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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Airport Connection to Windows Xp

vtmac - Jul 27, 2005 - 4:34 pm

I am trying to get my Dell laptop to connect to the Internet through an Airport dual ethernet base station. The Dell has WIndows XP. I only have a dialup connection(no broadband available here) and Dell support told me this could not work without a DSL or Cable modem connection. I don't think this true, is it?
I have a Mac laptop and desktop that do connect to the Internet through the base station.
On the Dell, it recognizes the wireless connection but the IP address is of the 169... type. I don't know how to have it pick up an IP address thru the base station.
On the Macs I use Internet Connect to dial into our AOL account and then the AOL application connects with a TCP connection.
I've seen other questions like this on the internet but have not found one that has helped me yet.
Thanks in advance
Linda

dsatchell - Jul 28, 2005 - 2:45 am

Hi Linda,

Its difficult to tell you if this is possible without fully understanding your situation. I'd like to ask you a few questions so I can customise your solution to work with your setup. From what you have told me so far, I have no reason to believe that you cannot set this up without broadband. If you would like, copy these questions into the reply, and answer them one by one.

1. What is your dial-up phone line connected to - a Mac, or directly into the Airport base station (only some models support this)?

2. How is the Mac laptop connected to the base station - wirelessly or cabled?

3. How is the Mac desktop connected to the base station - wirelessly or cabled?

4. Can you currently access the internet on both the Mac laptop and the Mac desktop at the same time, using the connections you explained in question 2 and 3?

5. What do you use to configure the Dell for wireless, if anything - standard Windows XP settings ('View Available Networks' etc). or a special client (such as the one that Dell provides called 'Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility')?

Once you can provide responses for these I will be able to help you further. Thank you for your patience during this process, wireless networks (particularly on Windows) can be a complicated and messy process. If you need further clarification on anything here, please do not hesitiate to respond.

David.

vtmac - Jul 28, 2005 - 7:15 pm

1. What is your dial-up phone line connected to - a Mac, or directly into the Airport base station (only some models support this)?
Directly into the base station

2. How is the Mac laptop connected to the base station - wirelessly or cabled?

wirelessly

3. How is the Mac desktop connected to the base station - wirelessly or cabled?

wirelessly

4. Can you currently access the internet on both the Mac laptop and the Mac desktop at the same time, using the connections you explained in question 2 and 3?

No, I can't because AOL will only let one user sign on at a time.

5. What do you use to configure the Dell for wireless, if anything - standard Windows XP settings ('View Available Networks' etc). or a special client (such as the one that Dell provides called 'Dell Wireless WLAN Card Utility')?

I have just used the Windows XP settings. Is the Dell utility on the computer or is that a special app I would need to buy or download?

dsatchell - Jul 29, 2005 - 6:48 am

Hi Linda,

Dell Support is clearly wrong on this issue, I suspect they didn't fully understand what Airport base station you were using. If you can use it to connect using your Apple laptop, you can connect using the Dell - the only thing I am not sure about is the AOL login. As for the Dell utility, it is available freely from the Dell support website, but in my experience it is more a problem than a help.

We can start by getting the dynamic IP assigned to your Dell laptop from the base station. Right-click on the little computer that appears near the clock to show your wireless connection and select 'Show Available Wireless Networks'. To the side, click 'Advanced Options' or something similar. In the window that opens up, scroll the large box until you see 'TCP/IP' or similar, select it and click properties. On this page, you should have 'Assign IP Automatically' and 'Assign DNS Automatically' or similar. Click 'Ok' on all the open windows, follow any additional instructions that it may give you, and see if the IP updates to something that Airport gives out.

Hopefully this will get us an Airport IP, the first step in solving this problem.

David.

vtmac - Aug 1, 2005 - 8:49 am

Hi David,
Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I have made the changes you suggested. "Assign IP automatically"..etc and it still is generating an invalid IP address (169...) Windows Repair program tried to get a valid IP address but it couldn't. I also have DHCP active on the Dell.
Actually the Dell is having some problems itself not wireless related so maybe I will put this issue aside for now and get the Dell working correctly.
THank you for you help. SUre wish it had worked.:-)
Linda

dsatchell - Aug 1, 2005 - 8:59 am

No problems Linda. It may also be an authentication issue, although that should at least give you an error message.

I'll go ahead and close this ticket, remember we're always here when your ready to try again.

David.

vtmac - Aug 4, 2005 - 7:56 pm

Hi David,
I'm back. We had to get a new battery for the Dell.

I am so close to getting the wireless to work but there is a piece missing. I can now get a valid IP address from the Airport DHCP router. (I had typed a mistake in the Hex password key.)
I can also get the Dell now to connect wirelessly to the Internet but only when my Mac laptop is already connected through Internet Connect. Then I can connect to AOL on the Dell with a TCP/IP connection. (Hope this is making sense)
I think I need to find an application like Apple's Internet Connect that works with the Dell. There appears to be a program called Dial-Up Connection on the Dell but I haven't found a setting that works yet.

Dell has been calling me daily to still try to make this work. I keep getting technicians with increasing expertise. We finally closed out the case today with them saying I would have to buy some software to make this work.

So if you have any other suggestions, I would appreciate it. I know this sounds like more of a PC problem than an Apple problem. I think the Airport is set up correctly.
Thanks in advance.
Linda

dsatchell - Aug 4, 2005 - 8:18 pm

Hi Linda,

Good to hear you got the other problems sorted out. You Airport is working correctly. It is a Windows problem you are now having.

Unfortunately for us, when you purchase the Airport base station, there is no software that can let us connect using the Windows computers - the Windows software you have found is not compatible. Apple's official solution to this is what you are doing now - connect using the Mac, and then use the PC.

I can offer one hope for you however. An internet user that was not happy with this solution has created his own program that will allow you to connect and disconnect using Windows.
You can find this program here:

http://edge.mcs.drexel.edu/GICL/peop...irport/#Hangup

You simply download the one that corresponds to your base station. You will also need an environment called Java on your Dell to run this program. If you do not have Java, it can be installed at

http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

It is rather large, I'm not sure if Dell will have installed it for you already (some manufacturers do), that might be something you want to look at.

All in all, if you install Java correctly and then run the program at the above address, you should get a little connection box that lets you connect and disconnect at will from the Windows laptop.

Thanks for getting back to me, I hope this further helps you in your problem - you have certainly been given the run around by Dell. If you have further trouble on the Windows end, perhaps you could contact them with this new information and see if they can help you to get it to work - I personally have never used the Windows version of this program, only the Mac version.

David.

vtmac - Aug 5, 2005 - 9:04 am

Thanks David. I will try this and if it doesn't work, I will just have to use the other solution of having my Mac connected. You have been very helpful.
Linda

dsatchell - Aug 7, 2005 - 7:12 am

Thanks Linda,

I will go ahead and close your ticket. Please let me know if you need any further help. Thank you for choosing macosx.com,

David.