Re: Tiscali & Netgear DG834G

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:kcd5u113qktckuhcf5n30vl2ialk0q0lb1@xxxxxxx:

On Fri, 03 Feb 2006 01:12:15 GMT, Frazer Jolly Goodfellow
<no-spam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Mark McIntyre <markmcintyre@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:bl55u11u4buf678g446v3q9eiqr60aaqqk@xxxxxxx:

I have Tiscali Broadband and a Negear DG834G with built in
modem and no Ethernet cable.

Get one, you will need it to configure the router. You simply
cannot do it over the wireless link.

Nonsense, it's dead easy.

Really?
Yes.

I've done a bit of digging to see what goes wrong when
I try to change wireless settings while connected via the
wireless. It seems that a very long setup URL, full of gets
from settings boxes, tends to get truncated while sending. The
URL limit is 256 characters and some of these huge setup URL's
come close. What happens is that the web server starts decoding
the HTML in the order received, and issuing commands to the
router firmware in the order received. If it gets changing the
channel, encryption key, SSID, authentication, rebooting, or
something that precipitates an immediate disconnect, it will be
executed before the client has finished sending the very long
URL.
I've never encountered such a crappily designed beast. Every
router/access point I've configured has a two-stage process: set
the configuration changes you intend to make then click a single
Save Settings or similar button to actually implement the changes.

This doesn't happen with every router or on every web page
setup. However, I managed to screw up a WAP11 v1.1, DWL-900AP+
and a BEFW11s4v4 with this method by trying to configure the
wireless settings via wireless. No problems when I tried it
with a WRT54G using DD-WRT v23. No clue on the DG834G.

If you are methodical about making the settings you can do it
successfully every time. e.g.

1 Create a new text document and type up the SSID and WEP/WPA key
settings you intend to use.

2 Copy and paste the settings into the router setup screen.

3 Tell the router to implement the changes, which will drop the and
restart wireless link.

4 When the client discovers the restarted WLAN, click View
Available Networks, select it and choose Connect.

5 Copy and paste the WEP/WPA key into the client WLAN settings.

6 If you are setting up several client PCs, copy the file created
in step 1 to removable media (flash disk?) and repeat steps 4 and 5
on each client PC.

[this assumes the router has wireless switched on by default, with
no encryption or a default encryption key]


Of course, one shouldn't even think of doing a firmware update
via wireless. Any interruption would be fatal.
Agree, there's a risk of creating a hi-tec doorstop.

Bottom line is that you can probably use the wireless link to
safely configure the non-wireless settings in a router, but
don't try to change anything on the wireless pages that might
initiate a premature disconnection or reboot. The manufacturer,
just about everybody else, and I all recommend configuration be
done via a wired connection.
See above.
.