Connecting wirelessly

[John Hinton]

I have followed this thread hoping it would help, but no joy.
Originally hardwired T2 with success, but would prefer to use wireless. Obtained Edimax ew711Uan and removed cable and inserted dongle. Network was found (4 bars shown) security selected, password entered but no connection.
Rebooted T2 and repeated above. Still no joy. Then tried every version of WPA-PSK, not connecting.

Dongle works fine when used in laptop.
Hopefully?

 

[MartinLiddle]

Network was found (4 bars shown) security selected, password entered but no connection.
Rebooted T2 and repeated above. Still no joy. Then tried every version of WPA-PSK, not connecting.

Any unusual characters or spaces in your password? You might try temporarily changing the WiFi pasword on the router to something very simple and see if that works. Hopefully you will then know the security type and can concentrate on finding a sufficiently secure password that is acceptable to the Humax.

 

[John Hinton]

Regretably no unusual characters or spaces. Password is relatively simple, all caps. Security type is WPA-PSK (TKIP).
I've even tried front and rear usb ports.
T2 is on 1.02.20.

 

[John Hinton]

I think I must be the daftest "silver surfer" ever!
Changed wireless password, still wouldn't work.
OK. Set up the wife's laptop and mine with the new password, got them working and thought I'd have another go on the T2.

The led on the dobgle as usual was flashing away, so into Settings/internet... Finds the router OK, select WPA-PSK, entered the new password and looked at the screen.

I suddenly realised that previously having entered the last letter of the password I pressed "OK", without highlighting "Apply". So clicked down and OK'ed it.

Connected!

Thanks for your help. It made me think what I was doing. Now to try and get FTP going.

 

[OwenMc]

Haven't seen this particular wrinkle in the Wifi setup sagas, so thought it worth a mention.

I just got my new HDR T2 yesterday, and despite myself tried to set up the Wireless link the same night.
Not the first time I've connected a wireless device to my router, so didn't anticipate too much of a problem.... wrong, as ever.

I went through all the above + all the options on other threads - no joy.
Fiddled with WAP options - no joy.
Fiddled with password special characters - no joy.
Removed ' ' (space) character between the words in the password - JOY.....

So there's something else to fiddle with.

 

[brianmt]

I've had problems int he past were routers are set up to only allow a fixed number of wireless connections in my case 2. Turn off your laptop and see if the Humax connects. also I've found that the Humax sometimes come up with cannot connect to network, usually after I've reset my router, turning the humax on and off again cures it

 

[clemenzina]

Today I set up my wifi with the cheap Play.com dongle - no problems whatsoever. But I was dismayed to find that it doesn't give me access to my laptop hard drives, which my Technika Smartbox does, both via TVersity and directly :-/

Also dismayed that the dongle's bright flashing is very prominent with the light switched off (HDR-Fox is in my bedroom).

 

[Black Hole]

Regarding the light, I find black insulation tape effective.

For accessing content on your computer (unless you want to "go custom software") you need a DLNA server installed on the computer. XMBC will do what you want.

 

[Ezra Pound]

Fiddled with password special characters - no joy.
Removed ' ' (space) character between the words in the password - JOY.....

If it's not A-Z + (a-z) or 0-9 It's a special character, So 'Space' falls into that category I’m afraid

 

[clemenzina]

Thank you, Black Hole I was concerned that the light needed to be "free to flash", that it might overheat or summat if I covered it up.

I've started to investigate the custom software but need to find a different route, one for thickos If I can't get anywhere with it I'll have a go with XMBC, which I presume doesn't do the same as TVersity?

Very helpful, thank you

 

[Black Hole]

I'm not familiar with TVersity, but from what I recall I think it should be able to communicate by DLNA - perhaps you need to turn on an option or something. The point is that (as standard) the HD/HDR-FOX seeks sources of media on the network using DLNA protocols, which means the user doesn't have to configure anything (at least not at the Humax end). Servers with DLNA capability respond to the seek request and get listed when you press Media >> Storage (blue) >> Network, you have to give it time for the sources to be located.

Be aware there is a 4GB limit on anything the Humax can play by DLNA (due to a bug - which might get fixed).

If you were to install the custom software, you would be able to access media on any network-shared drive as if it were directly plugged in to the Humax's USB port - which bypasses the 4GB problem and also makes more video formats playable than are supported by DLNA. The hard work has been done, all you have to do is follow instructions. QUICK START GUIDE (click)

There is no problem covering over a LED, just avoid any ventilation holes. There is an annoying LED on my kitchen TV, but I can't do anything about it because it also receives the IR remote commands (I'm not sure how - I presume there is an IR receiver built into the same device. If so it's a clever bit of engineering and the first time I've come across it. Even more clever if they've managed to make the LED itself act as an IR receiver!).

 

[clemenzina]

In the Quick Start Guide I can't see download links. Will check out the 6 links.

I'm having a tantrum because thanks to your guidance I found my laptop hard drives (fancy them expecting me to RTFM! I wondered what Storage was about ) - tested No Country for Old Men but it should be called No Country for Tall Men, I've changed the Video setting to letterbox but it doesn't make any difference, neither does altering the TV's setting. (There are more Video options on the Technika Smartbox.)

Just a minute, having a faff...

Aspect ratio solved - changed to 4:3 letterbox.

 

[Black Hole]

Hellfire, the Quick Start Guide is just an intro.

 

[clemenzina]

That's a known problem/feature if you hide your SSID (well, don't actively broadcast it at least). Consider changing that setting on your router/access point.

Alternatively install the custom firmware then the wireless-helper package and that should also solve it.

I'd like to have help from custom firmware but I have installed it (before trying to set up wifi), it appeared to install flawlessly yet I can find no trace of it on Humax HDR-Fox T2.

How do I unhide SSID, please?

TalkTalk fibre, router = Huawei HG532.

The network name and password have been changed from the original (under guidance from TalkTalk) because of a problem I can't remember the nature of. On the network there are 5 laptops, a Technika Smartbox and a Samsung TV connected via the new name and password, no problem - my neighbours even tap into my network because they don't use internet enough to warrant paying for it *roll eyes*.

The Technika Smartbox reports:
Mode = managed [base station]
Security = [WPA-PSK--TKIP+CCMP][WPA2-PSK-TKIP+CCMP][WPS]

Humax offers these networks: BTHub3-T9CX, BTWiFi-with-FON, BTWiFi, so I have to "type" in mine - what a pain, over and over again.

Humax offers these security settings: WEP = 4 different ones but not relevant to me.
WPA-PSK(TKIP)
WPA-PSK(AES)
WPA2-PSK(TKIP+AES)
WPA2-PSK(AES)

I've tried all four.

Only Hummy will not connect. I have the "Trixes WiFi Wireless USB Adaptor Fast 150MBPS Dongle" from Play.com, which I've seen others use successfully for our purpose.

So I have 2 problems: finding the custom firmware, and connecting to wifi *blub*

I've already lost this post once when uploading the attachment so I hope I've given sufficient info for someone to help me. Am going round the bend.

 

[Black Hole]

Start by using a wired network (even if only temporary) to get your custom software install up and running. Loading the firmware is only the first step, you need to be able to access the Internet from the Humax (getting iPlayer to work is a good step), and the Humax from a web browser.

Presuming the Humax shows "Cust FW2.12" on the front panel when booting, you need stage 2 of the install procedure HERE (click).

When you have done that, you will find the wireless-helper package available on the package management pages of the web interface. I don't know whether it will help though. For more info consult Package Notes on the Wiki.

 

[MartinOnline]

Clemenzina

Have you got a new Router, as you appear to have been successful in the past (#32 above)?

A search on Yahoo led me to https://www.broadbandadvice.org.uk/Website/Routers/HG532.htm :

Wireless set up:- Access the router using http://192.168.1.1 enter username/password.
Click Advanced > OK> Basic> WLAN Then :

Access Point = Enable
Country = United Kingdom
Channel = Select a Channel or Auto
SSID = The name of your network. Any name you like but make a note of it.
Maximum number of accessing devices = Suggest this is set to 1more than you will be using.
SSID: = Enable
Security:= Set the strongest level of encryption your equipment can use, preferably WPA2, that your equipent will handle.
WPA pre-shared key = Your password make it a mixture on numbers and letters and make a note of it. You will need it and the SSID to connect other wireless devices to your network.

Click Submit
Assuming SSID Enable refers to transmitting the SSID then that may solve your problem.

I note also "Maximum number of accessing devices" - could be significant.

Martin

 

[clemenzina]

Thank you, BH and Martin, I appreciate your time.

I've ordered a Cat5 cable because my existing long one has a damaged connector (buy cheap, buy often!).

I have attached my unaltered router settings page - even I can't use up 32 connections but maybe someone can see something significant. At least I know the security type for certain now.

I'll leave it until the cable arrives and then have another go, reinstalling the custom firmware too (I wonder if the reboot went wrong at the end?). Lord knows there are enough death-traps around here but I can leave the box on cable as long as that works. I'll be back

 

[MartinOnline]

Clemenzina

Do you never sleep?

I note that you have WPS enabled. Whilst I have only come across this recently my internet searches seem to indicate that using WPS with non-WPS equipments is fraught. http://www.myopenrouter.com/article/10185/What-is-Wi-Fi-Protected-Setup---WPS-/ says

Disadvantages

Difficult to add a non-WPS client device to the network because of the long sequences of hexadecimal characters generated by the WPS technology.

Try not using WPS.

Martin

 

[Black Hole]

Aha! Does that mean the encryption key is auto-generated? It can be a real pig entering keys into the Humax, for one thing if the string is too long the entry screen times out before you've finished, and for another not all characters are supported on the Humax entry pad. Best to choose a string which is easy to enter on the Humax (and then you have to change all your other WiFi kit to match - sigh. That's one reason (but not the only) that I use power line rather than WiFi.

I notice there may be the option to have more than one SSID on the router. You could (possibly) leave the existing network alone and create another one (with a simpler key string) for the Humax.

 

[clemenzina]

Answer to Martin re my sleeping habits, or lack of = a cross I bear which accounts for complete inability to switch on sometimes... often

And I forgot to answer a Q in a previous post - yes, I've had at least 2 new routers since that easy-peasy setup, TalkTalk gives them out like sweeties. Am now on fibre.

BH - when I'm trying to set up I only have to "type" (and what a pain it is! but I can't justify buyiing a wireless keyboard... can I?) the network name and my password, and I've kept them ever so simple - not had to type in an encryption key (we haven't got a "puzzled" smiley, ladz).

If I don't use WPS, will other users' settings have to be changed?

Is there anything else I should have asked or answered?