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New Macbook/Linksys router-need help!!!

M

macnewbie999

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 6, 2009
8
0
Can someone help me please? I'm an idiot at this stuff. Got new white Macbook today. Purchased linksys wireless router Wrt54gs and can'y figure out how to make either of them work. Turned on Macbook, got up to the place in system assistant where it asks how I will connect to the internet and I'm stumped already. Do I select airport wireless, even though I don't have an airport router? Should I configure router first before setting up macbook? How do I configure router? Do I need computer IP address? Where do I find it? I'm so lost my head is just swimming. Right now I have a desktop PC connected to internet via cable modem. I've never felt so stupid in my life. I'm an old lady which probably doesn't help. :(
 
The Mac likely thinks you have a wireless router because you don't have an ethernet cord plugged into the machine. It may also be detecting wireless signals from neighbors, but you shouldn't connect to those as it could potentially become a security issue. Skip pass the internet setup for now. You can connect after you finish setting up your computer account.

To do the initial setup of your wireless router you'll need to plug in an ethernet cord. Once you plug an ethernet cord into the machine, the router will automatically assign an IP address to your machine. You won't be able to setup the router until you've created an account on one of your machines. The router can be setup through a web browser (Safari). The manual for the router should tell you all about this. Essentially access the URL http://192.168.1.1/ and use "admin" for the user name and password. Then from there you'll be able to do various configuring. Again, see the maul for specific help or look at online guides like this one.

Hope this clears it up a bit. Feel free to ask further questions if you have them.
 
More questions

Thanks for taking time to reply. Okay, here's what I've done so far. I just took the router out of the box and plugged it in. Not too smart, Huh? Then I clicked around in Setup assistant on Mac, I selected airport, and linksys and some other stuff and mac seems to be connected wirelessly. When I click the airport symbol at the top of the page, a box appears with Linksys and a check mark next to it. So does this means the mac is getting a wireless signal from the router or am I hijacking someone else's signal?
If I somehow got myself connected, don't I need a password to keep people from getting my signal? Do I need to connect the macbook to the router to do this? Thanks for your help. I'm still dazed and confused.
 
If I recall correctly, Linksys routers come with very straightforward configuration instructions, which will also work on a Mac.

You don't need an internet connection to set up your Mac. It's fine to take care of that once the Mac is up and running.
 
By default, the router won't have a password. Also, it's name will be linksys in the airport menu like you see. Read through the manual for changing the name of your wireless network and to setup the password. Doing so involves opening your browser (Safari) and put in the URL http://192.168.1.1 and that will take you to the admin page. It'll ask you for user name and password which is 'admin' for both. Consult the manual for changing that default password as hackers will know the default accounts settings too.

Once logged in, click on Wireless in the page menu. This will take you to another page. From here you can set the name of the wireless network. Look for the text field labeled Wireless Network Name (SSID). This is where you'll name your wireless network. You can pick whatever name you like. Go ahead and click the Save Settings button after this so it takes effect.

Next, from the Wireless page, click on Wireless Security on the menu. This will take you to where you can setup the password. Set the Security Mode to WPA2 Personal and then set the WPA Algorithms to AES. Next, for the WPA Shared Key is the password for accessing your wireless network. Be sure to keep note of the key for future reference like when you have a relative visiting that wants to connect. Hit the Save Settings buttons once again and you're setup and fairly secure. The manual has directions for further security if you're up for it, but this much is the minimal security you need to do.
 
Back with more dumb questions re WRT54gs

Bear with me folks I just don't know the right terms to use to describe stuff. Went to the linksys site at 192.168.1.1 to try to set up a password. Went through the process, seemed to work ok. At the last screen, the password screen, when I clicked save settings, this little box dropped down with a place for a password and said i would need to login to wrt54gs at 192.168.1.1:80. Where'd that :80 come from? Is it supposed to be there? Entered password, got invalid password message. Crap. Closed linksys site. When I clicked on the little airport(is that what it's called?) symbol at the top of the screen, It scans and then a dropdown box appears with a list of networks. I can see the network name I used with a little lock next to it, but get invalid password when I try to login. If I reset router I can login but then network is totally unsecure. <heavy sigh> Yes, I know I sound like the stupidest person alive but I don't know what to do. I'm about to put my shiny new macbook back in the box and sell it on ebay. Anyone want to buy one? I've only had it for 2 days. :(
 
You're doing fine. This stuff isn't straight forward for first timers.

The :80 simply represents port 80, which is the port used for HTTP traffic between your computer and the internet. When it asked for the password I think it was asking for the router password, not the one you setup for the wireless network. Yes there's two sets of passwords; one for the Linksys administration, and one for your wireless network. So, unless you changed it, you'll put in admin for the user name and password when it prompts you.

And as far as that airport menu, that name works well enough. I sometimes refer to it as my wireless menu.
 
I had, until a few days ago, a very simmilar setup, a macbook and a Linksys Wrt54g.

You plug the router first to the electrical outlet, not to the internet modem (this is just out of safety). On your mac (which you've already turned on and created a user in) you plug an ethernet cable and connect it to the router, open safari and type 192.168.1.1 on the address bar. When safari asks for a username and password, you leave the username blank and type "admin" in the password field (without the "").

There you can change (adjust) the name of the network (instead of Linksys, you can name it whatever you want), choose a password, etc, etc.

You don't need to install anything.

I hope I made myself clear and this somehow helps you.
 
Thanks for replys

I'll keep trying. I may be back for more help!! I just know there has to be a way to make this work.
 
I'm back again

This time with a measure of success. Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond to my plea for help. I actually managed to created a network, with a password that works!! I really appreciated your kind and patient replys. Of course, I still have an issue I don't know how to resolve. Somehow in all my useless mucking around, I managed to create a network that's not passworded. How do I get rid of it? It's still out there and alive.
 
macnewbie999 said:
Somehow in all my useless mucking around, I managed to create a network that's not passworded. How do I get rid of it? It's still out there and alive.
Click to expand...

Are you 100% sure it's a network you created? It may be someone else's network who lives near you. For instance, I live in an apartment and can see around 16 wireless networks. Also, I don't believe it's possible for your router to broadcast more than one network, which gives more reason to believe it's not yours.

Hopefully your setup of the router was your router and not your neighbor's router (who may not have changed the defaults). It has been known to happen. It also may have been the reason you had trouble earlier. But for now, I wouldn't worry about it. If your secure network disappears, it may be because it was your neighbors and they have reset it in order to get it working for them again.
 
Uh-oh

angelwatt said:
Are you 100% sure it's a network you created? It may be someone else's network who lives near you.

Hopefully your setup of the router was your router and not your neighbor's router (who may not have changed the defaults). It has been known to happen. It also may have been the reason you had trouble earlier. But for now, I wouldn't worry about it. If your secure network disappears, it may be because it was your neighbors and they have reset it in order to get it working for them again.
Click to expand...

Oh dear. It never occurred to me that it might be someone else's network. My bad. I do live in an apartment. Lesson learned. Nice to know that I probably can't create more than one network at a time.
 
There's an easy way to make sure.

1) Turn off wireless networking on your MacBook using the AirPort menu in the top right corner of the screen.
2) Connect your MacBook's ethernet port to LAN1 on the router. If you don't have a spare ethernet cable, it's fine to unplug the one that connects your router's WAN port and your modem.
3) Go to 192.168.1.1.

This is the way to go whenever you're configuring a wireless device. Otherwise you'll be disconnected and have to reconnect every time you make a configuration change. Once you're done configuring, you can unplug the cable and connect to the wireless network again.
 
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