new ipod touch...can't connect with wifi

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Got, well wife actually, a new 32G ipod touch last week and need help. It won't connect to our wifi at home without the stupid password. I actually wrote it down and tried it, but still won't work. It's a linksys WRTGL5 model. I tried accessing the router through the 191.xxx.xxx, I'm at work now and can't remember, but it won't let me in. I've heard about hitting the reset button on the router, but I'm am scared to death that I'll screw the system up and then the whole internet connection won't work on her wireless laptop. I had a HARD time getting it setup in the first place when we first got it. I also noticed with the ipod touch, like even yesterday, the wifi connection will show a free, unlocked connection available, but when I go to use it, it won't go through. Am I messing something here???
 
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
I tried accessing the router through the 191.xxx.xxx, I'm at work now and can't remember, but it won't let me in.

You're outside of your home network, so you wouldn't be able to access your router using its private IP address. You would need to know what its public IP is (the one that your ISP assigned to it). You're better off waiting until you get back home and then access it.

Quote:

I've heard about hitting the reset button on the router, but I'm am scared to death that I'll screw the system up and then the whole internet connection won't work on her wireless laptop.

Reset will do the same as unplugging the power from the router. It shouldn't mess anything up, but it probably won't fix your connectivity issue either.

Quote:
the wifi connection will show a free, unlocked connection available, but when I go to use it, it won't go through. Am I messing something here???

"unlocked" just means that there is no encryption enabled, but there could be other security mechanisms in place that would prevent you from using somebody's network, including your own network. MAC address filtering is one such security measure.

Whatever the encryption mechanism you've selected in your router must be the same as what you've selected on your device (iPod), for starters.

With that said, there have been a few posts here in the past about people having trouble connecting their iPod Touch to wifi because apparently iPod Touch uses some specific wifi settings. Might want to do a search...
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
I tried accessing the router through the 191.xxx.xxx, I'm at work now and can't remember, but it won't let me in.

You're outside of your home network, so you wouldn't be able to access your router using its private IP address. You would need to know what its public IP is (the one that your ISP assigned to it). You're better off waiting until you get back home and then access it.

192.168.1.1 is the typical factory IP address that most Linksys routers use. I forget what the default username and password is, but I'm sure it's listed in the owner's manual. If you lost yours, you can download it from linksys' website. It's probably admin/admin.
 
I've tried the admin/admin trick, didn't work. That 192.168.1.1 is the IP address that I typed on my home computer, but wouldn't let me in.
 
Is it saying that the password or user name is incorrect? What if you leave it blank?

I guess somebody changed the factory username/password, so either ask the person who did or perform a hard reset, which should be described in your owner's manual to bring it back to factory settings (and factory username/password), alas, you will lose all your current settings then.

Have you tried playing with the connection settings on your iPod Touch to see if one of them works? Mainly the encryption/security types (WEP/WPA/WPA2, etc.)...
 
Well, I finally got the router to open up under 191.XXX IP address. Sure enough, I had that thing set for death-secure mode. Unlocked the MAC and some other settings and Wola!!! Ipod came up and even the Wii. Not really too worried about router security where I'm at, away from the city and at a deadend section of the neighborhood. I scanned the area and there are a couple of routers around me, but they are all secured. I'm just going to go with it. I wish there was an easier way I could assign the wireless devices to the router and have it only recognize them. I don't think the Wii wifi would do that, or would it? I tried to set some WEP stuff on the router, but the ipod then lost the signal, so I went back to what I had and it worked. If it ain't broke, I ain't going to fix it. Surfing on the Wii is pretty cool. I can watch what my 6 year old is doing.
 
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
I wish there was an easier way I could assign the wireless devices to the router and have it only recognize them. I don't think the Wii wifi would do that, or would it?

Sure it can. Any device can be added to the router's config so that MAC address filtering works. All you need to do is go into your Wii's network settings and display its MAC address. Then enter this MAC address into your router's MAC address table so that the router allows it to connect. Same goes for the iPhone.
 
Thanks. I'll work on that. I like that idea. Don't laugh, but I guess the MAC is a specific number that only applies to a specific piece of equipment? Wonder where the MAC addresses are for the laptop, Wii and ipod touch?
 
Yes, MAC is a unique address tied to a specific network interface. As I said, just go to the network settings on your Wii and your iPod and look for it there.

As for your laptop, if you're using Windows, go to Start->Run... and type cmd and press enter. When a small black window appears, type the following in it and press enter:

ipconfig /all

It'll display information about your network connections. Among it, you'll find Physical Address which is comprised of 12 alphanumeric (hexadecimal) characters. That's your network interface's MAC address. Note, your laptop may have more than one interface (and hence more than one MAC), for example a wired one and a wireless one.
 
Thanks. When I got "inside" the router, there were three MAC addresses. One for the Wii, one for the ipod and then this really long number. That obviously must be the laptop. Your spot on, on the laptop, the taskbar will show that there is no hard wire connection, but does show the signal strength of the wireless signal. Makes since. Now, if I can "see" the MAC addresses that are showing up inside the router software, can I use those and specifically tell the router to only use/accept info coming only from those three devices? I'd be really happy with that kind of "security." In my neighborhood, most folks are older and I'm' not really worried about someone "watching" where and what all I'm doing.
 
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Now, if I can "see" the MAC addresses that are showing up inside the router software, can I use those and specifically tell the router to only use/accept info coming only from those three devices?

Possibly, yes. You may be able to just select them there and add them to the "safe list", meaning a list of MAC addresses that your router will allow in. But I don't know for sure since I don't run the original Linksys firmware on my WRT54G. I use Tomato as I find it more stable and more feature-rich.
 
Free alternative to the original Linksys firmware (router operating system).

http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato

Considering your limited computer/networking skills (no offense ;)), I would suggest you stay away from it for now. If you don't do the upgrade correctly or don't pick the correct firmware version, you could potentially kill your router for good.
 
No offense taken my friend! More like....appreciate the honesty. I'm having enough worrying that what I'm doing now is going to crash it!!!
 
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