Wireeless router's Installation software fails to recognize that the computer has an ethernet port

[ConsAreLiars]

and quits. The router is Linksys WRT54G2. OS is XP-SP3. MB is ABit AN8-SLI. The ethernet port is accurately ID'd by Comodo as NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller and as an ethernet adapter with a MAC Address.

Apparently the software is looking somewhere for some of this information, but it is not finding it where it looks. Within Device Manager everything looks fine, and the port is currently cabled directly to the DSL modem and working fine. The only thing within Device Manager that looks like it might be relevant Is "Network Address" which is currently blank. I'm guessing that that might be the IP Address the DSL provider assigns to my modem. ??? Maybe putting that there would help? Or enabling "VLAN Support?" I hate discovering new ways to break things, so any advice is appreciated.

I know there is also a way to do the configuration manually if necessary, but I'd rather not try since simply cabling through the router without configuring it and poking around more or less cluelessly resulted only in having to do a System Restore to get the existing DSL line working again.

Thanks for any advice.

[riverdeep]

1. What a coinky dink.

This Wednesday morning I woke up to find I couldn't get on the internet. It was working fine the night before. It was giving me a 'page loading error'. My knowledge of network connections is pretty weak, so I did all the usual things like turn the computer off and back on, turn the cable modem (Comcast) off and on. I though maybe the servers at Comcast are having problems or my cable modem is bad (I just had it replaced about a month ago). I called them up and they had me take my ethernet cable out of the modem and plug it directly into the computer. Then they had me type in a few prompts and see if my computer could ping their server- it could and they could reach my modem. I still couldn't get to the internet.

They set up an appointment and he came out and tested everything to confirm, even trying a different cable modem. Nope, everything SHOULD be working, but wasn't. He said he didn't know what the problem was and maybe I should try the Geek Squad. Well, I called them up and their fee of $108/hour quickly shot that idea out of the water.

I had no idea what was going on and took my computer tower over to someone's house that had DSL- it was able to connect right away. I brought it back about to call the cable company again, when, on a whim I decided to put my phone line into the dial-up modem jack (which I never used). It wouldn't really connect, so I figured I may not have the right plug or something, but this time, when I plugged the ethernet cable straight into the computer- I could connect! But not when I plugged it into the router. Somehow, somewhere, for some reason, the settings for my connections had been messed up (I think that's the technical jargon) and perhaps plugging the phone jack in caused a 'reset' or something. I don't know.

All I know is I could get to the internet and get a resource on what my problem was. Turns out that I'm not the only one this happens to, though I have yet to figure out why. How I finally got my router to work was by following some of the steps on this forum page:

http://forums.linksysbycisco.com/linksys/board/message?comm_cc=US&comm_lang=en&board.id=Wireless_Routers&message.id=44595&query.id=77067#M44595

Especially, the part about resetting, I tried the reset button, but I didn't leave it on for long enough. Here is the part that I followed, but not exactly:

1) Power down all computers, the router, and the modem, and unplug them from the wall.
2) Disconnect all wires from the router.
3) Power up the router and allow it to fully boot (1-2 minutes).
4) Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds, then release it, then let the router reset and reboot (2-3 minutes).
5) Power down the router.
6) Connect one computer by wire to port 1 on the router (NOT to the internet port).
7) Power up the router and allow it to fully boot (1-2 minutes).
8) Power up the computer (if the computer has a wireless card, make sure it is off).
9) Try to ping the router. To do this, click the "Start" button > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt. A black DOS box will appear. Enter the following: "ping 192.168.1.1" (no quotes), and hit the Enter key. You will see 3 or 4 lines that start either with "Reply from ... " or "Request timed out." If you see "Reply from ...", your computer has found your router.
10) Open your browser and point it to 192.168.1.1. This will take you to your router's login page. Leave the user name blank, and in the password field, enter "admin" (with no quotes). This will take you to your router setup page. Note the version number of your firmware (usually listed near upper right corner of screen). Exit your browser.

If you get this far without problems, power down the router. Using an ethernet cable, connect the ethernet port on your modem to the "Internet" port on the WRT54GS. Power up the modem and allow it to fully boot (1-5 minutes). Power up the WRT54GS and allow it to fully boot (1-2 minutes). Power up your computer. Now try to connect to the Internet. If you still have trouble, in your computer, temporarily turn off your software firewall. If you still have trouble, verify that your ethernet card is set to "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain a DNS address automatically". After you get the router working, you can go back into the router and manually adjust the settings, if needed.

I don't think I actually turned my computer off (much less unplugged it), but I did unplug the modem and the parts regarding the router I did exactly. In step 10, I don't get how you're supposed to direct your web browser anywhere since the modem is still off! Disconnect the cable from the router and connect straight to the computer from a powered-up modem to get on the page. From there, I set up my router from scratch following these instructions for my specfic model (WRT54GS, pretty similar to yours I think):

http://linksys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/linksys.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3686

You can find the instructions for your specific model by searching for it here:

http://www.linksysbycisco.com/US/en/support

The instructions seem identical to mine. After you have it set up, change your password and put it somewhere you'll remember (I put mine on masking tape and taped it to the bottom of the modem).

It's shit like this that makes me want to take a sledgehammer to computers sometimes. It shouldn't be this involved just to get onto the internet, and the fact that I couldn't connect even when bypassing the router was driving me bonkers. Hours of my life wasted. Hope this helps in some way.

[Why Syzygy]

2. The only thing I know about this

is that 192.168.1.1 is the IP for the router. To direct the browser would be to type that IP into the "address" (url) line.

http://www.google.com/search?q=192.168.1.1&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%20%3Cimg%20src=

[ConsAreLiars]

3. Thanks to you for the links and to Why Syzygy.

From further reading it seems that the setup for DSL is significantly different from the setup process for a cable connection. It appears that the DSL Modem has to be 192.168.1.1 and the router has to be reconfigured to be 192.168.1.2. And then several more answer-correctly-or-yer-effed steps. I'd guess that the installation software makes this easier (the reviews at newegg were quite positive), if I could figure out how to get it to recognize there is actually an ethernet pot on the machine.

[riverdeep]

4. Yes, it is different for DSL,

I was looking under 'cable' for your model. Anyway, the first thing I might do is hook up the router and ping it to see if it's even being recognized by the computer- step 9 in the selected quote from above.

If it's not, try resetting it, then go into doing the instructions for your router. It might get quite involved if you get certain errors (like remembering your password the ISP gave you!), but the instructions do seem thorough. The router's address has to be changed from 192.168.1.1 to 192.168.2.1 and then you have to renew your computer's IP address:

Renewing the IP address of the computer allows you to repair the computer’s IP address from the router. This will allow you to discard the current IP address of the wired computer and acquire a new one. For instructions, please follow the steps below.

NOTE: If you have set Static IP address on your computer, you need to change it to obtain an IP address automatically.

http://linksys.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/linksys.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3984

If after going through the instructions you still have issues, you can post it to the linksys forum mentioned above or maybe they have a free support number. Good luck.

As an aside, sometimes when I read the instructions for pre-packaged food I'm pretty shocked. They admonish people to not heat a can on the stove unopened or to take a frozen dinner out of the box before putting it in the oven (which probably means someone did this stuff). I can't imagine those people having to deal with installing a router.

[paparush]

5. I just bought a Linksys WRT54G for my wife's new cable modem.

Out of the box, the damn Linksys router would not recognize the signal coming from the cable modem.

I had to download the latest firmware update and flash the Linksys router's firmware.

Once I did that, the Linksys wireless router then recognized the signal from the cable modem, and began broadcasting correctly.

Brand new, out of the box, it was a hood ornament until I flashed the firmware. I couldn't frigging believe it.

So, ConsAreLiars, you may want to visit the Linksys site, find the latest release of the firmware update for your model, and flash the Linksys' firmware.

[Sentath]

6. Routers SHOULD NOT need software

If this router claims it will not work without the software take it Back and get a different one.

that being said

There should be a section in the manual called 'manually configuring your router'

The steps aren't that hard and if there is confusion I can help

The user guide here http://www.scribd.com/doc/200742/Linksys-WRT54G-User-Guide has a section called 'Advanced Configuration' From what I have read so far you will need the 'automatic DHCP' subsection .. OR you can have your DSL service provider set the modem to 'bridge' and use the PPPoE settings.

Most DSL providers are happy to tell their customers compatible settings.

[Why Syzygy]

7. Will the "bridge" setting give her a static IP? nt

[ConsAreLiars]

8. Thanks to all who replied. Some bad news and some good (probably).

The comments and the reading they prompted gave me enough clues to believe I have found a step-by-step for-dummies walk through. The "advanced configuration" section in the manual starts by saying to first run the setup software, so I was hesitant to try the following steps knowing the configuration software would not have done whatever configuring was assumed to have been done before further tweaking.

The bad news is that the guide was produced by an Indian programmer who had the identical problem, so manually doing (and likely redoing) a complex series of steps steps seems to be the only option. (The router reviews had said the configuration software made this task easy, so I had hoped to be able to use it.)

At any rate, the proper procedure for getting this router (and others) to work with ADSL lines seems to be clearly described at http://www.technospot.net/blogs/how-to-configure-connect-wrt54g2-linksys-router-adsl-broadband-modem/

I haven't tried it yet, but the writer gives the "why" with the "what" of the several steps, so that the procedures seem to make sense.

I'll give it a shot in a day or two. But based on what I've seen so far, I'd highly recommend this site for any who encounter a similar problem a getting a router to work with a DSL modem.

(edit typo)