IT Help
 

Does anybody know of a good IT support person in the Abu Dhabi / Khalifa City area?

I have a wireless network that does not cover the house (3 floors and made of concrete). I have bought two devices to try and expand the range of the router but cant get either to work. I have an Etisalat router and think that might be the problem (Etisalat usually are) but I have no idea how to configure these devices to work. I need somebody who can come out and set this up. Any ideas?

Thanks

Re: IT Help
 

Tell us what you bought and you might get some helpful hints...

Re: IT Help
 

I bought a Siemens wireless network repeater first of all and now I have bought a Linksys wireless-G extender that I cant even get past the initial configuration when it is connected to the Etisalat router via ethernet. I think a setting must be wrong on the router. The router has lots of configuration options but I have no idea where to start.

Thanks

Re: IT Help
 

Siemens Gigaset WLAN Repeater 108?

What happens when you try to access the initial configuration?

If you can connect to the Etisalat router with wires and wirelessly using a PC, that's probably not the problem.

The trick for the other devices is to make sure they are not acting as a router, and that the wireless settings match exactly - except for the channel it is broadcasting on.

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I can imagine that these will be problematic. Have you considered using the 'wired' version that uses the mains plug sockets as the network.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...46494&T=Module

Re: IT Help
 

I've got the same problem. 2 storey villa, internet is pretty fast if I sit in the office where my router is, but if I stray into the lounge (through 1 wall), then the signal is shite. Tried to use a second router off another port on the Etisalat box (model# Echolife Hg851), but no joy.


Anyone here managed to get a second model/router, whatever you call it, off the one etisalat box?

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If you set up the second router correctly, the Etisalat box should be none the wiser what you're doing. Unless it's somehow filtering MAC addresses from certain manufacturers, which is just bonkers.

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The Siemens device is a 108 repeater but I can get nothing out of that. The Linksys device should not be acting as a router as its a wireless access point only.

The initial set up with the Linksys says to connect it to the router with an ethernet cable then run the installation wizard which should find the access point and allow you to configure it. The setup wizard cannot find the device at all.

Re: IT Help
 

EM - the electrical system option won't work I am told because I have a seperate circuit for the sockets on each floor. Each floor in the house has its own RCD board. Surely this is a problem that can be solved even in the land that logic forgot?

Re: IT Help
 

The PC you are running the setup on is connected to the Etisalat router via wireless, right?

When you connect a new device to the Etisalat router via wireless, does it usually appear or do you have to tell it the name of the network?

Re: IT Help
 

Yes, the PC is connected to the router via the wireless while the setup is run.

When you bring a new device like a PC or smartphone into the vicinity of the router you see the SSID of my network and you can connect and enter the network password for access, that all works fine.

I connect the Linksys to the router and the mains power, all the lights are on as I am told to expect but when you run the setup it wont find the device and so I can only think that the router settings are the issue. Is it something to do with the WDS settings?

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Have you tried turning it off and on again.....

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Aaagh, an IT Professional arrives at last.

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Ok, great, so no problem on that side.

Firstly, how are you intending to use this repeater - with or without the ethernet cable running to the Etisalat router?

I downloaded the manual for the repeater - if you follow the instructions in Chapter 5, am I right that you get stuck on Step 7?

While the repeater is connected with wire to the router, WDS shouldn't be coming into play. What should happen is the repeater uses an IP address on your home network, which the setup program can then use to find it.

If your network uses the address range 192.168.1.x then you should be able to connect the extender to the router with a wire and then point your browser to 192.168.1.240 and see the extender setup page.

If your network uses a different address range, you have two options I think: 1) change your whole network to this address range, 2) change the IP address of the repeater.

2) might require you set it up manually, but that should be a case of logging into the extender and telling it your SSID, encryption type, password etc.

Re: IT Help
 

Thanks Typical, a few things for me to try here.

I had planned to use it once set up via the router by plugging it into one of the other telephone points wired into my villa and using the inbuilt 'network'. Somebody told me this would work. Is it feasible?

Re: IT Help
 

Ah. That's a bit different then! You want to use it as an Access Point, not as a range extender.

I guess this is because you get absolutely no wireless signal at all between floors? An extender is really designed to pick up a wireless network and then rebroadcast it. I don't know if the WRE54G can act as an AP without flashing some custom firmware.

Ok, then, first up, you'd need to do some patch wiring in the main control box - what you'd have would be:

Extender - Wall Socket A
Router - Wall Socket B
[In control box: Connection Wall Socket A Patch Port to Wall Socket B Patch Port]

You should then be able to connect the 108 to the wired network and have it work as an AP. You need to put it into Access Point mode and then make the wireless settings match exactly the Etisalat router (except for the channel, which should preferably be different).

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Mmmh, thats all getting very beyond my understanding:(.

Back to square one, anybody know a good IT guy to come and fix this up?

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try rebooting it again.

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Or maybe a decent size hammer :D:D

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lol I was thinking out the window..

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Well done team. Another question not answered.

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Actually, this is very helpful (despite my piss taking).

I have a question though... I'm thinking I may have to do this soon, do you just plug the AP into a spare LAN socket in the router (via the wired connections in the house)?

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Yeah, for me too. I needed bringing down a peg or two thinking I was all it with IT. That worked...:o

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Heh, I paid my way through uni doing this sort of stuff - then when I got my first real job, I spent loads of time doing it too, to set up situations where I could troubleshoot products. I was a useful member of society once... :p

Yep, exactly.

If you have two wireless points (maybe one router offering wifi and one additional access point plugged into it), the trick is to give them the same SSID and security, but put them on different channels. That way, where there is any overlap in coverage they won't interfere with each other, but you can still move seamlessly from one to the other.

Re: IT Help
 

Buy the longest ethenet patch cable you can find (about 90m is max), plug it into router, thread it through to where ever in the house you want it, then plug the other end into a ethernet hub (note hub not router) with wireless capability.

Bit like this http://www.sohoware.com/span/new_soh...nb2overall.jpg

It wont look pretty but should get you going, i did the same by putting cables through windows egyptian style! For other floors just repeat the same daisy chaining it all together to make a LAN network around the house. You can then add on printers and stuff if you wanted.

Should work i think.

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Thankfully a lot of places in Dubai now come with network wiring pre-installed. So no need to buy long patch cables. Were that places in the UK did it too!

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Interesting, whereas I spend my time on the college network being unhelpful... packet storming the thing, flooding ICQ ports and spoofing emails.

Perfect. I shall give that a shot.

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Oh, that was you :frown:

I remember one particularly productive evening with a packet sniffer... but best not to say more!