# Linksys WRT54G wireless router setup



## kaitlyn235 (Oct 28, 2008)

I have connected everything that needs to be connected and now I am trying to configure my Linksys WRT54G router. I followed the directions on the Linksys website which states to open Safari and type in the default ip address (192.168.1.1), but when I try to do that, the browser times out because it cannot find the address. I checked for the ip address in system preferences under router and it was different, so I tried copy and pasting that into safari/mozilla, but there was still no page found. I've also tried resetting the router but holding in the reset button for 30 seconds, but that did not work either. I'm about ready to just give up on this thing!

Oh yea - I have the router connected to my Mac and it works fine, but since I can't configure the network, I can't set the wireless settings so that I can connect wirelessly... if that makes any sense!

I set up wireless internet on my other Windows computers without this problem and I do not know what to do. If anyone could help I would GREATLY appreciate it!


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## ora (Oct 29, 2008)

Just to be clear about the last bit, you have connected the router to the mac with an ethernet cable before you try and enter 192.188.1.1 in the browser right?

As I recall you have to configure the router over ethernet before you can even enable the wireless.


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## Mikuro (Oct 29, 2008)

> I checked for the ip address in system preferences under router and it was different


What was it? It ought to be 192.168.1.1. In that same window, is it set to configure with DHCP, or manually?


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## simbalala (Oct 29, 2008)

If it's working as she says:



> Oh yea - I have the router connected to my Mac and it works fine, but since I can't configure the network, I can't set the wireless settings so that I can connect wirelessly... if that makes any sense!


A simple traceroute in terminal should show the router's IP address, like so...

traceroute to macosx.com (67.228.13.170), 64 hops max, 40 byte packets
 1  192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)  2.660 ms  23.535 ms  4.511 ms

That's a WRT54G


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## kaitlyn235 (Oct 29, 2008)

It's set to configure with DHCP automatically.  And yes, I have the router hooked up to my computer with an ethernet cord - that is how the internet is working.  However, when I try to find the configuration page (with either the default ip or the ip shown under network preferences) the page will not load; therefore, if I unplug the ethernet cord, I cannot connect to the internet wirelessly because I don't know the network name or password.


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Oct 29, 2008)

When you reset the router, was it connected to a power source?  I believe the reset function has to be done while the router is powered on.


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## kaitlyn235 (Oct 29, 2008)

ElDiabloConCaca said:


> When you reset the router, was it connected to a power source?  I believe the reset function has to be done while the router is powered on.



Yes, it was plugged in.


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## Kees Buijs (Oct 31, 2008)

Which IP-number do you use, the number for the computer or for the gateway. You must use the ip-number for the gateway (router).

Please specify what you find under network. It should get its ip-number from the DHCP server (so not set to e.g. manual).

In general your computers ip-number is equal to the routers ip-number, except for the last digit group, which is very often 1.

But this only works when the information is supplied by the DHCP server.

So if e.g. your computer has ip 192.168.3.32 than the router is normally 192.168.3.1 (and the netmask normally is something like 255.255.255.0).

Good luck, Kees


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## kaitlyn235 (Nov 1, 2008)

Kees Buijs said:


> Which IP-number do you use, the number for the computer or for the gateway. You must use the ip-number for the gateway (router).
> 
> Please specify what you find under network. It should get its ip-number from the DHCP server (so not set to e.g. manual).
> 
> ...



Netowork preferences says the router number is 71.61.216.1 - I put that in the address bar, and it doesn't work.  I don't think anyone can help me.. this is really depressing! Lol.. thanks for trying, though! Maybe I should just buy an airport from Apple.


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## Satcomer (Nov 2, 2008)

This is odd. You said you went to System Preferences->Network (you must be connected via a known good ethernet cable for the first time). I say this is weird because 99% of all Linksys routers come with the default DHCP IP of 19.2.168.1.1, especially after a proper factory reset.

So try these steps, in order (even if you tried them before):

1. Unplug the Mac & the router from ethernet.

2. Turn the Mac off.

3. Turn the modem off.

4. Do a factory reset again on the router.

5. Plug everything back up once the modem starts up (leave the modem off for 5 minutes)

6. Plug everything back up and and wait for OS X to get an IP from the Linksys (checking system Preferences->Network, the Ethernet tab for the router IP.

7. Cross your finders to see if the router actually reset.


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## Kees Buijs (Nov 3, 2008)

kaitlyn235 said:


> Netowork preferences says the router number is 71.61.216.1 - I put that in the address bar, and it doesn't work.  I don't think anyone can help me.. this is really depressing! Lol.. thanks for trying, though! Maybe I should just buy an airport from Apple.



This is odd, but actually it might suggest something else.

As in general ip-numbers start with 169.x.x.x when no link is available (so no ip-number can be assigned), it might be that the number printed is assigned to you by the provider in which case the router is not acting like a router, but as i tunnel.

Have you checked if it works with a cable (you can set it up with wireless only). Otherwise contact linksys or your dealer as it looks ohterwise that your router is bad configured and/or defective.


Good luck, Kees


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