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ledzeppeman

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 30, 2009
3
0
Hello, I'm having problems with my wifi for my ipod touch in certain cases. When I am in a wifi area, I USUALLY can connect to the internet. I look in settings>wi-fi and there will be an available connection labled "SETUP" (my neighbor's and in another instance, a friend's). I connect and get decent reception and it says I am connected, but when i go to an app. that uses the internet or the app. store or anything like that, i get an "invalid argument" message. If i go to safari, it says that it is loading the page but it never does! It just sits there forever... so can someone tell me how I could possibly fix this problem and connect to "SETUP"?
 
Is this a joke:confused:? If you want to load apps and safari, get your own ****ing wireless. It may say that your device is connected to wireless, but the connection is not stable or strong enough to be able to load safari.
 
Here's a simple fix. Stop leeching WiFi. You don't have control over there WiFi which is probably why you're having so many problems. Get you're own WiFi or go to a Hotspot.
 
I agree with the others; stop leeching.

As for why you're having problems, it's because the network "SETUP" is not an internet-carrying WiFi. It means someone has a WiFi-equipped printer (or other such device,) that was never set up to USE its WiFi connection. In all likelihood, the user is using USB. Some WiFi-equipped printer makers do this so that you can connect a laptop wirelessly to the printer, and then configure the printer from the laptop. Once it is properly set up, it connects to their own home internet-carrying WiFi signal.

It's also possible that other WiFi networks may not have encryption on them, but are MAC address limited. This means that your device will make the wireless connection, but the router will not allow you access to anything.

In short: Get your own WiFi. Or get your neighbor's permission (and help) in setting up your device to work on their connection.
 
In short: Get your own WiFi. Or get your neighbor's permission (and help) in setting up your device to work on their connection.

lol, That would be hilarious and creepy at the same time.

*knock, knock* "Hi, I'm your neighbor, can you help me get my iPod touch hooked up to your internet connection?"
 
lol, That would be hilarious and creepy at the same time.

*knock, knock* "Hi, I'm your neighbor, can you help me get my iPod touch hooked up to your internet connection?"

I have a neighbor who has an agreement with the person next to him; he pays half of the internet bll and gets to use the secured wi-fi. If both parties agree, I don't see any issue.
 
I have a neighbor who has an agreement with the person next to him; he pays half of the internet bll and gets to use the secured wi-fi. If both parties agree, I don't see any issue.

I agree, just go ask your neighbor; Assuming you know where the wifi is coming from. Either they are unaware that they have an open network and will probably appreciate you helping them close it, or they purposely left it open for other neighbors to use.

I run two wifi networks at home. My private one which is locked down tight and a (bandwidth limited) public one that is wide open for friends and neighbors to use.
 
I don't see why everyone assumes that i am leeching. They told me I could use it. I know my neighbors very well.

Besides that, thank you for the explanation about the wifi setup.

I feel it neccesary to reinterate that people shouldn't flame and jump to conclusions. This is my first time on this forum and I don't fell very welcome. I am not affecting you, so please do not get upset at me.

oh, one final note, my friend has a PSP and uses the wifi "SETUP" at his house, it doesn't work for my ipod. So I'm still a tad confused.
 
Firstly, unless you have consent from your neighbour to use their Wi-Fi, which I highly doubt you do, you're breaking the law by committing an offence called "bandwidth theft".
Secondly, unless you can actually go up to the router and start changing it's configuration there isn't much we can suggest.

You're having troubles with it because it's not your Wi-Fi.
 
I don't see why everyone assumes that i am leeching. They told me I could use it. I know my neighbors very well.

Besides that, thank you for the explanation about the wifi setup.

I feel it neccesary to reinterate that people shouldn't flame and jump to conclusions. This is my first time on this forum and I don't fell very welcome. I am not affecting you, so please do not get upset at me.

oh, one final note, my friend has a PSP and uses the wifi "SETUP" at his house, it doesn't work for my ipod. So I'm still a tad confused.

If you have consent from your neighbor to use their WiFi network, then I suggest you go over to their place and work out the connection issues. The iPod is not as strong as a laptop's WiFi so getting closer to the network will help you work out your issues.

Then, once you have successfully connected your iPod to their network at their place, go back to your place and see if you still can connect. If you can, great, if not, then the iPod/WiFi signal are not strong enough at that distance.
 
Obviously, if it works in some wifi areas, it is just a matter of adjusting
the neighbors network. But i'd add a password (secure) to this network.
 
wi-fi is tricky going from house to house. My father-in-law has wi-fi in his house and his son owns the house next door, but can only access the wi-fi in one room of the house. The houses aren't more than 30 feet apart.
 
Buy an Airport Express and set it in "booster" mode (sorry I don't have one so I don't know the details, but I know it's possible...) Plug it in near a window where the incoming signal from your neighbour's house is strong. The Airport Express will them "repeat" the free signal strongly throughout your house. And if your next-door neighbour is too cheap to buy his own internet connection, he can do the same thing and leach off you -- and so on, and so on.... Before you know it your whole city might be tapping into your neighbour's internet connection and in the process you've collectively created a glorious city-wide internet hotspot, the likes of which Google can only dream about. As long as none of you check email during peak times everything should hum along just fine.
 
Buy an Airport Express and set it in "booster" mode (sorry I don't have one so I don't know the details, but I know it's possible...) Plug it in near a window where the incoming signal from your neighbour's house is strong. The Airport Express will them "repeat" the free signal strongly throughout your house. And if your next-door neighbour is too cheap to buy his own internet connection, he can do the same thing and leach off you -- and so on, and so on.... Before you know it your whole city might be tapping into your neighbour's internet connection and in the process you've collectively created a glorious city-wide internet hotspot, the likes of which Google can only dream about. As long as none of you check email during peak times everything should hum along just fine.

You're better off getting This Linksys WRT160N Refurbished for $31 and installing DD-WRT on it, it would cost way less and be much better
 
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Firstly, unless you have consent from your neighbour to use their Wi-Fi, which I highly doubt you do, you're breaking the law by committing an offence called "bandwidth theft".
Secondly, unless you can actually go up to the router and start changing it's configuration there isn't much we can suggest.

You're having troubles with it because it's not your Wi-Fi.

did you even read the post above yours?
 
Glad you have permission. Have you tried using it while in your neighbor's house? (Or on his porch/etc...) If it works closer to the transmitter, then it is likely too low a signal at your place.

(And I apologize at least for my own apparent rudeness. I've seen too many people who are truly leeching, so when you didn't specify that you had permission, yes, that's what I assumed. You probably assumed that only people with permission would ask for help this way, whereas I assumed the opposite.)

You may want to ask the owner if they have any custom settings. Perhaps they don't have a DNS server set up in their router, so that you have to manually specify it. (I know a couple people that do that.)

As for sharing, myself and a couple of my neighbors all have open WiFi, with an open understanding that it's just fine to connect to any of ours. (There are parts of my house where I get my neighbor's WiFi better than my own; and my neighbor is in a similar situation, there are areas where he gets mine better than his.) In my case, I have a 5 GHz a+n, WPA2 encrypted, MAC-filtered, non-broadcast network for my own internal use; and a 2.4 GHz b-only 100% open network for sharing (and for my devices that don't have 5 GHz radios.) The b-only network also specifies to use an OpenDNS server with basic filtering turned on; so that my kids can't wander upon porn easily. (Yes, if you manually specify a DNS on your device, you can get around it; but my 15 year old isn't technically savvy enough to do that, and my 5 year old doesn't have permissions on her laptop; although I think she probably could do it if she did...)
 
Just too far away

MHO: If it's unencrypted then it can be used. You're too far away to use the wifi. You may be able to see the router but your pod isn't strong enough to talk back.

You can't use the airport express as a repeater without using WDS. If you really want to steal wifi google "wifi predator".
 
If you have consent from your neighbor to use their WiFi network, then I suggest you go over to their place and work out the connection issues. The iPod is not as strong as a laptop's WiFi so getting closer to the network will help you work out your issues.

Then, once you have successfully connected your iPod to their network at their place, go back to your place and see if you still can connect. If you can, great, if not, then the iPod/WiFi signal are not strong enough at that distance.

I get a perfect signal at my house because it is not that far away. They cannot figure out the connection issue either. I did mention that my friend has a PSP and can connect to that type of network so I believe it is something in particular to do with my ipod.
 
I actually always keep my wifi networks open, so neighbors or anyone in my area can use it. I kind of like that. I don't know why you guys are so mean about it.
 
I get a perfect signal at my house because it is not that far away. They cannot figure out the connection issue either. I did mention that my friend has a PSP and can connect to that type of network so I believe it is something in particular to do with my ipod.

I have found with my iPod, it will show a perfect signal (the WiFi symbol is completely illuminated) but still not able to connect.

It's still not clear if you tried your iPod at their place. You may be putting too much stock in that perfect signal icon.

Is your friend with the PSP the same as your neighbor who is giving you access to their WiFi? Is it possible to bring the PSP to your place to see if it connects there? I'm not sure if that will prove anything because the PSP would probably have a stronger WiFi chip.

I think the only way to solve this is to eliminate the distance issue. Your best bet is to go into your neighbor's house and stand in the same room as the router. Then see if you can get it to work there. Of course, I recommend calling first. Good luck.
 
The iPod truly has lousy wireless signal strength -- I have areas inside my apartment where I can't connect to my own wifi router! Basically, I seem to need a router or signal repeater in every room to guarantee myself a usable connection. :(
 
I actually always keep my wifi networks open, so neighbors or anyone in my area can use it. I kind of like that. I don't know why you guys are so mean about it.
yeah, that's cool and all...until someone hacks your systems b/c your wireless gives out ip addr on the same subnet as your computers; ...or RIAA/MPAA sends you a letter claiming your ip block has been stealing their intellectual property, ...or men-in-black breaks down your doors b/c someone's hacked DOD/NSA property via your ip (block).
 
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