Wi-Fi and Netgear MR814 with Cable Modem Installation today. Wish Me Luck!!

[Voyager]

Ok folks, I wasn't going to spend the money on the Wi-Fi card and broadcaster but I couldn't help it. It has been calling my name for days, begging me to subject myself to the inexplicable and inevitable fears and frustrations of reconfiguring my local area network. I think the expense of such a luxury is probably not very practical since I can surf the net with ease almost everywhere I go, however, being able to make my NX70 connect to the Internet seems like a task worthy of a true "techie" and the awe-inspiring envy of my friends and colleagues is more than sufficient reward for enduring such a monumental task. (J/K)

I am running Win98SE
have a Docsys cable modem
am running a home network
Purchased the Netgear MR814 Router
and the PEGA-WL100 Wi-Fi card.

It is 6PM Saturday night and I haven't even opened the packages yet. I thought it would be helpful if I documented my installation and the process from beginning to end. I will keep you all informed of my progress. If anyone has any helpful tips, please feel free to post them here as I will when I reach a point of interest during the installation.. Again.. WISH ME LUCK! LoL..:cool:

[profvisor]

I actually found it quite painless with the WIFI card and the Netgear MR814 router. I hope yours goes as well.

[Badandy]

Ya. good luck!

[Voyager]

hey there.. Thanks for the well wishes.. ok.. it's 7:15PM. I installed the router between my cable modem and 6 port hub, which contains 2 pc's and 2 Xbox's. Reading the documentation didn't seem to get me anywhere as well as my ISPs' help website and Netgears' help website. Being a good technician, I decided to just install it anyway. The basic information I gathered from the reading was that the router had to be between the cable modem and computer(s). Since I have a hub, I decided it would be easier if I just plugged the router into the uplink port on the hub. I came out to my computer and rebooted. Since I am here now, I will say that it was a success. Just checked computer #2, had to run winipcfg to get the new IP address, seems to be working fine. Don't know how the Xboxes will work. Will try that shortly.

[Voyager]

7:40PM: Just checked the Xboxes.. Works great. Now to read some info about the NX70 and the Wi-Fi card. I did read in the manual for the router that there is some configuring that should be done by loading software on a pc connected to the router. I will do that once my Clie can connect to the network. I guess I'll have to load NetFront on my Clie again. (I deleted it already). Also have to set up a pop account with hotmail or something to get web email although I have Eudora on my Clie and my personal pc. Maybe I can still access my broadband account directly. We shall see..

[Voyager]

9:35PM-Card is installed, loaded the conduit off the Wi-Fi installation cd and hot sync'd the handheld. Went into the Sync Prefs and set the Primary PC name to !!. Set the Primary PC address to the same as my main computer. Included a subnet mask. I have successfully done a LAN sync several times but it is not consistant. Sometimes it just sits there other times it kicks my other computer offline by snagging the same IP address. I set the IP address of my NX so it would be different, instead of Auto. I can see the light flashing on the Wi-Fi and it says it's connected but it doesn't always do the sync. I think I may have a setting wrong somewhere. I do want it to be consistant. (That perfectionist in me) .

[Voyager]

10:25PM. Ok, this is a little aggrivating. I find that the NX keeps taking the IP address of my 2nd computer and the computer gives a error message that there is an IP conflict. I can't get it to sync again through the network. I can get it to surf the net using NetFront. I can see that it connects to the wireless network, just not to my computer to sync. Getting tired. lol. Any suggestions on how to stop it from conflcting with my other computer and/or sync better? Thanks..

[evaoni]

I have two of these routers (the MR814). One is here in my apartment in college and one is at home. They both work flawless. I would suggest to delegate IP addresses to specific computers (via MAC Address). Also, only allow authorized wireless users. Good luck!

[Badandy]

Voyager. I have xbox live. What is your gamertag on live? PLay mechassualt? My GT: Major B W Payne

[Voyager]

10:47PM-Ok, I think I got it. I had to go into the router setup utility and add my NX to the list of Wireless devices that are allowed to connect. So far, I have sync'd 3 times out of 3 tries.(make that 4). I am reading Cliesource on my Clie now. Very cool. Everything seems to be working fine now. My question: are there any security precautions I should be aware of with this router? I am using N.I.S. on both of my computers. Also, now how do I configure another profile to be able to roam and pick up WAP's on the fly? I think this took a long time to set up but I did stop and do some reading and (watching Star Trek a little) between tasks. (Mult-itasking) hehehe. So this is how you do it. Any Questions?

[Voyager]

Hey Badandy, My gamer tag on live is:(you guessed it) voyager01

I play Mech Assault quite often but lately, been playing Ghost Recon. So if you invite me to a game and I don't reply, it's because I'm playing another game. Too bad live doesn't let you respond with a message. Look forward to doing a game with you.
~Voyager

[Badandy]

Ya you too. I have GR, so we can do that. I'll add you to my list tomorrow morning

[Voyager]

Hey Evaoni, What do you mean via MAC address? I know how to assign IP's to my computers but are you saying that there is a setting somewhere in the router that you can specify a IP address for each computer?

[oneeyesquare]

Hey!!!Almost the exact same setup but a RCA cable modem... I live in the sticks, so I can leave everything wide open and auto.
BTW, all auto acts as it's own "sniffer". I was able to access an open network at one of my jobsites repeatedly....

[n2ifp]

Originally posted by Voyager
Hey Evaoni, What do you mean via MAC address? I know how to assign IP's to my computers but are you saying that there is a setting somewhere in the router that you can specify a IP address for each computer?

Congrats on getting connected!

I think he means using the MAC addresses as a security measure. In my Linksys router, I can allow only certain addresses or block certain MAC addresses from accessing the router.

[Voyager]

Thanks n2. I went into the settings for the router this morning and changed the SSID from the default to increase security(as per Netgears' Recommendation) and changed the SSID on my NX to match it, Guess what? It didn't connect anymore. After some messing around with the settings and some more reading, I deleted the SSID name on my NX and guess what? It connected again. This stuff could drive a person nuts. I am going to create a new profile and have all the settings set to Auto to see if I can connect to anything else in my area. I did set up access on the router to only allow the MAC address of my NX to connect. As far as the IPs' for my computers, they are connected directly and don't seem to have any problems with letting them auto detect the IPs. I didn't see any settings in the router to allow or disallow any particular IP addresses. It comes with a firewall program but I have NIS(Norton Internet Security) already protecting my PC's so I don't see any sense in being redundant about it. I love being able to hotsync over the network. That is so cool. I don't usually leave the hotsync manager running, I have it set up to manually start it when I need it so that puts me at my computer when I make changes to upload to the NX. Since my cradle is right there, I will most likely just use the cradle to do my syncs(but it is cool to have the option to do it wireless). hehehe. Well, I'm gonna go play Ghost Recon on my Xbox. Maybe I can find Badandy and we can go kick some butt in the Embassy.. Later.
~Voyager

[n2ifp]

The SSID is not a security feature and really isn't needed. On a regular laptop with WiFi, the SSID will show up anyhow. One thing, the SSID is case sensitive if you use one. The SSID is only necessary if there is more than one wireless access point in your system.

[Voyager]

Thanks! Great to know. Been sitting here tweaking all day so far. Still haven't got to play Ghost Recon. It's coming though. I just made a profile called "ROAMING" on my NX where all the defaults are set to Auto and it connects just fine to my network. This is only getting easier. Hey, I noticed I went from a junior member to a member :-) What makes it change statuses like that? And is there a link explaining the rights and privilages of each status? I noticed you have a different icon for your account n2. I might like to change mine one of these days. Catch you later.!

[n2ifp]

I think after 30 posts it changes to member, congrats:)!
After 100 posts, it changes to Senior member then you can edit that text. I don't think it gives any other privileges.

Right, the more you play, the more you learn. Then it doesn't seem as daunting as it once was.

BTW, I make printouts of my router and stuff settings from my browser for future reference.

[Voyager]

That's a great way to remember it. The Netgear allows you to make a backup of your settings in a .cfg file and save it to your hard drive. If you need to change your settings back, you can load the .cfg file right into the router. Makes it even easier. Gotta love it. I have my ISP homepage set on Netfront as my home page so I can even check my mail from the web. It was easier than trying to configure a separate mail service on the NX.