NEWBIE Q

[maratik]

Hello everyone,
Just picked up a IPAQ 5455 and trying to get this thing to work with my wireless router. My current set up is a netgear MR814 wireless router. Have one PC connected to the HUB, 2 other PCs are connected with wireless USB adapters. The router is set up with all the defaults in place such as IP address and all the basic settings. I am very new to the Pocket PC world and have tried with little success to get my ipaq to surf the internet. The ipaq is showing a strong signal but when i open internet exploer it will give following messages...CAN NOT OBTAIN IP ADDRESS FROM SERVER or THE PAGE YOU ARE LOOKING FOR IS NOT FOUND. Have tried numerous options but to no success. Any help will be greatly appriciated. I see my self visiting this forum often now that i haev a pocket pc and there seems to be GREAT information on this forum. Thanks again.

[seanturner]

Do a soft reset and then enable 802.11b (if it doesn't come on on bootup that is).

Then, open up the iPaq 802.11b utility and click the status then advanced tab to see your IP address (I could have the order of those buttons wrong)

Is it giving your PPC an IP address similar to that of your desktop? (IE are the first 3 groups of numbers the same)?

If it is getting an IP address, download vxUtil and see if you can ping your router.

[maratik]

Unfortunately, i am not getting an IP address in the advanced settings. I have tried inputting the IP address with gateway and subnet mask address manualy but still little success. The PPC does not automatically get an IP address. One of the messages that i get from the PPC is that its "unable to get IP address from the server." With my limited experience with PPC, i have run into a dead end with the wireless.

[seanturner]

Do you have MAC address based filtering installed on your router?

[maratik]

I dont believe so. Have looked through all the settings of the Router and dont see anything reffering to filtering. All the settings on the router are default settings. I havent changed anything on it since purchase. Perhaps now is the time to do so. Its just i dont know where to begin to resolve my current situation. Thanks for your replies.

[seanturner]

Try changing the preamble to long preamble.

It will probably be under a wireless tab somewhere. I know that that setting has caused some problems with non prism chipset wireless products...

[maratik]

Do not see those settings in my router.

[seanturner]

The first thing I would try is going to the Netgear website and downloading hte latest firmware for your router. Then see if you get those pages. (I know with Linksys at least you weren't able to configure those options until several months after they released their router.


Would it be possible for you go to somewhere else to test your iPaq and make sure it is working?

Also, you might also try a hard reset...

It seems to me that the problem is in one of three areas: your iPaq, your router's security settings, or your router's preamble settings.

[maratik]

Currently the router has the most up to date firmware. Checked the website to confirm that. I will try to check my PPC at school where we have wireless available throughout the entire campus. I hope its not my ipaq because i just purchased it yesterday. Are there any other settings i should look into on the ipaq or the router. I have seen other people on this forum with similar situations as me with their H5455/H5450. They all seemed to correct their problems with security settings. But i dont have any encryption currently set on the router and the ipaq has the encryption setting disabled. Thanks again for your replies.

[seanturner]

Hmmn... I'm not that familiar with netgear routers (i only have switches from netgear) but do they have a config utility of some sort which could be what is used to set the security settings? I would imagine they would be under the same tab as their WEP settings.

Which begs teh question, do you have WEP enabled?

[maratik]

No, WEP was not enabled. I just enabled it and i think there is some progress. I have turned on 64 bit encryption and now under Status in wireless setting the ipaq is showing an IP address, i think one that has been assigned by the server. But internet explorer still is giving me PAGE CAN NOT BE FOUND message.

[seanturner]

Wow, progress by enabling WEP, that's a first.

What are the first 3 groups of numbers in your IP address?

If they are 169.254.something.something it is useless and the PPC is assigning itself an IP. However, you might be able to manually assign yourself an IP address.

[maratik]

Ok, you are right, the IP address is 169.254.... I just switched my routher to 64 bit encryption and got my 2 computers to work with it. I was impressed that everyting worked from the first try. Anyways, the PPC is still kicking my butt though. How do i choose an IP address manually?

[seanturner]

Oh, under hte connection manager i think there is an option to set your ip address. Make sure that you set your default gateway in addition to your IP address.

After you've done that open vxUtil and try to ping your router and one of your desktop computers and see if that works.

[maratik]

No cigar. I cant ping my router nor any of the computers. A few settings back i was able to ping my router but out of 5 tries it would only return 2 or 3 good while rest were bad. THANKS so much for your replies. I will try and play around with it in school and see if that gets me anywhere. Thanks again. Will return to this forum tomorrow after i get done with school

[maratik]

Havent had the chance to test the ipaq anywhere else. Still trying to figure this out. Anything else i can try? Thanks.

[seanturner]

Try another brand wireless card on your network? (preferably the Proxim Orinoco)

[maratik]

:D Everything is working fine now. Called NETGEAR(my wireless router manufacturer) support and she walked me through manual IP address install. Not sure why it isnt detecting IP automatically. In school today, i tested my ipaq and it automatically detected everything and i was able to surf the net in school flawlessly. HP support was USELESS. Thanks for your replies. :lol:

[seanturner]

Hmmn.... wierd....