we had put in as the Network Key when we hooked up the first two laptops to the wireless."

Soooo, do you think we need to do as you said in the beginning, " 2) Change the key. You need to access the router configuration menu, go to the WEP settings and enter a new key. Once you set a new key on the router you will not be able to access it from any of the wireless laptops without reconfiguring them with the new key." Is that the goal you're trying to take me to?

I know this is probably very frustrating to you. Believe me, it is frustrating me too. There are other things I'd much rather be doing. But since hubby was kind enough to get me this new laptop, the least I can do is to get him hooked up with the old laptop. Sheesh, it is driving me insane!

Thanks for all your help; but I understand completely if you want to tell me to go take a flying leap!

Close, but not there yet.


To be frank, I'd like all of them. You should make a note of the addresses along with the PC 'names' and workgroups, and file them somewhere.


Please do an ipconfig /all on that laptop and post the IP addresses back here.

I don't think the Netgear router serves any purpose at all in this arrangement, but it's a bit hard to tell.


There is a possibility of confusion here but the short answer is YES.
The confusion arises from whether that is the key itself or the passphrase used to generate the key. If the Belkin wireless thingy works the same way as Netgear wireless devices, you have the option of entering either the key directly or the passphrase used to generate the key.
The manual for the HomePortal 1000HW says "Set the network encryption key to hexadecimal then enter the ten digit wireless encryption key found on the bottom of the Homeportal."


No. The ping thing shows you whether you are talking to another network device or just thrashing around in the ether (because if you are talking to another device you get a reply to a ping).

Is this your Netgear router? http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WGR614.php
How is it connected to your Homeportal 1000HW?

You have the SSID, from the above you should have the WEP key, now all you need to know is how to set the IP address on the refurbished Dell laptop (from the manual it looks like 'automatic' will do).

I GOT IT!!!

I know you're going to ask, so here is what I did....

The Belkin manual said that if the card doesn't perform or connection is slow when computer has built-in wired ethernet card:
This condition occurs if your computer has an active ethernet card while your wireless card is also active. This happens because windows must now handle two active network connections. You need to disable ethernet card from your computer under "Network Adapters" in the Device manager.

Sooooo.......I went to Control Panel>System>Device Manager>Network Adapters.....the ethernet card was NOT listed there.
So I went to Control Panel>Network....and the ethernet card WAS listed there under the Configuration tab. I highlighted it, clicked on Remove and then at the bottom I saw this little thing

Primary Network Logon:
Client for Microsoft Networks

the pulldown menu listed also: Windows Logon
So I changed that to "Windows Logon" and it then told me to restart computer, which I did and when it came back on, it was automatically updating the AVG so I knew it was finally on the internet because it wouldn't update when I tried it a few minutes before I did all the above.
As soon as the AVG finished updating, I clicked on the IE icon on the desktop (for the millionth time during this) and it WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sorry I made you two pull your hair out!! Thanks so much for trying to help me!!!!

OH yeah, I also found the paper where we had the Network Key written down! Rimmer, it WAS the number that was under the Serial Number on the SBC modem!!

That's good news!

So would this mean you have a Netgear router going cheap?

I don't think so, because as far as I know, we have to use BOTH the Netgear and the SBC modem. They're both hooked up! There is a cable going from the desktop into the SBC modem and another cable that goes from the SBC modem into the Netgear router.

But don't ask me......

You know that I'm clueless!!! LOL!!!

Unplug the Netgear - you won't damage or change anything - and see what happens.

Okay, just a second......

Okay, once again, I'm clueless. I unplugged the cord FROM the Netgear router that the other end of is plugged into the SBC modem. Things still seem to be working, but there are three other cords plugged into the Netgear router. So I don't know what else to unplug. I'll have to see what each one is and get back on here with the info for you.

Okay, here is the cord set-up (which, by the way, we did absolutely nothing with or to while trying to get this 3rd laptop hooked up):

There was a red ethernet cord hooked up to the Netgear router on one end and the other end got plugged into the third laptop whenever it was used. (We've now unplugged that one for good.)

There is a blue cord that goes from the SBC modem to the Netgear Router.

There is another blue cord that goes from the SBC modem to the back of the desktop's tower.

There is also the phone cord that goes from the SBC modem to the phone jack in the wall.



Then, there is a black cord that goes from the Netgear Router to the desktop's tower.

There is a power (electric) cord of course, that goes from the Netgear Router to the electric power bar.

And of course the blue cord that's going from the Netgear Router to the SBC modem, as mentioned above.

That's it. Which do you want me to try unplugging and be very specific about what end to unplug etc!! LOL!

You may want to reread that....I made an oops on the black cord....it didn't go from the NG router to the SBC modem, it GOES from NG router to the back of Desktop's tower.

REFRESH and read again! You're reading this while I'm typing the edit....

Okay - don't unplug anything which goes into the SBC modem (yet).

You had red, blue,black and power cords going to the Netgear router - you've removed the red cord so that means now you have only blue, black and power cords going to the router. Am I correct so far?

Starting from next to the power cord number (mentally) the ports on the Netgear router #1, #2, #3 etc and call the last one "Internet". What ports are the blue and black cables in?
Unplug the blue and black cords from the Netgear and check you have internet access on all your laptops and the tower. If you loose internet connection on any of them put the cords back as they were and just forget all about it.

To what port is the black cord connected on the tower? Do you have two ethernet ports in the tower?(Go to 'View network connections' and list what's there.)

Yes, you were "correct so far."

Now, I unplugged the blue and black cords FROM the NG router and all three laptops AND the desktop still have access to the internet!! I'm shocked.


Okay, our NG Router stands up instead of lays down. But, the power cord is in #4.
Numbers 3, 2, and 1 have nothing in them at all.

The black cord WAS in the port that has what looks like a (and this is the hard part to explain) C with an i connected to the top part of the C.

The blue cord WAS in the port that looks like a lollipop with sound waves out to the sides of the pop part of the lollipop.

Whatcha think?

And the black cord plugged into the back of the desktop is at the very bottom last port thingy. It is very much like a phone cord (where you have to press on the little tab thing to remove it properly) but it is much fatter.

And I can't seem to find where to go to "View Network Connections".....sawwy....

I think you should look at this page http://www.netgear.com/products/details/WGR614.php

Sorry I don't get the lollipop and Ci stuff.


If you were to turn your Netgear so you were looking at the ports as shown above, with the power connector on the left hand side and the aerial on the right then count along the ports starting with the power connection as #1 which ports were the blue and black cables in?

Looking at that picture, the power cord is in #4 (far right).

The black cord was in the one just to the left of the #1. And the blue cord was in the one just to the left of the black one.

Here is a drawing of what the two little pics on those ports look like:

View network connections is in XP - you have ME on your desktop don't you?
Can't remember what you do there - don't worry about it. Sorry.

WAIT!!! STOP!!! I was looking at the top picture--the one with the numbers. I'm SORRY!!!

Now looking at the bottom pic, I'm with you finally!!

From the bottom picture--where it just shows the ports on the back (no numbers):


yes, the power cord is on the far left there. The next three, going towards the right side, are empty.
Port #5 (from the left) has the black cord. And the last port to the right has the blue cord.

I'm sorry!! I know, you just lost another year of your life and some more hair! I'll buy you a toupe/wig!!!

yes, ME on the desktop. Yes, I'm sure. *pouting*

I don't have any clue what's going on there the only thing I recognise is the symbol you drew for the blue cable looks like the symbol for the aerial (antenna). Was the blue cable next to the aerial?

Anyhow if everything has internet access and you have all the network connections that you used to have I'm pretty confident that your Netgear router is making an excellent desk ornament and is completely irrelavent in your network.

I'd suggest you leave it with the blue and black cables disconnected for a few days and see if anyone complains about something not working. If all is well then switch it off and unplug it and unplug the other end of the blue and black cables and put them in storage along with the Netgear router and its power pack.

hth

Well, okey dokey, then. Wanna buy a Netgear router? I think it only cost me $54 and is only 4 months old---That'll make another payment on my laptop!!!

Thanks, Rimmer!! You're an angel....did it hurt when you fell from heaven?

Our posts crossed. I'm glad something finally matches up! *sound of teeth grinding*

Now I'm even more convinced the Netgear is unnecessary - It's a wireless router getting it's internet connection from a wireless router! Do what I said in my previous post.

Edit:
Thanks! Its just as well you can't see the horns coming out of my temples.

Gota go sweep up all this hair now.....

aye aye, cap'n!!

<---me!! So sorry for being a ding bat!


Now, how's come those Techies from SBC didn't tell me that their modem was also a router and that I didn't need the Netgear router, 4 months ago when we hooked this up??!! Grrrrrrrrr!!! It's not like THEY made any money off of the NG router!!

Well, I doubt that anyone will find much help in this topic, at least not until they wade through all my babble.

I do have another question, I think.....when I was looking for "view network connections" over on the desktop, I saw the same thing that I had changed when I was removing the ethernet card on this laptop we just got hooked up---that thing that said

Primary Network Logon:
Client for Microsoft Networks


I take it that it doesn't matter if you choose "Client for Microsoft Networks" OR "Windows Logon" ?

Remember I changed this newly hooked up laptop to "Windows Logon". The desktop has "Client of Microsoft Networks". Those are the only two choices listed under "Primary Network Logon:"

Shall I just leave the newly hooked up laptop on "Windows Logon" or change it back to "Client for Microsoft Networks" or does it matter?

That's something I'm not too clear on - but in a peer to peer (workgroup) network like yours I'm pretty sure it doesn't make any difference. It would affect how you logged on if you were part of a client/server network.

Maybe someone else can explain it to both of us?

Maybe so. I guess it isn't a big deal. I just had thought at first that it was part of the reason I finally got the new hookup to work, but apparently it wasn't. The whole problem was finding that Network Key and then removing the ethernet card.

Thanks again for sticking it out with me!! You're a good egg!!