so, I set up my earthlink cable internet last night and tried to make it wireless- I have the linksys wireless g broadband router and the new 15" aluPB. After figuring out that all of the included drivers/software was for PC, I gave connecting via airport a try, (again and again..) and got close, but it kept giving me a 169... IP address. Followed Linksys' support instructions to no avail. Anybody have any ideas? I would appreciate any suggestions you all have. Thanks!!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Connecting PB w/Airport Extreme and Linksys Router....
- Thread starter gemio17
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You should probably try setting up the Linksys with an ethernet cable first. The routers default address is probably 192.168.0.1 or something (look in the documentation). Open safari and type in the address of the router. You might need the password (again, look in the documentation).gemio17 said:
Set up the router, there may be a "Wizard" function. Try that. Make sure you set the router for 802.11g and set it up as a DCHP server.
On your PB, set up the Network Preference to obtain an IP via DCHP. That should get you up and running.
linksys
Connect to it using a network cable. put 192.168.1.1 in the address of the browser and use user name "admin" and password the same. You can set it up to use WAP and hide the SIS name. Then try to connect to it. If you put a password on it, when you go to put the password in, put a $ sign infront of it. so it would be "$adflkasjdgalkaljsdflkasdf".
The driver and software are pointless, its just a flash thing that steps you though the setup process, no software gets installed or anything.
Connect to it using a network cable. put 192.168.1.1 in the address of the browser and use user name "admin" and password the same. You can set it up to use WAP and hide the SIS name. Then try to connect to it. If you put a password on it, when you go to put the password in, put a $ sign infront of it. so it would be "$adflkasjdgalkaljsdflkasdf".
The driver and software are pointless, its just a flash thing that steps you though the setup process, no software gets installed or anything.
ftaok said:
Yep, did all that..the problem I am running into is in system prefs/network under airport I am putting in "a specified network" (in accordance w/the linksys tech support) and trying to join my linksys network and it doesn't want to accept my password that I set up on the linksys management site..I got close when I put in the router's default password,(that's when I got the 169..IP address in my DCHP) but I keep changing it to what I want to the network name and password to be (the successfully changed screen comes up on the linksys management site) but it just won't click....frustrating. It must be a little setting that I'm missing.
ftaok said:
gemio17, ftaok is absolutely correct.
you don't need a PC or any drivers to make your Linksys work with your Mac. I have the Linksys WRT54g.
1. connect your router and mac with an ethernet cable. if the only one you have is connecting your modem with your router, go out and get a second ethernet wire.
2. in Safari, go to 192.168.1.1 and you'll get a login screen. leave the top line blank and in the bottom field type "admin" (without quotes).
3. you are now in the web-based setup utility. here you can create a password, choose your channel, disable SSID broadcast, set up a MAC address filter -- you can do it all. you can also update your router's firmware / no PC required.
the MAC address filter is very handy. it lets you restrict everyone from your network, except for specific machines.
good luck, let me know if it works or if you have any other questions.
169.254.xxx.xxx address are IP autoconfiguration IP addresses. Your machine will generate one of these one its own when it cannot contact a DHCP server, in your case, your Linksys router.
I just setup a Linksys 802.11b router for my friend's 15'' Tipb and I had a few issues with it as well, but I was able to get it going.
I left the router in a mostly default configuration. I changed the SSID to something other than linksys so people couldn't easily guess the network name. I also told the router not to broadcast the SSID because it makes it that much easier for anyone to jump on the router. I didn't bother configuring WEP because in all honesty, it doesn't help much to begin with.
Next I made sure the DHCP server was configured and I reduced the number of possible clients to two, one for his G4 cube, and one for his laptop. That's all that needed doing.
On the PB, I clicked on the airport icon on the top bar, selected "other network" and entered the SSID I configured on the router. No password or anything. It connected, got an IP address, and off it went.
Be aware that the password you configure on the router for management should not be entered into the wireless card. They are not one in the same. Doing the above steps should at least get you up and running. I had a little trouble when I went to configure WEP, so in the end I ended up configuring MAC address filtering in the advanced section of the router setup. That should make it at least difficult to get a free ride on the router.
Hope this helps...
I just setup a Linksys 802.11b router for my friend's 15'' Tipb and I had a few issues with it as well, but I was able to get it going.
I left the router in a mostly default configuration. I changed the SSID to something other than linksys so people couldn't easily guess the network name. I also told the router not to broadcast the SSID because it makes it that much easier for anyone to jump on the router. I didn't bother configuring WEP because in all honesty, it doesn't help much to begin with.
Next I made sure the DHCP server was configured and I reduced the number of possible clients to two, one for his G4 cube, and one for his laptop. That's all that needed doing.
On the PB, I clicked on the airport icon on the top bar, selected "other network" and entered the SSID I configured on the router. No password or anything. It connected, got an IP address, and off it went.
Be aware that the password you configure on the router for management should not be entered into the wireless card. They are not one in the same. Doing the above steps should at least get you up and running. I had a little trouble when I went to configure WEP, so in the end I ended up configuring MAC address filtering in the advanced section of the router setup. That should make it at least difficult to get a free ride on the router.
Hope this helps...
thanks all- I'll try all of your suggestions out tonight- I appreciate your help- I swear it's probably just one step that I'm doing wrong- god forbid apple should make setup a cinch for 3rd party products...where's the fun in that??
If you are using encryption on the linksys, make sure that the encryption setting match on both sides, for example if the linksys is configured for 128 bit WEP, make sure the airport is configured to use 128 bit WEP.
Hopefully that might help. That being said, here is my two cents on wireless. I cut and pasted this from another reply I wrote for someone else, It refers to airport, not airport extreme, but both can support WPA, If you are already running Panther you can ignore the Jaguar vs Panther stuff too, put I'll leave it in here for anyone else reading this, because any airport on Jaguar can not currently support WPA, which is much much more secure then WEP. By the way, in addition to the stuff mentioned below, to further secure my wireless, I only use the wireless access point as a bridge, and do not allow mine to run DHCP, so I have to configure TCP/IP setting manually. Just an additional step to prevent people from hopping into my network.
Here is the pasted text.
Both the Linksys WAP device you have and the Airport running on Jaguar will only support 128 bit WEP as the maximum encryption. As I work with security, I personally do not find this exceptable, because of inherent weaknesses in WEP. It will obviously have cost associated with this recomendation, so you will have to determine if a secure network is worth the cost or not.
I would recommend buying a wireless access point that supports WPA. Then configure the WAP device to use WPA for security, run as a closed networked, and allow only the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the Airport on the Macintosh to join the wireless network. However to use WPA security on the Macintosh, you will need to update the Airport software to at least version 3.3, and to do this you will have to be running Panther. As I said there would be a cost involved, but for me, I would do whatever I could to stop someone from accessing my internal network.
Cost here ... let's see
[Edit] Went to linksys site to verify info, They do say that they have added support for WPA, so you may be able to flash the firmware on your linksys if it does not already support WPA. I would recommend using WPA. For WPA in the Macintosh, you can go to Airport help and search for WPA. [end Edit]
Buy a WAP device that support WPA, such as Airport Extreme Base Station.
Upgrade the operating system on the Macintosh to Panther.
Anyway good luck.
Some additional reading about WEP (an older doc, but just lets you know how long the problem has been around.
http://www.sans.org/rr/papers/68/149.pdf
Good document on caomparing WEP and WPA, plus securing wireless in general
http://www.giac.org/practical/GSEC/Stanley_Wong_GSEC.pdf
Hopefully that might help. That being said, here is my two cents on wireless. I cut and pasted this from another reply I wrote for someone else, It refers to airport, not airport extreme, but both can support WPA, If you are already running Panther you can ignore the Jaguar vs Panther stuff too, put I'll leave it in here for anyone else reading this, because any airport on Jaguar can not currently support WPA, which is much much more secure then WEP. By the way, in addition to the stuff mentioned below, to further secure my wireless, I only use the wireless access point as a bridge, and do not allow mine to run DHCP, so I have to configure TCP/IP setting manually. Just an additional step to prevent people from hopping into my network.
Here is the pasted text.
Both the Linksys WAP device you have and the Airport running on Jaguar will only support 128 bit WEP as the maximum encryption. As I work with security, I personally do not find this exceptable, because of inherent weaknesses in WEP. It will obviously have cost associated with this recomendation, so you will have to determine if a secure network is worth the cost or not.
I would recommend buying a wireless access point that supports WPA. Then configure the WAP device to use WPA for security, run as a closed networked, and allow only the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the Airport on the Macintosh to join the wireless network. However to use WPA security on the Macintosh, you will need to update the Airport software to at least version 3.3, and to do this you will have to be running Panther. As I said there would be a cost involved, but for me, I would do whatever I could to stop someone from accessing my internal network.
Cost here ... let's see
[Edit] Went to linksys site to verify info, They do say that they have added support for WPA, so you may be able to flash the firmware on your linksys if it does not already support WPA. I would recommend using WPA. For WPA in the Macintosh, you can go to Airport help and search for WPA. [end Edit]
Buy a WAP device that support WPA, such as Airport Extreme Base Station.
Upgrade the operating system on the Macintosh to Panther.
Anyway good luck.
Some additional reading about WEP (an older doc, but just lets you know how long the problem has been around.
http://www.sans.org/rr/papers/68/149.pdf
Good document on caomparing WEP and WPA, plus securing wireless in general
http://www.giac.org/practical/GSEC/Stanley_Wong_GSEC.pdf