Please help me help a friend! (Setting up WRT54G router)

[ravenvii]

(This probably doesn't belong here, but I'm not sure where to put it)

My friend is having problems setting up his WRT54G wireless router for his Apt. I'm going next week to his Apt to set it up for him. But as I probably won't have access to the internet there, I'm trying to gather all the information I need prior to going (all information I need that's not in the WRT54G manual that is).

His ISP is Comcast. That's a cable company, so it's probably a cable modem, and thusly might need a hostname and domain name. If they are needed, what are they?

How do I set up the Windows (yep all Windows XP PCs) to see the router? For diagnosis or setup?

Anything else I should know? I have set up a couple XP machines to connect to a wireless router before, so it's not entirely new to me, but as I'm so used to the ease of use with OS X, I'd like to be as ready as possible to set it up as fast as I can... I do not like XP, if you can't tell.

 

[madmax_2069]

if the router come with a setup cd all the better u wont have the headake of setting up the router but all u need to do is make shure the pc has the connection with the net. wile it does unplug the computer from the modem and hook up the router and the the pc and try to brows the net if a no go. see if the router came with a setup cd hook the pc back up to the modem aquire another connection and put the cd in the cd rom if there is a setup cd
it should walk u threw the set up prosedures but if not yea u need to know the pc's ip address the mac address domain name and host name ie like your email address the domain address it like say your isp is sbc yahoo dsl your domain name will be @sbcglobal.net or what have u i think the host name is the user name of the account name for his isp im not quite shure im not real good on networking im just now starting to get into networking on my own free time. sorry if i could be of no more of a use for u i tryed my best. i can be way off just wait to jump the gun with the info i gave u wait till some one else post here to see if im right or wrong

yea yea my spelling and grammer sucks sorry for the crapy typing

 

[baummer]

It's pretty straightforward.

Make sure all 3 green lights are on the cable modem (or whichever combination of colored lights that the cable modem should display). Then:

1. Computer should be off.
2. Plug the router into the wall socket.
3. Have your ethernet cable from the cable modem plugged into the WAN port on the router.
4. Connect a second ethernet cord to one of the open ports on the back of the router and then connect this to one of the XP boxes.
5. Repeat step 4 if there is more than one system.
6. Turn on the computers.

The computer should now be connected. Most cable providers use DHCP, so you shouldn't have to set any hostnames or anything.

 

[ravenvii]

It's a 802.11g wireless router, not a ethernet router.

Where do I set up a wireless connection in winblows?

 

[baummer]

It's a 802.11g wireless router, not a ethernet router.

Where do I set up a wireless connection in winblows?

In that case, follow steps 1-3. Your computer should then pickup the wireless signal. Open My Network Connections, and you should see the icon for your wireless device (e.g. wireless card, etc.). Double-click that and it should bring up a Wireless box. Click the Refresh button to refresh the list of networks it finds. Find the name that corresponds with your router (e.g. if Linksys router, it usually broadcasts as Linksys), and double-click it; it should then connect.