Another possible fix for hotel wireless issues
Aug 17, '07 07:30:00AM
Contributed by: tofergregg
Many times I have found success using macosxhints tips for logging onto stubborn hotel wireless routers, but this weekend one had me stumped. It was a WEP encrypted network, and the front desk gave me the WEP passkey phrase. My MacBook connected to the router fine with the passkey, but the router wouldn't issue an IP address through DHCP, no matter what I tried. Here's the almost-feels-like-hacking fix I finally tried, and it worked:
- I opened System Preferences » Network » Airport » TCP/IP tab and set the configuration to manual. Then I set the IP address to 192.168.1.10 and the router to 192.168.1.1.
- I set the DNS servers to 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2, separated by a return (this is a key step!)
- I then opened Terminal and ran ping 192.168.1.1 to see if I magically guessed the correct router. I didn't (no return ping). So, I changed my IP address to 192.168.2.10 and the router to 192.168.2.1. I tried ping again, and I got a ping back.
- Now, I realize that I'm messing with DHCP settings, so to be fair, I pinged 192.168.2.11, and when I didn't receive a return ping, I then changed my IP address to 192.168.2.11 in case 192.168.2.10 had already been given to another computer on the network. (I suggest continuing to ping 192.168.2.x up the line until you don't get a return ping).
After this bit of manual setting changes, I was able to fully connect to the internet.
Side note: I actually figured out that the router the hotel was using was a Linksys WRT54g. I typed 192.168.2.1 into my browser window, and the login for that router popped up. An internet search yielded many WEP issues for Macs, and the suggestion was to use a WPA key instead of a WEP key, which isn't feasible if you're on a hotel network.
Comments (12)
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20070813203412122