Tech Support - Non Game Related .. Sorry

[Ryoushin]

First off I apologize for posting here, I have searched all over and cannot find my answer. I have a windows vista laptop that is connected wirelessly to a wifi location. I want to be able to share this connection via a wrt54g router to my desktop as well as 1 hard wired xbox console and then wireless to another xbox console.

Before all I did was check the box that said "share this computers internet connection" and that was it. Now I cant even get that to work. All I did before was try an set up the laptop as a "router" for my xbox and it worked so I thought why not try and use the wifi recieved from the laptop and share it with the router so that I can use the above.

So I've managed to look all over and can not find the answer I seek. This is what Im trying to do:

1. Laptop that has a wireless connection
2. Have that connection routed through the laptop via ethernet cord to routers "internet" port.
3. Router then allows for internet access across its 4 ports which 2 are used. Desktop and xbox console.
4. Have the wireless portion of the router to send out a signal that my wirelss xbox will be able to use for xbox live.


All this im trying to do prior to the servers back up so my wife and I can enjoy ffxi once again. Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated. Im sorry this isnt game related but, I do hope some of you in the ffxi or ffxiv community are a bit more tech savvy then myself.

[RAIST]

Your Router's IP may be getting set as the gateway IP of the network on the clients (especially if DHCP is being used to configure them).

You may need to go in and manually assign IP address, Subnet, and Gateway to use addresses realated to your laptop's network that it has setup through the network sharing.

I think you may be overcomplicating things though. Your router already does what you are trying to get the laptop to do. You may have specific reasons for doing it that way though. But normally the setup is:

ISP modem --> router (by cable in uplink port) --> clients (wireless or wired to switch ports)

Your router is the gateway of your local network, and manages the connection to your ISP's modem, which is the gateway to their network. The ISP sees your router as one device (takes the place of your original PC/laptop as far as they know), even though your router is allowing multiple devices to connect.

In some cases (like with internet phone) you will have to make your router clone the MAC address of your one PC/Laptop that your ISP configured their modem to forward internet traffic to (thus spoofing the modem to treat your router as your PC/Laptop). This is usually on a page in the router's configuration--boxes should be there for either cloning it directly from the PC/Laptop you are managing the router with, or you can input it manually. It may be on an advanced configuration page. It should be detailed in your router's manual if you want to look into this (might be a PDF file on the CD that came with it if you don't have a paper manual).

Raist

[Ryoushin]

Ok well let me ask this, since the first time I did this i didnt have to set anything up or modify any settings except to check the box to share the internet connection. Since im not really tech savy, should i leave the LAN ip as auto config and the shared internet on wireless checked, then that would leave me to just go into the router to config the ip , gateway, and subnet? If so, what would you recommend as far as the settings. Because when i did the "router" laptop to xbox wired i had to set the LAN on the laptop to 192.168.0.1 an the sub to 255.255.255.0 an then configure the xbox. those settings are still set on the laptop, so what would you recommend. You seem to have a better handle on this then me. I appreciate your help Raist. /cheer

[Nattack]

"share this computers internet connection" is a naughty thing from the days of dialup when very few people had routers. it works, but it isnt what you are trying to do. the router is already doing this.

[Nattack]

192.168.0.1 is the ip address of a gateway, if your laptop has this as its ip there is most likely a rather nasty ip conflict going on

[Ryoushin]

The laptops ip is set to 192.168.1.5 sub 255.255.255.0 gateway 192.168.1.1 dns 192.168.1.1 .. these are the settings i had to imput because automatically gettig a new ip thru windows trouble shorter wasnt working.. the ip 192.168.0.1 sub 255.255.255.0 is whats set on the LAN portion of the laptop which i set so that I could hard wire my xbox to it.

[RAIST]

Your router is likely configured to use 192.168.0.1 with the same subnet of 255.255.255.0 (that means you can use addresses from 192.168.01 to 192.168.0.255). Your router might have taken the first address as 192.168.1.1 also, it's usually one of the two. So if your laptop is using the same base IP, you might have a conflict where both networks are conflicting.

Have you tried not using the shared network feature of your laptop yet to see if it works? If so, then it may well be the conflict situation, in which case you might need to change the IP's a bit. Leave the router as xxx.xxx.xxx.1, but make the laptop end in .2, then each other device higher numbers--but make their gateway the appropriate address for the method you are using:

With the Router as the only gateway, it will have parameters set by the ISP, but will have a local network setup as:
IP: 192.168.0.1
Sub: 255.255.255.0
(this shoulld show in an advanced setup page about the LAN configuration, and you can change if you want)
If DHCP is active on this pagesetup, then you shouldn't need to do anything but set other devices to configure IP automatically. However, if you aren't using DHCP or otherwise need/want to configure them manually, they would need to be IP's higher than the router, and not conflict with any other device. The router in this setup would be the Gateway at 192.168.0.1. If you change the beginning address of the LAN settings, that number changes according to what you set it.

To manually configure devices in this setup, they need to be:
IP: 192.168.0.x (where x is higher than Gateway (router IP), and not conflict with other IP's)
Sub: 255.255.255.0
Gateway: 192.168.0.1

Now, if you are going to force everything through the laptop, this changes things up. Either your Router has a different range for it's nework, or they are the same. If they are different, then just apply the above example, but just make them point to the network in the range of the laptop. IE: Router is on 192.168.0.1/255.255.255.0 and laptop is hosting a LAN on 192.168.1.1/255.255.255.0, make the IP's 192.168.1.x and the gateway 192.168.1.1.

If the laptop is using the same subnet (both the router and the laptop network sharing are both using 192.168.0.x/255.255.255.0) you likely have 2 gateways active. 192.168.0.1 is your router, 192.168.0.2 is your laptop. Same rule applies to manual configuration--but you need to point them to the LAPTOP for the gateway (192.168.0.2). unless your devices have a way to point to a specific DHCP server to auto config themselves (hit and mis, some do, some don't) you will HAVE to configure the IP's manually to force them to the laptop in this setup.

Whew... I think I covered it... been a long time since I've tried to setup a new network...

But, as you can see... it's just easier to let the router do everything for you and not force through the laptop (if you can). Then you just enable DHCP on the router, and let everything use auto config. themselves, and for those that can't auto config, set them manually to an oddball IP like 192.168.0.111 or something so you know they won't conflict--just make sure to hit the right IP of the router for the gateway.

Raist

[Jhanaka]

Hi Ryoushin!

It seems that some folks are helping you out with your concern, but I am going to move this to our Technical Support area as our folks may be able to help out too.

Have a great afternoon!

-Senior Game Master Jhanaka

[Ryoushin]

Ok having looked everything over, again Raist I thank you for your help, and Jhanaka for the move to the right section of the forums, again I apologize for posting in the wrong section, this is what I have managed to diagnose...

My router is set to auto config dhcp and the only settings on the laptop are the same as the above for the wireless but the only changes ive done are setting the LAN on the laptop to the following :
ip 192.168.1.2
sub 255.255.255
gateway - blank
dns 192.168.1.1
and still have the same issue.
so im either missing something or not quite fully understanding. Sorry that my network tech degree isnt quite up to par. Must of slept thru that class /laugh

[Shizukat]

I used to have a wrt45g myself (currently a wrt610n), and find them generally very easy to setup.
First step is to confirm how it's connected, but that'll probably be ok already. Like RAIST above mentioned:

ISP modem -> Your Router (wrt45g) -> Wired or Wireless connection to all devices wanting to use the internet (PCs, Xbox360s, whatever)

Next step is to make sure NONE of the connected devices is setup to share it's internet connection (or setup as a DHCP server, but that's unlikely if you don't have internet sharing on).
Also make sure that all devices use the "obtain IP adress automatically (from DHCP)" setting in their network settings.

If your router was set to use "Automatic Configuration - DHCP" in Setup -> Basic Setup, it should work at this point. That is, provide all connected devices with a internet connection.

If it still doesn't work at this point, try powering down all connected devices and the router for a least 30 seconds or so.
And then turn them back on, one by one, starting with the router (wait for it to be fully started up).

Assuming you didn't change any (or much) of the router settings, it should all work a this point.
If you didn't change the router's default IP 192.168.1.1, all your devices should get a IP based on the order you started them up as from the router.
So:

Router wrt45g -> 192.168.1.1
1st device -> 192.168.1.2
2nd device -> 192.168.1.3
ect...

All these should be automatically given by the router at this point, and not be set manually.
On PC if you run ipconfig from commandline you should get something like this

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : <your isp domain here>
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

If the default gateway is set to the IP if your router, it should work (assuming DNS settings aren't wrong somehow)

To check if something is wrong with your dns settings try going to http://74.125.79.99/ it should give the same as http://www.google.com/
In case of dns setting being wrong, it's usually a lot harder to fix.

But for now, try these

[Ryoushin]

@Shizukat,

I thank you for the help, so now having a better look into this, my setup is just a bit different..Im setup as follows:

Laptop connected to a wireless, (not my own) this is my starting point and all I can control at this moment.
Before as mentioned above, I didnt set any settings just checked the box for ICS and plugged an ethernet cord into the laptops LAN connection and ran that to the INTERNET port on the linksys router and from there everything connected to my router had internet access.

Now it seems I need to do a little bit of leg work which is fine, I dont mind. Im also learning a bit more so its educational for me. The problem I am running into which may be casing me to not be able to fix this issue is when I connect my xbox wirelessly to my router which is connected to the laptop the message I get is:

" Your DNS servers cant resolve the names of the xbox live servers or xbox.com"

So what I think my problem is now is between the laptop and my router there needs to be a DNS configuration of some sorts, but my brain lacks the understanding. Which my IP settings I posted above for the wireless portion they are the same as the DNS on the LAN is the same. Could this be my issue having the same DNS on the LAN as the wireless so then the connection wont be able to share itself through ICS?

[Ryoushin]

UPDATE:

After not changing anything within my router other then setting an SSID an pass for the wireless portion I have resolved my issue with the help of Raist and Shizukat.

I changed the DNS on the laptop wireless to 192.168.2.1.
So now the settings for the wireless portion are as follows:
Manually Config of Wireless:
IP- 192.168.1.5
SUB- 255.255.255
GATEWAY - 192.168.1.1
DNS- 192.168.2.1

LAN Settings in which I connected directly to my linksys router:
IP- 192.168.0.1
SUB- 255.255.255.0
GATEWAY- BLANK
DNS- BLANK

I had to configure not only my xbox console but my wifes xbox console with the following DNS: Again this is DNS only on the xbox console:
Input into both primary and secondary

DNS- 192.168.2.1

ony my desktop which is hardwired to my linksys router I had to change the DNS only to 192.168.2.1..

After doing so I am able to use my laptop as a "router" to a linksys router, i.e my router, and share the wireless connection with the above.

Though I am kinda worry to turn off the laptop because of the hassle I went thru. Granted yes it would be easier to just get the internet, its a lacking financial thing. With that said I hope anyone else who may run into this problem that with the above from Raist and Shizukat as well as my own findings will be able to help someone.

On another note I would not have thought to manually change my dns around routers network if it had not been for the xbox giving me that error message. Best of luck to all, and my wife an I send our prays out to everyone.

[Nitrous24]

edit: nvm it seems you solved it and i just didn't read far enough. congrats on solving your issue

[NightDagger]

Grats in getting it to work. Another way you could do the same thing is to have a wireless router you are not using & make it a client/bridge. If you are able to do this with the router you eliminate having the laptop on all the time & the extra router would work in the same manner as your laptop is. All you have to do to the router is the same thing you have done to your laptop. Make sure the ip is outside your dhcp range, same SSID & Pass & you are set.

Just a thought if you ever want to make a permanent router to do this for you. I am currently using the same thing right now for my xbox so I do not have to go buy a wireless router lol.

[Ryoushin]

Heres a question that seems to plague me since I cant find a well rounded answer. In regards to my previous problem.
Since I connect wirelessly through my laptop, when I hit refresh on the wireless network page, it shows the network I can connect to, but when I try an connect to it I get a respond that windows failed to receive a response from the network, yet in the wireless tab its 3 to 4 bars. I understand that a wireless card pings the networks around it within a certain area, but why is it that I get that problem, at times, when I try an connect to the wireless network?

Penny for anyones thoughts?

[Shizukat]

Heres a question that seems to plague me since I cant find a well rounded answer. In regards to my previous problem.
Since I connect wirelessly through my laptop, when I hit refresh on the wireless network page, it shows the network I can connect to, but when I try an connect to it I get a respond that windows failed to receive a response from the network, yet in the wireless tab its 3 to 4 bars. I understand that a wireless card pings the networks around it within a certain area, but why is it that I get that problem, at times, when I try an connect to the wireless network?

Frankly I can't make heads or tails of what you're exactly trying to say there ... but it has probably something to do with the fact that you are using double routers in a way. Or it might just be that the wireless security is using a unsuported protocol (or plain wrong password)

Anyway, happy you figured out how to make it work. From your original post I didn't understand you were trying to use the laptop as a router for the rest of your house.
But as NightDagger mentioned above it would indeed better if you would just configure the router as to act as a extention of the existing wireless (not sure if the WRT45G supported that however)

[RAIST]

happens sometimes when I come out of suspension or hibernation--protocol stack probably knackered up. I sometiems fix it by releasing/ejecting it (PCMCIA card, use the remove hardware tool in systray) and re-inserting it--if not, I just reboot.

[NightDagger]

Heres a question that seems to plague me since I cant find a well rounded answer. In regards to my previous problem.
Since I connect wirelessly through my laptop, when I hit refresh on the wireless network page, it shows the network I can connect to, but when I try an connect to it I get a respond that windows failed to receive a response from the network, yet in the wireless tab its 3 to 4 bars. I understand that a wireless card pings the networks around it within a certain area, but why is it that I get that problem, at times, when I try an connect to the wireless network?

Penny for anyones thoughts?

You could have the router set for "N" mode, and your network adapter is only b/g compatible. This will allow you to see the connection but not able to actually connect to it. I use this in my house for my laptop/MAC. The PS3, Xbox 360 & Wii are all on a different router set to "G" only & a channel that is at least 5 away. from any other connections available.