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Wifi password problems

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Watt Tyler

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LokiUK - 11 hours ago »
Update: Humax support actually got back to me and said they'd had another report of problems with this router and would test it "in the future"
So looks like I need to look into the alternative of power line ethernet or something.

I'm using a Tenda W150M wireless bridge/router to connect my HDR to my secure network. That connect's to the HDR's ethernet port - and the HDR doesn't know the difference between this and a direct ethernet cable connection (which I tried first, to prove the priciple, but SWMBO didn't like cables trailing round the house!).

The W150M has first to be connected to a computer to configure it, and is then transferred to the HDR. It can be powered either from a supplied mains adapter or from USB. Mine is powered from one of the HDR's USB ports so that it doesn't waste power when the HDR is in standby and so that I don't need an extra mains socket.

The setup instructions are not that easy to follow, partially because it has a number of modes of operation, but if you Google, additional on-line help is at hand.

WT

| Mon 6 Feb 2012 12:33:48 #11 |
ezra pound

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Seannkim : To clear up a few points, MAC address are permanently assigned to a piece of hardware they are not assigned by your router, Your router can assign IP addresses. Your router probably defaults to allow in equipment with Any MAC address, If it has MAC filtering turned on, it will only allow hardware with a MAC it has been told about, In this case the MAC address displayed in the HUMAX setup screen refers to the LAN connector on the back, If you are using a USB WIFI dongle (not the LAN connector) you would need to specify the MAC adress of the dongle. It has been reported that the HUMAX will only accecpt WiFi passwords that contain letter and numbers e.g. no special characters

| Mon 6 Feb 2012 16:07:54 #12 |
aldaweb

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ezra pound - 4 hours ago »
Seannkim : To clear up a few points, MAC address are permanently assigned to a piece of hardware they are not assigned by your router

Whilst MAC addresses are not assigned by a router they can be altered in firmware so are not strictly permanent. Whether this applies to the HDR or not I don't know.

In fact most routers will let you set the MAC address for the case when internet access is tied to a specific MAC address (usually the first PC to access it) and it is possible for any (wifi enabled) PC to spoof a MAC address to gain access to a filtered but open or weak (WEP) network if it captures a packet in the air. Thus if special characters are not allowed it is important to use a long WPA2 password. See the GRC password haystacks page (link)

| Mon 6 Feb 2012 20:57:11 #13 |
ezra pound

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Whilst MAC addresses are not assigned by a router they can be altered in firmware so are not strictly permanent. Whether this applies to the HDR or not I don't know.

I think you are splitting hairs here, I would reguard a MAC address as equivalent to a car engine number, Yes you can grind it off and replace it with a false one but I don't think that would be considered a 'normal practice'. Let us say MAC address's are not meant to be changed, and no legitimate software package would do it

With the exception of the original hardware designer who allocated the MAC address in the first place

| Sat 11 Feb 2012 13:44:03 #14 |
Watt Tyler

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I think there is some confusion here. A MAC address is assigned by the hardware manufacturer and cannot be changed. But it can sometimes be SPOOFED. You may need to do this if, for example, you set up an internet account using an internal ADSL modem whose MAC address gets registered with your ISP, and if the ISP will not allow you to connect with anything which doesn't have this particular MAC address. You then buy a new router - with its own (different) address - and your ISP doesn't recognise it. Hopefully the router has the ability to spoof another MAC address. So, although its address doesn't ACTUALLY change, it can PRETEND to be your original modem as far as your ISP is concerned.

[This has very little to do with the original title of this thread, but needing clearing up].

WT

| Sat 11 Feb 2012 19:47:11 #15 |
damian

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Hi, not too sure if the dongle is still causing problems, however I'd try...

plug the dongle into a pc, mac, laptop, netbook or whatever and get it working there with your router first. If this works then it should be fairly easy to get it working on the Humax.

The mac address of the dongle will probably need to be added to the router configuration to allow it to connect to and through the router.

Decide whether you want a fixed ip address or whether the router assigns one. It's often easier to let the router assign the DNS and ip address automatically, this can be changed to fixed entries later on if necessary. Don't put the isp's ip address and DNS into the Humax, this just won't work. Either let the dongle pick up this information automatically, which is easiest to start off with, or assign an unused fixed ip address. e.g. if my router were 192.168.0.1, I'd choose an ip address of 192.168.0.60 or any other free number to assign to the Humax and a DNS/gateway entry of 192.168.0.1 which is the router address.

My advice again, if there are connection problems, would be to plug the dongle into another piece of equipment first and get it working there. Bear in mind though that a pc is likely to change some of its orignal network settings, so keep a note of these before plugging the dongle in.

If the dongle doesn't work with a pc, laptop etc. then I can't see it ever working with the Humax

| Sun 12 Feb 2012 16:49:31 #16 |
ezra pound

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You then buy a new router - with its own (different) address - and your ISP doesn't recognise it. Hopefully the router has the ability to spoof another MAC address.

You could just contact your ISP and get them to accept your new MAC address, Why spoof the old one

| Mon 13 Feb 2012 13:30:13 #17 |
Watt Tyler

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ezra pound - 20 hours ago »

You then buy a new router - with its own (different) address - and your ISP doesn't recognise it. Hopefully the router has the ability to spoof another MAC address.

You could just contact your ISP and get them to accept your new MAC address, Why spoof the old one

I don't think it's a common problem. Most ISPs - incuding mine - don't care, so spoofing a MAC address isn't necessary. I was simply explaining why some routers have to ability to spoof MAC addresses in order to cope with those cases where it does matter.

WT

| Tue 14 Feb 2012 10:24:56 #18 |
aldaweb

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OK enough about MAC addresses now. (I'm resisting the urge to challenge the fixed nature of them :-)). Unless your using an access list by MAC address it's not relevant. The HDR isn't connecting direct, it's through the router.

I suggest LokiUK may be better off with homeplugs if his router has incompatibilities.

| Tue 14 Feb 2012 14:08:43 #19 |
LokiUK

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damian - 1 week ago »
Hi, not too sure if the dongle is still causing problems, however I'd try...
plug the dongle into a pc, mac, laptop, netbook or whatever and get it working there with your router first. If this works then it should be fairly easy to get it working on the Humax.
The mac address of the dongle will probably need to be added to the router configuration to allow it to connect to and through the router.
Decide whether you want a fixed ip address or whether the router assigns one. It's often easier to let the router assign the DNS and ip address automatically, this can be changed to fixed entries later on if necessary. Don't put the isp's ip address and DNS into the Humax, this just won't work. Either let the dongle pick up this information automatically, which is easiest to start off with, or assign an unused fixed ip address. e.g. if my router were 192.168.0.1, I'd choose an ip address of 192.168.0.60 or any other free number to assign to the Humax and a DNS/gateway entry of 192.168.0.1 which is the router address.
My advice again, if there are connection problems, would be to plug the dongle into another piece of equipment first and get it working there. Bear in mind though that a pc is likely to change some of its orignal network settings, so keep a note of these before plugging the dongle in.
If the dongle doesn't work with a pc, laptop etc. then I can't see it ever working with the Humax

Thank you Damian. I followed your instructions and managed (eventually) to find a driver that was compatible with OS 7. I then was able to configure the dongle and get it working with my wireless network.

Plugged it back into the Humax - disaster! The Hummy now no longer even recognises that it's plugged in. So two steps back.

Humax Support have said they don't plan on investigating this any time soon, essentially.

| Fri 24 Feb 2012 1:01:12 #20 |