Just can't make a home network work!

defnotanITguy

Honorable
Jan 5, 2013
1
0
10,510
Hey there, so I have had my whole home wireless for a couple of years, and each unit connects independently well, however, I cannot setup a network so that one unit can access or stream another.
What I have: cable modem to D-link extreme G wireless router
HP pentium 4 desktop (hardline to router)
Thinkpad t61
Toshiba labtop
2 3rd gen apple TV's
samsung bd-e5900 smarthub bluray player

can someone please get me started on getting these things interconnected?
 

RealBeast

Titan
Moderator
Assuming that your wired Ethernet connection already works, open the router configuration pages by typing the router gateway address into your browser (if you are unsure of the gateway address open a command prompt box and type ipconfig /all on the HP -- I would expect it to be 192.168.0.1. Then if you haven't changed the user/password it should be admin and password.

Under wireless settings insure that the wireless radio is turned on, set a wireless security (WPA2 is best and with G it doesn't really matter as much if you select TKIP or AES encryption -- AES is faster for N). Enter a security password and write it down, every device will need it entered. You might also want to change your SSID (wireless identifier) name.

Next go to the network settings and make sure that DHCP is on (just check the enable box) and make sure you have enough available addresses in the DHCP IP Address Range, it is usually default configured on DLink for more than enough usually 192.168.0.100 to 192.168.0.199.

Save that stuff then, on each device in the wireless settings connect to the network with your SSID and enter the password, on some you may have to also enter the wireless security type. All devices should be set to automatically obtain their IP address from the gateway, which by default is probably 192.168.0.1, although you can set reserved dynamic addresses for devices in the router if needed.

edit: if any of the wireless devices don't seem to be willing to work, I would download inSSIDer (freeware) and run it on your Toshiba laptop near the device to check the signal strength and if there are any other networks using the same channel nearby that could be causing interference: http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/