How do I configure the Netgear Range Extenders?

You want to plug in the XE102 (the bridge) into the wall closest to the router this need to be connected to the router.
The other box needs to be plugged into wherever it is in the house that you want to extend the wireless to

On page 27 of the reference manual is where you will want to begin.  or you can go to page 32 whichever is easier for you

The key here is this first of all you need to find out if your computers are on the same subnet

go to start run and type cmd then hit enter

Type IPCONFIG /ALL

it should come back with the default gateway and the IP address..

these have to be 192.168.0.xxx    if it is 192.168.1.xxx or anything else other then 192.168.0.xxx then you are going to have to take some extra steps

1. You will need to go into the configuration of your network card on your computer and set it for a manual IP (Static IP)  you will need to input your default gateway which is your routers IP address. you will then need to assign the computer an IP address in the range of 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.254

2. Once that is done you will be able to directly connect to the new range extender and follow the directions.

This is the download for the reference guide
ftp://downloads.netgear.com/files/WGX102_RM_21Mar2007.pdf

Hi,
To cut a long story short I have eventually accessed the WGXB102, with your help and the cd software. By the way, i had tried this before but no joy..probably due to one laptop being on Vista.
Anyway, I also changed the IP addresses to static and now have both laptops connected to the WGXB102.
I now have 2 additional questions as it still will not give me internet/network access.
Why do i not have internet?
why does the static IP address not then work when i connect back to my router?
Some background:
I have been through all settings within the WGXB102 and my Sky Netgear router, but it will not give me the internet.  I have also noticed that if i connect to my router wirelessly the laptop shows in 'attached devices' with an IP address. However when my laptops are connected via the WGXB102 they do not show hence, probably the reason i have limited access? Also the only way i can get connected to the WGXB102 is if i have a static ip address, however to then connect to my router i have to change this back to automatic...
Also when both laptops are connected, i noticed that the WGXB102 does not show at all in the routers 'attached devices' page...
What a beautiful piece of kit!?....
Any further advice would be appreciated?
thanks,

Ok with the static IP's you need to be extremely careful if your router is set for

192.168.0.xxxx
and has DHCP active it is going to hand out addresses in the
192.168.0.xxxx range

If you static IP address fall within that scope which they should otherwise you would not be talking to the router you will get IP address conflicts.

The static IP was only meant as a temporary solution so you can configure that device.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I want you to try this from the XP Laptop as Vista has a lot of network setup issues.

go to start run type cmd and hit enter

type ipconfig /all and then hit enter

what is your default gateway set as ?  it should be your routers IP address

type at the command prompt

Ping 192.168.0.xxxx   or whatever your routers IP address is
you should get 4 succcessful replies if so so far so good

type ipconfig /all again what do you have listed for DNS ? probably nothing if so then this is a major reason for not getting out to the internet as it relies on this. With a static address we did not assign this yet.

Go into your network card settings
Select to use DHCP and to use DNS automatically blank out any existing addresses or information you have in there don't just set it to auto also make sure you have nothing under alternate configuration

Once that is done type the following at the command prompt

IPCONFIG /RELEASE then hit enter

IPCONFIG /RENEW hit enter

IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS hit enter

IPCONFIG /REGISTERDNS hit enter

now type IPCONFIG /ALL again

you should have an ip address of 192.168.xxx.xxx if you have 169.xxx.xxx.xxx we have a problem with the DHCP. Stop and post back

Your DNS entries should also be populated.

Now try the following

PING google.com   you should get 4 replies.
if not try this then PING 64. 233.167.99
you should get 4 replies

If the by name does not work we have a DNS config problem if the second doesn't work were not getting out to the internet

IF this all works repeat the process on the Vista laptop

I need the following information verified

IP address of router :
IP address of Range Extender:

they have to be on the same subnet i.e. 192.168.0.xxx

one cannot be on 192.168.0.xxx
and the other on
                             192.168.1.xxx

it will not work

Did you set the security correctly on the Wireless Range Extender >?
You should have set the SSID
Type of Security
Security Passphrase / Word

IMPORTANT!!!!!!
change the default password on the wireless range extender if you do not anyone could get into it

YOU NEED TO ALSO CONFIGURE THE POWERLINE NETWORK PASSWORD AND THIS NEEDS TO MATCH

AS ADDED SECURITY ONCE everything is said and done and we have this fully working you can disable the broadcasting of the SSID as an extra security precaution.

Hi,
Thanks for the advice.
Unfortunately nothing still works.
I have tried connecting with the IP address automatically - this provides a limited connection.
I have tried connecting with manual IP addresses and DNS  of 192.168.0.1 (same as router) - good connection but still no internet.
I have tried pinging and this just times out.
Therefore i have attached a small txt file of my command line tries for you to view.
When i have an IP address shown in the listing, this is entered manually, when i don't, it returns a 169.254.189.178 - does this mean i have a DHCP error?
In answer to your second advice/solution:
Router IP address - 192.168.0.1
As the WGX does not show with the routers 'attached devices' how do i see the IP address of it?
I have checked the WGX setting and verify they are the same as the routers settings.
I haven't changed the password, but will do so when we have it sorted.
Any additional help would be appreciated..
Thanks,

Your not connecting to the router at all when you are using DHCP
Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection 8:

        Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Belkin Wireless G Notebook Card #4
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-17-3F-2E-2B-F4
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
        Autoconfiguration IP Address. . . : 169.254.189.178
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.0.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

This is what is called an APIPA because it starts with 169. this means your not getting an IP address.

I can see here
 Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Belkin Wireless G Notebook Card #4
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-17-3F-2E-2B-F4
        Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
        IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.7
        Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
        Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
        DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1

Ethernet adapter Network Bridge:

        Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
        Description . . . . . . . . . . . : MAC Bridge Miniport
        Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 02-0B-DB-DA-AA-98

C:\Documents and Settings\Jim>ping 192.168.0.1

Pinging 192.168.0.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

you are not even connecting to the router with having a static address.


Now where were you when you tried these near the router or near the network extenders ? You need to be near the router !

Do you have any pc's physically connected to the router ?
If not connect one of the PC's directly to one of the routers lan ports with an ethernet cable.
do you get an IP address ? IPCONFIG /RELEASE IPCONFIG /RENEW
can you ping the router ?
can you ping google ?

Let me know... If you are able to get an IP address and go out to the internte when physically connected then the problem is with your wireless settings.

When you setup your wireless security in the router did you use any special characters for your network key /passphrase such as $#%@&*^()+-=  
  If so then this will not work you can only use numbers and letters no symbols.

Hi,
Thanks for the advice.
I can connect and ping as discussed when i connect to the router - wirelessly and hard wired, with both laptops (one on vista the other XP)
Therefore i thought you ment when connected to the WGXB102. Sorry.

These extenders are so i can sit in another room. I have no problems in the office area with connecting.
The problem isn't with anything else just connecting through the extenders (WGXB102).
If you think a file attachment of my normal settings would help please ask.
My network key has no symbols and is all in capital letters.

I await your further advice...
thanks,

OK the range extender has a default IP address for configuring it, it is in the manual I i think it is 192.168.0.101 double check this it's between page 27 - 35 of the pdf manual.

If you plug directly into the router can you ping the range extender plugged into the router ?

ping 192.168.0.101 (I believe this is the address of the range extender)

see if you get a reply if you do not get a reply and it is starts with 192.168.0.xxx in the manual and your router is 192.168.0.xxx
then already there is an issue look in the manual for the reset procedure and reset it. Then try again to ping it

once you have done this get back to me I do not want to give you too many instructions at once

On connecting the XP laptop to the WXGB102 with the IP addresses entered manually and ping the extender with 192.168.0.101-  it successfully replys 4 times.
When i have the IP addresses selected automatically - the ping fails.
I have another desktop computer hardwired to the router and when i ping 192.168.0.101 this times out to. This is the computer i use to access the router which shows no additional attached devices.

When the laptop is connected to the extender via static IP addresses i have then tried viewing the routers 'attached devices', but still nothing.
 

OK you didn't set this up correctly or something

I do not want the laptop connected to the WXGB102 I want it connected to the router physically not wireless. If you cannot use the laptop then any computer wired to the router will do as long as it has DHCP.

Before doing the setup or connection of the Range Extender that plugs into the router you need to go into the router by opening up a web browser and going to http://192.168.0.1 this should present you with a login at that login you need to put in your password for your router if you have never set it then it will be the default password and username. If you do not know it I can try to find it for you.

Once in your router setup you need to go into the DHCP and you need to set the range to start at 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.99  this way it does not overlap into the Range Extenders IP address assigned from the factory.

NEXT COMPLETELY RESET THE WXGB102   before continuing


The Range extender should be plugged into the routers LAN port
A computer should be in the lan port  (look at the diagram the "| | |" marks  represent the LAN ports on the router unless specified otherwise.

                                                                                 _   Router _
        RANGE Extender ---192.168.0.101 --------------|       192.168.0.1
        PC---------------------192.168.0.XXX---------------|            
                                                                                |
                                                                                |
      INTERNET--------CABLE MODEM ------------- WAN-|


I want the computer set for DHCP and auto for DNS
On the PC I want you to do the ipconfig / release then the ipconfig /renew
I then want you to do an ipconfig /all to verify that it is pointing to 192.168.0.1 for the default gateway and that the laptop has a 192.168.0.xxx address

Once this is all done I then want you to try pinging the Wireless extender box by typing Ping 192.168.0.101
let me know what happens

Ok...
I followed your instructions and have attached the IPconfig/all results.
I did this from my desktop computer with DHCP enabled and DNS automatic.
I could ping my laptop which was connected wirelessly to the router but could not ping the extender (192.168.0.101) successfully it just timed out.
I thought it my be my cable from the XE102 extender to the router so swapped this and the light lit up on the extender and the routers port (as with the other cable) but still same.
Tested all ports on the router and all cables - no problems there.
The netgear Extender and router just arn't talking.... i wonder if it's because it's a sky netgear router?
Any further help?.......

OK lets try this

PROVIDING YOU CONFIGURED THE DHCP SCOPE ON THE ROUTER AS I HAD INSTRUCTED PREVIOUSLY SO THE RANGE GOES FROM 192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.99 CONTINUE ON OTHERWISE STOP GO BACK TO PREVIOUS INSTRUCTIONS AND DO THIS IT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

ALSO I NEED TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER WIRELES DEVICES SUCH AS Print Servers, NAS devices, or anything else other then the laptops and range extenders ?

Take the laptop
Configure it with the following options on the wireless card

Put the SSID to NETGEAR
A static IP address of 192.168.0.210 and 255.255.255.0 as the Subnet Mask
Restart this computer so that these settings take effect. DO NOT PUT ANYTHING FOR DNS OR GATEWAY.

Verify you have the IP address set as 192.168.0.210 on the laptop

open your web browser and type the following in

http://192.168.0.101
you should be presented with the Login page for the Powerline extender. If you do not get the login page stop here and post back here what is happening Try to ping the range extender
PING 192.168.0.101
make sure your computer has 192.168.0.210 for the IP   run IPCONFIG /ALL to verify it


When prompted, enter admin for the user name and password for the password, both in lower
case letters.

Click Wireless Settings in the Setup section of the WGX102 main menu. You will then see the Wireless Settings menu.

Enter the Network Name (SSID) and wireless security settings for your wireless network.
Be sure to click Apply to save your changes.

Since you are connected to the device wirelessly, YOU WILL BE DISCONNECTED after applying changes to the powerline wireless network name or security settings this is normal.

THIS IS WHERE THERE INSTRUCTIONS ARE INCORRECT OR MISSING INFORMATION>>>> They say to go to the LAN settings ... you will not be able to because you can no longer authenticate to the device since you changed the security settings in the previous step.

What they should be telling you:
You now need to go back into the configuration for the Laptop's wireless security settings and reset the SSID and security to match the rest of your wireless network. Keep the static IP Still do not put in a gateway address.

Now go back to the web interface http://192.168.0.101

Assure that the IP address settings match those of your existing router.

From the main menu of the browser interface, under Advanced, click LAN IP Setup to view
the LAN IP Setup menu, shown below

YOU SHOULD NOT NEED TO CHANGE ANYTHING HERE PROVIDING YOUR ROUTE'S IP ADDRESS IS 192.168.0.XXX
If necessary, change the first three positions of the IP Address to match the first three positions
of the IP address in your router. You can find your routers address by looking in the Network
Properties Status page of any Windows computer connected to your router. The Gateway
address listed on this Status page is the address of your router.

MAKE SURE BEFORE FOLLOWING LATEST INSTRUCTIONS YOU FULLY RESET THE POWERLINE DEVICE the reset procedure is in the manual you will need a pin you need to erase all settings and put it back to factory so you will need to hold the pin in the reset hole for 20 seconds to reset the device (use a watch don't guess on the time or it won't reset correctly)

Completed as requested......except didn't quite get this bit....



I now have the WGXB102 with all settings changed to match my router and connected to my laptop.....
the settings are:
LAPTOP - 192.168.0.210
subnet - 255.255.255.0
WGXB102 - 192.168.0.101 - all settings match router except chanel - router is 03, extender is 11, when i changed extender to 03 i couldn't connect.)
Router - 192.168.0.1 (range set to 192.168.0.2 - 99)

I can connect to the WGXB102 but no internet....
Whats next?.....

Thanks,

Sorry i meant to say didn't quite get the end bit about.....
'Assure that the IP address settings match those of your existing router.'
Did you mean make sure the IP address of the extender has the same 3 numbers as the router- 192.168.0.xxx?
Anyway all information is as above.
Thanks,

can you ping the router currently ?

I can ping the router through my desktop hardwired to my router.
I tried to ping the router from the XP laptop, as above with 192.168.0.210 connected to the extender and it was unsuccessful.

I couldn't ping my laptop from the desktop (192.168.0.210)
I couldn't ping the extender from the desktop (192.168.0.101)

Ok I think I may have something I took some time and looked back through the manual.

On page 72 of the manual it talks about putting the range extender into router mode. I want you to try setting the range extender to this mode
By Default DHCP is going to be on by default we will try this first
However you need to make sure of two things

1. THE DHCP RANGE CONFIGURE IN YOUR ROUTER IS  192.168.0.2 - 192.168.0.99

2. ON THE RANGE EXTENDER setup the DHCP Range for 192.168.0.170 - 192.168.0.200

follow the rest of there instructions for setting in router mode and don't forget to set the laptop back to DHCP mode it should get an address from the Range Extender once you clear out the settings on the network card and then set everything to automatic on the laptop for DHCP and DNS then do the IPCONFIG ?RELEASE IPCONFIG /RENEW and IPCONFIG /FLUSHDNS

I have completed the instructions and the laptop connects to the extender and is given an IP address of 192.168.0.171 - but still no internet.
i played with the ip settings etc and had to restart a few times, but have come to the conclusion that the extenders arn't connecting to the router at all!?
Even though the router port light is lit and the extender lights are all good. Surely it should be showing in the routers 'Attached devices'?
I have attached the ipconfig results from my desktop for you to check and a screen shot of the router status page incase anything shows up as funny??...
Hope you can help further - thanks,

Also had a friend try it on their network (BT router home hub) and worked first time.
So convinced it's the sky router. Would this have anything to do with network address translation (NAT) on the sky modem?

That shouldn't affect it but I am wondering several things

1. If it is the PC... I noticed you have the advanced peer to peer networking pack installed with IP V6. I am wondering uninstalling this would have any effect. IP V6 has had a lot of issues.

Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.

Click Add/Remove Windows Components.

In Components, click Networking Services (but do not select its check box), and then click Details.

Select the Peer-to-Peer check box, and then click OK.

Click Next, and then follow the instructions in the wizard.

2. So they tried the device on there network and it worked right out of the box everything connected ?

3. Looking at the ASDL port configuration you have the a netmask that makes no sense to me it is 255.255.255.255  did you enter this in or is this something that your internet service provider did ?

also make sure for your connection you have netbios installed on the connection once you remove IP V6. I am really thinking this may be incompatible with these. I could be wrong but since it is working on someones network without a hitch.

yes, a work colleague who is good with networks (has his own) took the extenders home to try and took them out of the box and connected first time - he did me screen shots of the process. he said no problems at all, plugged and played!......although he couldn't help me with my problems.
As i have no issues with IPV6 (even on vista laptop, which connects wirelessly to the router) i am confident this isn't the issue.
The ASDL port configuration is a setting through the router and not my doing.
I have found some issues with the sky netgear router on the internet about them re-flashing and adding their own firmware which limits connection to the internet so you can't use them on another ISP's connection. This is why i'm convinced it's something to do with sky. i will call them to discuss, but if you do have any other suggestions in the meantime.......

Does your colleague use IP V6 ?

I would try it without it like I said there are a lot of compatibility issues with IPv6 I cannot find a sky router in there knowledgebase do you have a model number and how old is it ? If the router is more then 2 years old the router may be incompatible with IPv6. I also see no information on compatibility with the range extender. They do have updated firmware but being that it did work in his environment that would say either your router or the protocols (IPv6) that you have loaded on the PC is causing the issue. The router may be incompatible or may require a firmware update

My two recommendations at this point are

1. Update the firmware on the router
if that does not work
2. Disable IPv6 from the laptop computer.
If that still does not work try a different router.

I have spoken to Sky and there solution was to send me a new Netgear (black) series N router!...
Better (10x) wireless signal.....
I have already had 2 routers so thought they wouldn't do that without a charge....but it's on way...
I think i'll just sell the extenders....
Thanks for all your effort - really appreciated...
I presume you will respond so i can 'accept the solution'?
Thanks again...

Thanks Briancassin...