Usb to rj45 adapter

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Hi
I have a usb wireless modem for connecting to my internet server.
I also have a Netgear WGR614 wireless router which only has a RJ45 connection for a modem. To connect the above modem to my router I would require a female USB to male RJ45 adapter. I see that such adapters are available on Ebay etc. My question is whether such an adapter would be suitable for the above purpose as I know from past experience that "adapters ain't adapters" in all circumstances. Any comments?
Cheers Peter

[Steffen]

Peter, that RJ45 port is actually another Ethernet port for plugging in a cable or ADSL modem. You cannot use the USB wireless modem with the Netgear. The closest you can get is setting up a PC for sharing your USB wireless Internet. You can either run the PC itself as hotspot, or plug it into said port on the Netgear. You will then need to configure the OS to forward traffic between the USB and WiFi or Ethernet interfaces.

Cheers
Steffen.

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks Steffen

Thanks for your advice. I am traveling in unknown territory here!
What I was exploring is how to connect an IPad (which I am getting
for Christmas) to my internet server via my wireless modem which normally plugs into my PC. Is this even feasible? However you may have other suggestions?

Cheers Peter

[Steffen]

You can plug the PC into one of the LAN ports of the Netgear, set the Netgear to bridge (rather than router) mode and make the PC share it's USB Internet connection.

I'm assuming the PC is running some kind of Windows? If so I cannot really help you with the configuration but I'm sure someone here will be able to. If the PC is running Linux I can tell you what to do.

The PC will then act as your Internet gateway and all other machines connected to the LAN or WiFi network can use it to get Internet access.

Cheers
Steffen.

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks Steffen - I will follow up on your advice.
Cheers Peter

[naskies (Dave)]

Peter, it really depends upon what you want to do, and whether you're willing to purchase any new accessories.

With your existing hardware, you basically have to get your PC to either pretend to be a wireless hotspot itself (if it has WiFi support), or pretend to be an Ethernet router that is connected to the Internet (as Steffen said).

Alternative options include:

* Buying a 3G version of the iPad and connect your iPad directly to the Internet. (This is less handy if you want your PC to also have Internet access, unless you get two separate accounts.)

* Buying a 3G-compatible WiFi/Ethernet router/modem which can connect directly to the Internet with a SIM card - i.e. the USB dongle wouldn't be needed. (This is less portable, as you just can't it with you as easily as with the USB dongle.)

* If you have a phone that has 3G and WiFi, you can just create a personal hotspot and connect your iPad to the Internet via the phone. (Data plans tend to be more expensive this way, and it sucks the phone's battery dry very quickly.)

* Buying a portable 3G<->WiFi sharing device. This is the option that I use - I just turn it on, and it creates a WiFi network that all my devices (laptops, iPhone, iPad) can connect to. Mine came with my Telstra prepaid plan - it's smaller than my iPhone, and plugs into any USB port to recharge.

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks Dave - Quite a few choices here. I guess what I would like to do is just be able to plug my existing wireless modem into a simple stand alone router that would then give me wireless access to my PC, Ipad etc around the house.
Are such routers available? Cheers Peter

[Eggmoon (Geoff)]

There are routers that also have USB - 3G capabilities. Usually advertised as being a back up to the ADSL functionality of the modem... but can work just as a router for the wireless USB modem just fine.

http://www.billion.com/product/3g/bi...l2-router.html

http://www2.netgear.com.au/au/Produc...dband/DGN2200M

There are others too....

[Barrykgerdes]

I can't quite see what the problem is

I use a netgear WGR614 as my wifi server. It connnects to my PC (server) via a LAN cable RJ45 and to my internet ADSL2 modem also by LAN cable RJ45.

The rest of my computers including my Nexus and my neighbour connect to the WGR614 by wireless either by inbuilt WiFi or cards or Wifi dongles seamlessly. I can also connect to a remote computer by LAN cable as well from the WGR614 if I want to. This can be handy for a large file transfer from the server as the LAN runs at about 10 times the speed of the wireless.

As an added facility I also have a Wireless internet modem that accepts the RJ45 cable that normally goes to the ADSL modem and if the ADSL goes down (common these day) I just unplug the RJ45 from it and plug it into the Wireless modem and the computer automatically finds th new connection instantaneously

Barry

PS if you have a USB wireless internet dongle. just plug it into the PC (server) and it should be available to the WGR614 just used as a wifi router. Just make sure you share the PC operating system that has the USB wireless dongle installed.

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Thanks Geoff and Barry for your additional assistance. Since I already have the gear I am leaning towards your method Barry of having my PC as a server.
I am running Windows XP so could you please advise how I would set this up on the PC to work with the router?
Cheers Peter

[alistairsam]

Hi
I presume you have a USB Internet dongle and a wireless router
You need to configure what's called Internet connection sharing on your XP PC
so the pc connects to the Internet via your USB dongle and shares it via your Ethernet port on the pc

All you need to do is configure ics, connect a network lead From your pc to a switch port on the wireless router (they normally have 4 network ports) and configure the wifi on the router
You do not need to configure it to bridge as you're not using the Adsl port
The router just bridges the switch ports to the WLAN

Ics is explained here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306126

Just go through the host config
The client doesn't apply to you as you're using wifi
So once you associate a wireless client with the configured ssid, you should have Internet access and if you check the IP address, it'll be as described in the article

Oh and do not configure dhcp on your router. You want the pc to service dhcp as it will provide the correct gateway and dns server ip addresses

Your wireless clients will work as the router transparently passes dhcp requests to your pc via the Ethernet port

Cheers

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi Peter

I think Alistairsim has covered it pretty well. The only thing I can add is that there should be a CD with the WGR614 that should carry out the connection of your XP system to the WGR614 by following the on screen instructions. That is all I had to do.

After you have done that, put your wireless dongle in the PC USB socket and run the installation program that came with it. The wireless dongle will probably need a key entered to connect to your ISP. As Alistairsim says Your PC will then become your Wifi server to all your other devices.

To connect your other computers to the Wifi you will need your security key which you can set up when the WGR614 is installed. Open explorer and enter www.routerlogin.com It will ask for a password if this is the first time, the name is admin and the password is password. This will get you into the internals of the WGR614 where you will find all the options.

Barry

[pjphilli (Peter)]

Hi

I have gone through Ics procedure, stopped and restarted the modem and checked that the PC is in the sharing mode. Connected the PC LAN port to one of the 4 switch ports on the router and turned it on and commenced the router setup procedures as per the CD.
However, the router does not see the modem through the PC. Checked and confirmed with the router that the PC is using a SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet LAN port.
On checking the local area connection on the PC it says that the Network Cable is unplugged so apparently it is not seeing the router switch port connection. Any suggestions?

Cheers Peter

[Barrykgerdes]

Originally Posted by pjphilli

Hi

I have gone through Ics procedure, stopped and restarted the modem and checked that the PC is in the sharing mode. Connected the PC LAN port to one of the 4 switch ports on the router and turned it on and commenced the router setup procedures as per the CD.
However, the router does not see the modem through the PC. Checked and confirmed with the router that the PC is using a SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet LAN port.
On checking the local area connection on the PC it says that the Network Cable is unplugged so apparently it is not seeing the router switch port connection. Any suggestions?

Cheers Peter

Hi Peter

1. Can you get the internet on your main PC after installing the modem?
If this works OK then try go to this step
2. Connect the the WGR614 and ensure it starts up. Then open a browser on the main PC and enter www.routerlogin.com . This will bring up a window with a user name "admin" and call for a password. Enter password as the password.
The netgear smart wizard should open. Check the setup. The default settings should be OK to start.
Click on advanced - wirless settings
Enable wirless and Enable SSID broadcast should be ticked
Now click on Setup Access list

A page with all the other device's mac addresses will show.
If there are none turn the access control off (untick it)

Click on "Add"
a new screen will appear with the mac addresses of all the devices in range seeking access will appear. When you identify your own add them to the main list.

If you don't know which are yours you will need to go to each device and find its mac address. Use a "Command prompt" and enter "ipconfig /all"
This will display the Mac addresses. Match up the ones you see on the add screen.

Add all your devices and then go back to the previous screen to ensure they are there. Turn access control back on.

This will give you wifi computers access to your server and its modem

Get back to me when you get to this stage if it still does not work.

Barry

[alistairsam]

Originally Posted by pjphilli

Hi

I have gone through Ics procedure, stopped and restarted the modem and checked that the PC is in the sharing mode. Connected the PC LAN port to one of the 4 switch ports on the router and turned it on and commenced the router setup procedures as per the CD.
However, the router does not see the modem through the PC. Checked and confirmed with the router that the PC is using a SIS 900 PCI Fast Ethernet LAN port.
On checking the local area connection on the PC it says that the Network Cable is unplugged so apparently it is not seeing the router switch port connection. Any suggestions?

Cheers Peter

Hi,

The idea is not for the router to see the modem. once you're connected to the internet via the usb modem and share it via ICS, the wifi router will just bridge your PC to the wireless network, so any wireless client will get its IP, DNS and default gateway from your PC via the ethernet connection.
you don't need to add a mac address on the router either.

you mention that the link light does not come on? that is most likely your problem.
I thought your wifi router was already configured.
if it is not, then disable ICS, connect the PC to a switchport on the wifi router and try connecting to your wifi router's web page and configure wireless on your wifi router. remember to disable dhcp.
the link light on the switchport on the wifi router and your PC's ethernet port should be on during this else your PC won't be able to connect to the router.
once this is done, Then turn on ICS and test again.

ICS changes your network adaptor settings. if your router uses a default subnet different from what ICS configures, the PC won't be able to communicate with the router.

eg. your wifi router default network is 192.168.1.0/24 and ICS uses 192.168.0.0/24, both won't communicate as they're different subnets.
so disable ICS when you want to configure your wifi router or configure it from a different PC.

think of a simple 4 port hub. if you have a PC/server with dhcp running and you plug it into a port on the hub, and plug another PC on the same hub that is configured for dhcp, the PC will get an IP via the Hub from your server.
in your case, all that you're doing is bridging the PC's internet connection sharing to the wireless network.

the only thing you need configured on your wifi router is the wireless ssid and password.
send me a PM if you want to talk it through on the phone.
Cheers