Help Phones connect with router, but not Internet

[Fulltime Traveler]

Yesterday I helped a friend hook up his laptops to an old Linksys WRT45G router, which I connected to his DSL modem. The router had previously been configured for his satellite Internet connection. I did a hard reset on the router, restoring it to factory defaults, before I started. I used WPA2 encryption on the router. The laptops both work fine.

Both my Bionic and his RAZR can successfully connect with the router, but they have no Internet access through it. I can use the browser on my Bionic to access the router's admin pages.

Any ideas why the laptops would work and not the two Android phones?

 

[dautley]

It almost sounds like your not using the correct router password as your able to connect to the router itself but have no internet access.

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

It almost sounds like your not using the correct router password as your able to connect to the router itself but have no internet access.

I don't follow.

If I were using the wrong router password how could I connect with the router?

 

[doogald]

Yesterday I helped a friend hook up his laptops to an old Linksys WRT45G router, which I connected to his DSL modem. The router had previously been configured for his satellite Internet connection. I did a hard reset on the router, restoring it to factory defaults, before I started. I used WPA2 encryption on the router. The laptops both work fine.

Both my Bionic and his RAZR can successfully connect with the router, but they have no Internet access through it. I can use the browser on my Bionic to access the router's admin pages.

Any ideas why the laptops would work and not the two Android phones?

Are the DSL modem and the router both on the same IP network? (Look at the first three numbers in the IP address - 192.168.x, where x is likely 0 or 1). If they are the same, try making them different (so, if the DSL modem is set to 192.168.0, try setting the Linksys to 192.168.1).

Another idea (if the DSL modem is also a router, with internet ports and a DHCP server of its own, and even its own WiFi) is to turn off DHCP on the Linksys, connect the Linksys to the DSL modem using one of the four switched ports and *not* the internet port, so that you use the Linksys as an access point and not do double NAT (with two routers.)

 

[Duckster]

Had this EXACT problem. Delete ALL WiFi saved settings from the phone and reboot. In my case, it was a bad setting that was being saved by my phone.

 

[dautley]

I don't follow.

If I were using the wrong router password how could I connect with the router?

If your unable to connect to the router how can you ever log into it? you said yourself "successfully connect with the router", if your using a incorrect password the router won't assign a network IP address to the device, therefore you can be connected but have limited or no connectivity to your network or the internet. If your still having problems i would suggest a free app such as WiFinder from the play store. Apps such as this usually takes any guess work out of establishing a internet connection.

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

If your unable to connect to the router how can you ever log into it? you said yourself "successfully connect with the router", if your using a incorrect password the router won't assign a network IP address to the device, therefore you can be connected but have limited or no connectivity to your network or the internet. ...

I also said that I can use the browser on my Bionic to access the router's admin pages. The phone obviously has an IP address on the router's network, it just can't get to the Internet on that network.

BTW, if you use an incorrect password, you won't connect with a Wi-Fi network.

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

Are the DSL modem and the router both on the same IP network? (Look at the first three numbers in the IP address - 192.168.x, where x is likely 0 or 1). If they are the same, try making them different (so, if the DSL modem is set to 192.168.0, try setting the Linksys to 192.168.1)....

I ran out of time in this location. We are moving on to our next camping spot tomorrow, so I never got a chance to resolve the problem on my friend's system. It doesn't really matter to him, since he has good Verizon data service in that location.

Experimenting with a spare WRT54GL that I carry around with me, I discovered that the DSL modems in this park use the same subnet as the default on that Linksys router.

I did two things. One, I downloaded the latest firmware for the router, and, two, I assigned the router a different subnet.

My phone now connects to the Internet through that router. I'm sure that if I did the same two things on his router it would work.

Thanks.

 

[dautley]

BTW, if you use an incorrect password, you won't connect with a Wi-Fi network.

I thought that's what I said but whatever

 

[Fulltime Traveler]

I thought that's what I said but whatever

No, you said "if your using a incorrect password the router won't assign a network IP address to the device, therefore you can be connected but have limited or no connectivity to your network or the internet. ..."

That is simply incorrect.

 

[doogald]

I ran out of time in this location. We are moving on to our next camping spot tomorrow, so I never got a chance to resolve the problem on my friend's system. It doesn't really matter to him, since he has good Verizon data service in that location.

Experimenting with a spare WRT54GL that I carry around with me, I discovered that the DSL modems in this park use the same subnet as the default on that Linksys router.

I did two things. One, I downloaded the latest firmware for the router, and, two, I assigned the router a different subnet.

My phone now connects to the Internet through that router. I'm sure that if I did the same two things on his router it would work.

Thanks.

I have a traveling router that I have set for 192.168.61.x, since I figure that it will rarely conflict with a private network on the WAN side. (You could also set it to a 10.x.y class A private network, with a 255.255.255.0 netmask, or a 172.20.x class B private, also with a 255.255.255.0 netmask, as those may collide even more rarely. Class B ranges from 172.16.x.y to 172.31.x.y, by the way. See Private network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )

 

[zach.schenfisch]

I ran out of time in this location. We are moving on to our next camping spot tomorrow, so I never got a chance to resolve the problem on my friend's system. It doesn't really matter to him, since he has good Verizon data service in that location.

Experimenting with a spare WRT54GL that I carry around with me, I discovered that the DSL modems in this park use the same subnet as the default on that Linksys router.

I did two things. One, I downloaded the latest firmware for the router, and, two, I assigned the router a different subnet.

My phone now connects to the Internet through that router. I'm sure that if I did the same two things on his router it would work.

Thanks.

I had a similar problem using an older router when I first got my bionic. Updating the firmware on the router fixed my issue. I did not change anything with the subnet but I suspect the firmware update is what fixed your issue as well.

 

[Lars]

Sounds like you are using a router behind router situation. IE using your router on a campsite's net who is also using a router. NAT can easily get screwed up but chances are the DNS didn't get passed properly down the line and the phones couldn't resolve URL's outside of the local subnet LAN. This is why you could access the setup pages at 192.168.x.1 but not anywhere else. A laptop can often do a bit more discovery and ignore gateway supplied DNS servers which are usually the gateway address on lans which the router was handed by someone else; in your case maybe or maybe not another router. So that's the simple explanation.