Router Issue

My friend invited me to his house last night to help him set his router up. It's an SMC wireless modem/router unit. His wife's Apple computer can connect wirelessly to the internet through it and it works well for that. His problem is that he can't get his X-Box 360 to connect wirelessly through it. The signal strength is good (he's in the same room as the router), but he can't get online.

For me, the first step was to grab the lap top (his wife's Apple) and log into the router's configuration dohickey. I looked up the IP address of the router and it was something like 192.168.0.1 (which was confirmed by the router's online instruction manual). I typed it into the web address box in Safari but I just got a message after 1 minute that said the server did not respond. I even tried it by plugging it in directly to the router with an ethernet cable.

Is there some weird Apple thing where I have to spin in a circle while holding clover leaf + comma to access something like this? Would I have better luck bringing my Compaq over and trying it that way? I am wary about resetting the router since I can't access it now... I don't want to berkeley their system up and then not be able to fix it.

It took me a few sentences to realize you weren't talking about a woodworking tool.

Try https://192.168.0.1 instead.

Sometimes on the routers the web interface crashes even though the router continues working. I've found that resetting/rebooting the router can bring the web interface back online.

If that doesn't work, sometimes you can use telnet to access the router and check that the web interface is enabled in the configuration.

I think what you need is a good roundover bit.

I had a heck of a time getting my wii to connect to the net via my wireless router, which worked fine for all the other devices in the house. Unfortunately, I can't remember how I got it working. Where's my gingko?

I can confirm that there's no special Apple thing for this. Safari has always worked fine for me when I need to access my router (not an SMC, but uses the same IP).

Plug an ethernet cable in and try again.

So I should try https then. I will give that a try on my computer (which I'm more comfortable with) when I get a chance. They're having a baby today, so I don't think I'll get back there for a while.

when working on an unknown router to login look for the default gateway in network connection status > details (or use ipconfig/all command in the dos prompt (type cmd in the search box of vista/7 or in "run" on xp)

need to know the router login info... if nothing is special about the network settings (and most of the time there isn't beyond SSID/PW protection) there is always a hard reset button hidden somewhere to reset the router to factory defaults.

oh ya I have seen where for whatever reason the browser would hop to a search of some sort if you punched in the adress... I think that had to do with those crappy search toolbars... the work around for that was to do the http://{default gateway} in the run box on xp or search box on vista/7

Can't tell you how to do this on MacOS, but to make sure you have the right address on Windows, connect and run "ipconfig /all" and use the Default Gateway address for the wireless adapter. On Linux, you get it by running "sudo route -n" and using the line with UG in the Flags column for the adapter you're connecting with (there will be only one unless you're connected to multiple networks with different adapters).

If you can't get to the web interface, try pinging it and see if you get a response ("ping 192.168.0.1" or whatever the IP is, on any OS).

Edit: Here's how to get the default gateway in MacOS:

http://kb.iu.edu/data/ajfx.html

http://macosx.com/forums/mac-os-x-system-mac-software/304424-find-default-gateway-terminal.html

Cool. Thanks everyone. I will try this stuff with my trusty Windows 7 lap top when I get an opportunity to do so in the future.

The weird thing is that I can't remember how to figure out passwords and things after a router is reset (they don't use encryption by default, right?). I don't want to screw their network up.

I've been under too much stress lately I guess lol. I can recall and understand concepts and theories surrounding quantum computing, but I can't remember what day it is or how to reset a router.

confuZion3 wrote: The weird thing is that I can't remember how to figure out passwords and things after a router is reset (they don't use encryption by default, right?). I don't want to screw their network up. I've been under too much stress lately I guess lol. I can recall and understand concepts and theories surrounding quantum computing, but I can't remember what day it is or how to reset a router.

Typically when you reset a router to default, the wireless is enabled and open, the WAN port is a DHCP client and DHCP is enabled on the LAN, and the login for the web interface is most commonly admin/admin. So all you really need to do is enable wireless security.

Just make sure this router isn't also the cable/DSL modem or it will lose the Internet connection settings, and if the ISP doesn't do remote autoconfig then you'll have a problem.

GameboyRMH wrote:

confuZion3 wrote: The weird thing is that I can't remember how to figure out passwords and things after a router is reset (they don't use encryption by default, right?). I don't want to screw their network up. I've been under too much stress lately I guess lol. I can recall and understand concepts and theories surrounding quantum computing, but I can't remember what day it is or how to reset a router.

Typically when you reset a router to default, the wireless is enabled and open, the WAN port is a DHCP client and DHCP is enabled on the LAN, and the login for the web interface is most commonly admin/admin. So all you really need to do is enable wireless security. Just make sure this router isn't also the cable/DSL modem or it will lose the Internet connection settings, and if the ISP doesn't do remote autoconfig then you'll have a problem.

It's also the modem.

Well then if you can ping the router but can't get to the web interface, something is wrong with it and the telco will have to sort it out (you can try accessing the interface with https instead of http but I've never seen a consumer device that requires this.)

If you can get to the web interface then you could do a settings backup (and maybe write down the connection settings), then mess with it as much as you want and restore the settings from the backup if you can't get it working.

Since the XBox is in the same room as the router, just run a cable. You'll be better performance on both games and media that way, and you don't have to worry about wireless settings.

fromeast2west wrote: Since the XBox is in the same room as the router, just run a cable. You'll be better performance on both games and media that way, and you don't have to worry about wireless settings.

Good idea. You probably won't see any meaningful improvement in games, but if you stream media across your LAN this will help a lot.

Gotta go with the grain of the wood.