G4 Router problems

this kind of thing happens to me every now and again, like when the power goes out or something. here are the steps i take...

1. disconnec your ethernet cable(s) from the router.
2. unplug the router from the power supply, wait 10 seconds, plug it back in.
3. reconnect the ethernet cable(s) to the router.
4. restart the computer(s) connected to the router.

that does the trick for me.

you mention maybe the cables you are using are the wrong ones. the cable that works when the computer is connected to the modem (not the router), is that the cable you use to connect the router to the modem? if not, it should be. then, non-crossover cable(s) should be used from the router to the computer(s). i know someone is going to mention that most macs auto-detect a crossover cable and adjust for it, but i've never trusted that way of doing things.

other than that, i don't know what else to tell you.

What model of computers specifically are you using? Ethernet (LAN) cables come in a couple varieties and they can look identical. One type is called a crossover cable and is used to connect to computers directly to each other with out a router or hub. The other cable is a just a plain cable and is used to connect router to computer. If you have a modern Mac with Gigabit ethernet built in the type of cable doesn't matter but if you have an older cable it does. Also if your G4 has Gigabit ethernet then all you have to do to connect the two computers is to connect the ethernet from one right to the other no router/hub necessary. Make sure your computer has Gigabit first as I have heard of hardware failures when hooking up the wrong type of cable computer to computer on older equipment.

ezkirk said:

I just logged onto my broadband service provider's website and saw this...

"Does NETVIGATOR BROADBAND service support any home network?

The terms & conditions of NETVIGATOR BROADBAND service had stated that only one single standalone connection per personal computer for single user plan & one single standalone connection for up to 4 personal computers for multi-users plan would be set up by us to access NETVIGATOR BROADBAND. Customer Services Hotline will answer the questions of accessing Internet only according to the subscription plan. "

It seems like I'm only allowed to plug one computer in!

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That's what the router is for. It acts like one connection and funnels the one connection from multiple devices through one IP address.

Even if the internet connection was shutting you out you should still be able to connect computer to computer through the router. OS8 might be too old. it's been a very very long time since I've used it so I don't remember what sort of technologies it was using.

ezkirk said:

OS 8 uses Appletalk via the chooser to connect to other computers. Maybe if I knew what the G4's IP address was then I could try to access it from the G3. I wouldn't have to use the G3 if my Adaptec 2906 SCSi card worked!!!! but that is another thread!

So the router takes my IP address and uses it for itself, then applies other adresses to the computers connected to it?

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Is that your 2906 is broken or is it that your Mac doesn't like the 2906?

fyi, My 2906 works ok (deep sleep too) in my G4 sawtooth.

ezkirk said:

OS 8 uses Appletalk via the chooser to connect to other computers. Maybe if I knew what the G4's IP address was then I could try to access it from the G3. I wouldn't have to use the G3 if my Adaptec 2906 SCSi card worked!!!! but that is another thread!

So the router takes my IP address and uses it for itself, then applies other adresses to the computers connected to it?

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If you want to know your G4's IP address just go to the system prefs/networking pref pane.

If your router is working correctly then you will have a similar address to one of the following.

10.0.1.1
172.16.1.1
192.168.1.1

The only digit that should be different is the very last one. If you have anything else then it's likely that your router is not distributing IP addresses the way it should.

What kind of router is it? Do you know the model number?

G4 Router problems

Back to basics:
The Macs not "seeing" each other and the Internet not being accessible are two separate problems.

First: If there is a problem with an Ehternet cable, you're going to have to find known-good cables. Your router seems to indicate that there are valid connections, as you get lights on both ports.

Mac to Mac:
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This is using the router simply as a hub. Alternatively, you can string a cable directly between the 2 machines' Ethernet ports; your G4 knows enough to switch between crossover and stright through.
0) Plug your two machines into ports 2 and 3 of the router (depending on the model, the router may reserve port 1, 4 or 5 for the cable modem, but 2 and 3 will be safe)
1) turn Appletalk on on both machines, Control Panels: Appletalk on the G3 and the System Preferences:Network: Built In Ethernet: Appletalk on the G4 (thats under 10.2.8, may be slightly different under 10.3.x)
2) Before your Macs will see anything on each other, you have to turn on File Sharing (File Sharing Control panel on G3, System Preferences:Sharing: Personal File Sharing on the G4)
3) Choose a folder on each machine and go to Get Info: Sharing or Get Info: Ownership and Permissions, and grant read and write access to everyone (this is insecure but we're just testing here)
4) Connect to the other machine as a Guest (Chooser: Appleshare on the G3, Command-K, Browse on the G4) If you can see the name of the other machine, then you know your networking is working.

Note: Mac OS's before 8.1 did not fully support Appleshare over IP. There is an Appleshare Client installer 3.8.x available from Apple for updating older OS's back to 7.5.

Internet:
---------
0) Before starting, write down all of the Network: TCP/IP settings or Control Panel: TCP/IP settings currently on your machines. This may give you DNS or other numbers you might need later. You will go back to these control panels/preference panes for the steps below.
1) Cabling: Identify which port on the router is the one designated for WAN or Cable/DSL modem connection and plug in the cable from the modem. This port may have a switch to change the polarity to accommodate straight through or crossover cables. Other times there are 2 choices of connectors for the one port. Choose the combination that lights up the Connected light on your router.
2) Find the owner's manual for the router (the manual should cover steps 3 and 4 below in more detail). This will tell you what the default internal address of the router is.
Note: When you insert a router between your Mac and the cable modem, you are creating a completely separate network and your Mac's existing Network or TCP settings may not work. This is normal - you have to set your machines correctly for the new network situation
3) Assuming that your router defaults to providing DHCP, set the Macs to get their Ethernet addresses "Using DHCP" or "Automatically". Restart if prompted.
4) If this does not work, change the TCP/IP settings on the Mac to "Manually" and type in the internal address for the router into the "Router" or "Gateway" field, enter 255.255.255.0 in the Subnet Mask field, choose 2 different numbers for the IP address of the two machines of the form AAA.BBB.CCC.111, AAA.BBB.CCC.112, where AAA BBB and CCC are the same as the router's internal address. Enter the DNS number you copied from step (0) in the DNS field, or call your ISP to ask them what the manual entry for their DNS is. Restart if prompted.

Some broadband providers need to provision your account for the specific device attached (as identified by its unique hardware or MAC address). If you substitute a router for a G4, they may have to make a change on your account before it will work. In my area this is true of DSL but not true of Cable. Some routers get around this by being able to "clone" the MAC address of your Mac and display that to the modem.

To check the status or adjust the settings of the router, for most models you will open Safari or IE and type in the numeric address of the router: example http://192.168.1.254 -- this may be different numbers for each model of router. Consult your manual. The router will probably default to acquiring its Internet address from the modem by DHCP. If your ISP has different requirements, such as static addresses or PPPoE, you will have to adjust the router settings to match them.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

ezkirk said:

Now the computer recognises that the router is connected, and when I see the 'network staus' it tells me that I am set up in DHCP and that I'm cnnected to the internet via 'built in ethernet'. The green light is indicating a connection.

When I check my network status on the icon in the menu bar it says (in light gray indicating I can't select it) that PPOE is Idol. It also gives the option to disconnect, indicating that I am currently connnected to the internet. However none of my internet applications can gain access!

I managed to connect to the router via http://198.296.1.1 but it then asked me for a name, user name and password. Exactly what details are these supposed to be?

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User name and password should have been setup by the network administrator at your work. If not then they will be whatever the default setup is for your router. I still do not know what brand and model of router we are dealing with.

G4 Router problems

> Find the owner's manual for the router
> If your ISP has different requirements, such as static addresses or PPPoE, you will have to adjust the router settings to match them.

Call your ISP's tech support. You need to make configurations that none of us here on the forum can guess at.

ezkirk said:

Can't find the manual as it is taken from work and the person who configured it has gone back to New Zealand!

I may be better off buying my own brand new, thinking about a D-link (which is the active router in our office).

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Could you look at it carefully there should be a model number on it somewhere. We can get the manuals for it online if we have the model number.

ezkirk said:

I took the router back to the office and we plugged it into another computer, it worked ok and so the guys in the office have decided they are going to keep it!

There goes hours of your time and mine spent trying to get it to work and all for nothing...

Looks like I'll have to buy a new one!

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Hey no problem I understand.

Just a word of advice though. I would recommend the Lynksis WRT54G or the Apple Airport Extreme Base Station if you want wireless. If you don't need wireless then just get something really cheap. You can pick up a decent non-wireless router for about $10.