[jdewilde]

Hi all. I'm having a bit of trouble configuring my Datel Wifi Max USB dongle to detect my internet connection.

I have a very solid 8mb cable modem, and my connection hasn't gone down at all any time in recent memory. The wireless connection appears in network connections, but I am having difficulty configuring it due to the fact that the instructions provided with the dongle were not in English.

I've attempted to configure it by right clicking the wireless connection, navigating to the tcp/ip properties, and setting it to configure the ip settings automatically. At this point, it seems to search for it for a moment before I get a pop up that tells me the wireless connection has limited or no connectivity. Trying to repair it produces similar results.

I'm sure it's not a hardware issue and merely something I might have to configure manually, but I have no idea how to go about that.

Here's the ipconfig /all

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : YOUR-96D087D881
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : Yes
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : hsd1.fl.comcast.net.
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : NVIDIA nForce Networking Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-40-CA-92-D0-BD
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 65.34.162.174
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.254.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 65.34.162.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.74.10
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 68.87.74.162
68.87.68.162
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, December 09, 2007 5:21:47 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, December 13, 2007 1:01:48
AM

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : 802.11g Wireless USB2.0 Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0E-8E-07-45-CB
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.134.203
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[johnwill]

Please supply the following info, exact make and models of the equipment please.

Make and model of the broadband modem.
Make and model of the router.
Connection type, wired or wireless.
If wireless, encryption used, (none, WEP, WPA, or WPA2)
Make/model of your computer.



Have you tried disabling all encryption on the router to see if you can connect at that point?

 

[jdewilde]

Please supply the following info, exact make and models of the equipment please.

Make and model of the broadband modem.
Make and model of the router.
Connection type, wired or wireless.
If wireless, encryption used, (none, WEP, WPA, or WPA2)
Make/model of your computer.



Have you tried disabling all encryption on the router to see if you can connect at that point?

The cable modem is a D-Link DCM-202. There is no router connected to this computer, and it's wired. (cable modem). There is no encryption whatsoever on the connection.

My computer is an Emachines T3418. For the record, I have had the wireless dongle working properly with my current hardware setup before. It appears that the settings I had applied have either been reset or accidentally reconfigured somehow.

 

[johnwill]

Wait a minute! You're complaining the wireless USB dongle isn't working, but you don't have a router? What do you think you're connecting to? :4-dontkno

 

[jdewilde]

Wait a minute! You're complaining the wireless USB dongle isn't working, but you don't have a router? What do you think you're connecting to? :4-dontkno

Perhaps I don't understand the terminology. The cable modem is connected directly to my computer, which is connected to the cable itself and a power source, nothing else. The wireless usb dongle is meant (as I understand it), to act as a wireless access point on a computer without a wireless router.

Here is a link to the exact model of my dongle.

http://gear.ign.com/articles/704/704528p1.html

Please let me know if i'm missing something here.

 

[jdewilde]

Right. I apologize if my post was unclear. Here's the relevant information from the page in the link from the previous post.

"Fortunately, Datel is out to get even the least computer savvy among us online, and their WiFi MAX USB WiFi dongle will do just that. The small dongle is essentially an 802.11g WiFi card/access point. Simply put, if your computer has an internet connection, the WiFi MAX will act just like a wireless router when you plug it in, allowing your PSP or DS to go online, all without the hassle of setting up a dedicated router."

 

[johnwill]

OK, that's a lot more clear! :grin:

I have no idea about the issue, since I don't have any experience with that product. It appears that it is supposed to run with it's own software to provide routing functionality. Does it ask you to enable ICS on the machine, or does their software provide that functionality?

 

[jdewilde]

OK, that's a lot more clear! :grin:

I have no idea about the issue, since I don't have any experience with that product. It appears that it is supposed to run with it's own software to provide routing functionality. Does it ask you to enable ICS on the machine, or does their software provide that functionality?

It does run with its own software, which I configured properly after browsing some offsite tutorials. I'm not sure what ICS functionality is, and the software definitely doesen't make any mention of it.

I suppose the question I should be asking here is whether wifi dongles are supposed to automatically obtain an ip address if they are connected to a computer with an active (and always connected) internet connection.

Either way, would you happen to be familiar with how I might go about configuring the wireless IP settings manually to reflect my modem's?

 

[johnwill]

Well, you don't configure the IP address of that dongle, at least that's what I'm reading. You configure it to be the "router", and then the connecting device obtains an IP address.

If all of this is fuzzy, it's because without being there, it's difficult to diagnose what is happening with your dongle. Personally, I'd be using a standard wireless router. :smile: