View Full Version : Sl400i unable to set up Wireless Connection
Stonepws
08-08-2004, 01:38 AM
I have just purchased a 400i & trying to connect it to a Netgear WGT624 wireless router. The 400i is unable to connect even though it does list the SSID of my WLAN. I have disabled WEP security on the wlan, turned off the MAC address access control, but still no luck. Connecting via Ethernet works but that is unacceptable as the final solution.
I know the Netgear router is working as I connect through it using my centrino laptop, as well as successfully tested the Netgear MP101 with it, but returned this once I was aware of the 400i. The 400i seems to recognise the Netgear if I set the 400i into ad-hoc mode, but was not able to access the PMM server runing on an network attaced PC and certainly internet access would not work unless connecting to a PC or Laptop and using ICS. I have updated the router to its latest firmware and upon connecting to the internet using the ethernet cable the 400i upgraded itself but still no joy.
I also do not want to use the wireless usb as the final solution, I tested this just to ensure that the wireless function of the 400i was at least functioning.
Any ideas why access-point connectivity does not function.
cardoso
08-08-2004, 07:44 AM
Hi!
What about the wlan-channel-setting?
Greetings
Stonepws
08-08-2004, 10:19 PM
No! did not cycle through the channels as the other devices connected successfully with Channel 11 with excellent signal strength. I have tried channel 6 but to no avail. I will try to cycle through each channel to see if the result is more positive.
Thanks
Patrick
I had the same problem with my MX6000i. All the settings were fine, but it didn't connect. I had to change the network settings from dhcp & auto ip to static ip,and manualy input the ip adres, netmask, gateway and dns. That solved my problem.
I'm still not able to get it to connect to my router via wireless either. With a cable no problem - but when I try wireless it sees the network but doesn't connect. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif Tried dhcp , static, encryption on/off, mac filter on/off but nothing seems to work. Didn't have the time to do more testing yet, will try with another router over the weekend.
Btye1
09-03-2004, 12:51 PM
[ QUOTE ]
I had the same problem with my MX6000i. All the settings were fine, but it didn't connect. I had to change the network settings from dhcp & auto ip to static ip,and manualy input the ip adres, netmask, gateway and dns. That solved my problem.
[/ QUOTE ]
What exactly are you changing, the ip of the wireless adapter???? to match the computer's ip address or what?
I am at college and the apartment i am in has a firewall that i can't figure out at all, i can get PMM to work, but cannot connect to the internet.
PLEASE SOMEONE HELP!!!!!
Same problem here. The odd thing is that even when I'm standing next to the access point the SL400i still reports a signal strength of 0%.
The problem in trying to determine what to try is that I don't know in detail what the SL400i is actualy trying to do when it's connecting for the first time. Connecting to what? The gateway, the PMM server, the internet? That would determine (partly) which network configuration items should be entered.
[Edit]
I just had a thought (with all the talk about UPnP): Out of security reasons (visit grc.com for more details) I've got UPnP turned off on the server where PMM lives. Could this be the reason that the SL400i says it can't find the network?
Neighbor
10-15-2004, 08:22 AM
When you look at the Streamium as a regular wireless laptop you can predict the steps it takes to connect to the network...
I think the first thing it does is getting a list of all wireless networks that are active. So it searches for SSID's. When you have selected your own network it uses your selected security settings (WEP) to negotiate with your access point to get physical access to the wireless network.
If the Streamium succesfully connected (physically) it will send a broadcast message to look for a DHCP server (unless you selected Manual IP). The DHCP server (=your access point) will respond to this request and finally the Streamium will get an IP address.
At this time the Streamium is able to connect to the PMM (PC Link mode) or the internet (Internet mode). When you turn on the Streamium for the first time it will always try to connect to the internet to look for software updates.
I hope this helps...
The steps you mention seem clear to me. As I'm using static IP addresses on my network the DCHP bit is skippped. The point is that the streamium just says it can't find the network, it doesn't tell which steps are successful and which ones aren't. This makes troubleshooting a trail and error process which consumes quite a lot of time without guarantee for success.
Actualy I'm wondering: how does the SL400i determine where to find PMM? Does it do a broadcast and then expects PMM to respond? If so, is it required to have the UPnP serices installed and running on the machine where PMM lives?
Neighbor
10-15-2004, 09:37 AM
I once had the error "unable to find the network". It turned out to be caused by bad firmware on my access point. So the Streamium is unable to get a physical connection to the wireless network.
When you disable UPnP I suspect the PMM server cannot be reached. The reason for this is that PMM, like all UPnP server uses standard ports to stream content. So when you disable those ports you block all network traffic between your Streamium and your media server whether it's using PMM or other UPnP software.
So to answer your question: yes, it is required to have the UPnP services installed (= have the UPnP ports activated)
OK.
The firmware on my access point is the most recent version. I've got a total of four PC's that successfully connect to the access point. I don't hope that this could mean that I have so switch access points.
I'll check the UPnP status of my server as soon as I get home.
I'm still feeling that I have no way to check which parts of the connectin proccess do work and which parts don't. The simple message that the network couldn't be found isn't very helpfull.
By the way, I've read another post about pinging the SL400i. Does it respond to ping requests at all?
As far as I know the SL400i responds to pings normally.
I had similar problems - the SL400i appears to be quite picky about what access points / routers it connects to. I changed my router and then it all worked fine. So I think you have a couple of options to try to isolate the problem: try a different router / ap to see if that is the problem, use a wired connection to your router to see if it works via a wired connection and finally if you try to use the wireless connection, disable all security settings on the router / ap. This should at least help you to find out what is causing the problem.
[ QUOTE ]
As far as I know the SL400i responds to pings normally.
I had similar problems - the SL400i appears to be quite picky about what access points / routers it connects to. I changed my router and then it all worked fine. So I think you have a couple of options to try to isolate the problem: try a different router / ap to see if that is the problem, use a wired connection to your router to see if it works via a wired connection and finally if you try to use the wireless connection, disable all security settings on the router / ap. This should at least help you to find out what is causing the problem.
[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm - yes. I remember talking with you about your difficulties streaming MPEG2.
So, what did you replace with what, and how has it affected your signal strength / performance ?
I replaced my Buffalo wireless router, Edimax router (needed because I couldn't get the wireless router to establish the DSL connection) and Alcatel ADSL modem with a new Thompson ADSL modem with a built-in wireless router.
That cleaned up nicely in the closet /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
The SL400i didn't connect to the old router but it had no problems with the new one. Performance wise however, there was no difference /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
I have about 50-60% signal strength on the connection. The strange thing is that when I play a DVD on my laptop from a shared drive on my PC over the wireless network I get about the about the same performance as when I play it via the SL400i. However my laptop is 11b, and the SL400i should be 11g /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
I have another 11g PCMCIA card (somewhere /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif ) so when I find the time I will try that in my laptop to see if that increases the performance.
pechspilz
10-22-2004, 01:11 PM
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I have about 50-60% signal strength on the connection.
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Lucky you. I get 48% in a spot where my notebook (internal antenna too) still shows 100%. This is 11g. There's a wall in the line of sight between the AP and the streamium but that signal quality is pretty bad as it's only 5 meters distance. OTOH my notebook ist not shielded by a metal case ;-) maybe an external antenna would make sense here?
Well I read in some other thread somewhere about this kind of technology not being ready for the masses and it's true. For me personally, I don't mind hacking around a little trying to get it to work, but most consumers would want this to be an out of the box solution like: you plug it in and it works. So far I had to change my router, switch between wireless/wired, change security settings etc. etc. just to find out where the actual problem is. The next step indeed will probably be buying an extra antenna to improve the signal quality. I *will* get this damn thing to work properly over my wireless network /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
[ QUOTE ]
Well I read in some other thread somewhere about this kind of technology not being ready for the masses and it's true.
I *will* get this damn thing to work properly over my wireless network /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
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That is me ODV you're "quoting" there. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
And remember, the streamium connects to any 11g standard router/AP as long as it's a Netgear WGT624 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Already thought it was you HeiB - but I didn't want to accuse you of anything you didn't do /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
And I have a nice stack of routers by now - but no WGT624 yet - so why not waste another couple of euros on my once "not-that-expensive" Streamium ... might as well buy some antennas at the same time. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif