Hi all,

I work for a school and have been tasked to set up some access points to finally give staff a mobile network.

I seem to be running into a few problems.

I have filled out what I deam the neccessary boxes:

Point Name
IP
Subnet
Default Gate
Country
Time Zone

SSID
Mode
Channel

Wireless SSID
Nethwork Auth
Encryption
Paraphrase

Also made the access point allocate IP to clients so filled out:

Start IP Range
End IP Range
Subnet
Default Gateway

What I am finding is that a laptop will connect to the AP and say signal strength excellent but I can't get the internet or any part of the network. I have tried pinging the AP from the laptop and get complete packet loss.

Have then tried pinging the AP from the Server and have got 100% sent and recieved.

This hints to there being a problem with the connection between the AP and Laptop wirelessly.

Any suggestions? Im really scratching my head. Can provide extra details if neccessary. Really could do with somebody telling me whats needed to set this up.

Thanks

Maybe pairing, rebooting and re-assigning IPs may do the trick. You say "to set up some access points" which lead one to think there will be few of them and each with its own access credentials, hence the confusion...Some routers / Access points are different from others, looks like your laptops/s may not have the right access credentials. You say the laptop can't access the AP with no packet returned but the server can, this is a sign the laptop is relying on the wi-fi connection, though there is a strong wireless signal, access is denied somehow.

- Set the AP/Router and and let it assign everything automatically
- Make sure to allow wireless sharing / Internet sharing on the server itself by connecting to its admin interface (for example: http://configuration.adsl/ OR http://192.168.1.1/ OR other URL which is the address to administer your Router)
- Disconnect for a minute or so and reconnect the AP from the mains
- Set the laptop/s and other clients with the right access codes / network keys in the right AP / Router you are trying to connect them to, who knows, you may be entering the access codes in the discovered wrong router across the street or something.
- Some routers require pairing and they have a button which you press while the laptop are on and trying to auto connect
- Do a connection repair, that will reassign the right IPs

Thing is with you saldridge, you are trying to assign all manually and there is no need except in special circumstances and hardware. If you have to assign everything manually, allow for automatic discovery, pair the laptops with the router and make sure wireless access is allowed through the admin interface. Also, assuming the server is connected directly through the LAN cable, it should not need a wireless connection itself as you said the server connects no problem.

"laptop will connect to the AP and say signal strength excellent but I can't get the internet" means in most cases you need the right password / network key or the server blocking any outside access (firewall, sharing......)

Curious to know how did you get on when you try again saldridge and let us know what was the problem. It helps also to know which hardware (laptops...) and operating systems etc



[Edited on 9/6/2009 by festprint]

User reviews on the store mostly seem to be happy with it, see the store here
NETGEA R WG302 ProSafe 802.11g Wireless Access Point. If that's the right one or an earlier version (not sure), someone was talking about its firmware, but that should have been fixed by now.

Sounds to me you have a mixture of problems as festprint suggests.
I would disconnect everything, reset one AP back to default settings. same for a Laptop.
Make sure the laptop is set to obtain IP auto on wired and wireless networks.

Providing your server/router is configured to give out DHCP adresses (192.168 xxx.xxx).

Connect laptop directly to server via patch lead. Internet?

Replace laptop with AP. Most Ap's that I've come across work on a wired connection straight from the box. Scan for wireless networks on the laptop, should come up as netgear or similar. Make sure this is the only wireless network under Manage wireless networks, or that your new network is top of the list.
Leave the laptop to obtain auto ip on the wireless side, and fix ip and subnet on the wired side, so you can make changes to the AP from your laptop by swapping the patch lead from server to laptop when needed.
Your server/router device should already be configured as a DHCP server and issue IP's in the range alocated by your network admin (only have one device configured as a DHCP server). So just keep the AP's static id and disable DHCP services on your AP (not client or server - disabled). Should now be getting a 192.168 address from your server/router on your laptop.
Change one thing at once, and test.
If you are just wanting to provide a wireless network from an existing wired network you shouldnt need to change much at all, other than network name and enable your prefered form of security.
One final tip :- if you are using multiple AP's with overlapping footprints - use different channles - 1, 6, or 11 are all non overlapping (UK).