D-Link Wireless Acess Point won't work

[paulpmp4]

I have just bought 3 D Link DWL-7100AP wireless access points. I have followed the instructions but can't get them to work. This is what I have done.

I have plugged the AP directly into my laptop via RJ45. I typed in the IP address provided and accessed the web interface and wizard. To do this I had to change the IP address of my laptop to one that was in the range on 192.168.0.50. I had to do this because we use DHCP at school. any way I followed the wizard and set up the SSID and WPA. All went well. I then unplugged the RJ46 and set my laptop back to DHCP. I couldn't see the AP through the wireless connection.

 

I spoke to my LEA technician and he said that because we use DHCP we have to assign the AP an IP address with our school range of address. I did this but left my laptop on DHCP obvioulsy.

 

I went into the wireless network connecton settings and could see the AP I selected and clicked connect. I was the asked for the encryption key which I typed in. It started to coonect and this took ages Then nothng happened. On the wireless network connection settings window, my AP was no longer showing.

 

What is wrong?

[Ric_]

Have you tried setting up the AP without encryption first to test that the network settings work?

 

I have also found that some implementations of WPA don't play well with other implementations. For instance, my Pocket LOOX requires me to enter the HEX version of the key but I can access my AP with the ASCII key from my iBook.

 

The ropey connection issue does sound like an encryption issue IMHO.

[PiqueABoo]

Mmm.. appropriately configured DWL-7100APs usually work ok ... the problems tend to be with the PC/Laptop, wireless card, accompanying software and typos in encryption keys.

 

Definitely get it working without encryption first. When you get around to entering encryption keys, if the field automagically hides the chars (e.g. ******** ) type the key into notepad - check it's correct - then cut and paste it into the field.