vista x64 and linksys BEFW11S4 v.4

[ferlach]

I bought the linksys a couple of years ago and had some trouble with using it, had w2000 as os at that time. It was my fault I was just too stupid and did not know what I was doing. Have learned some things since then.

Anyway I want to connect the router via a cable with my desktop [am now running xp pro now](I have broadband connection - comcast) and I also want to have a wireless connection with my labtop that has vista ultimate 64bit as os.

I have the cd that came with the router.
Could somebody please tell me the steps I have to take to do both.

Also as this router was bought before vista came out will this make a difference?

I took network essential, but have never set up a wireless connection, so have some theoratical understanding of it.

 

[markdmac]

You don't need the CD that shipped with the LinkSys. Just plug into it directly and set your PC to get an IP via DHCP. Then connect to the LinkSys via the web interface.

Go to

http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...8141396B02&displaypage=download#versiondetail

and get the latest firmware as well as directions for logging into the device. If I recall, LinkSys defaults to the following:

Address:

http://192.168.1.1

(or 192.168.0.1)
ID: leave blank
Password: "Admin" without the quotes

The router is going to provide a DHCP address and allow IP packets to flow based on the rules you set up. It has nothing to do with the OS you connect it to.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[spoz]

markdmac, I'm confused ... you state, "The router is going to provide a DHCP address and allow IP packets to flow based on the rules you set up. It has nothing to do with the OS you connect it to."

So, howcum Linksys has a whole page dedicated to showing which of their products, including routers, is/isn't Vista compatible?

Something doesn't jive.

I finally got around to firing up a Thinkpad T60p with Vista, purchased back in April ... I have a Win2K Thinkpad T22 (yup! still works FINE) and a WinXP ASUS homebrew in a home-office network, and the Linksys BEFw11s4v4 has been servicing them fine, for years. Now I try to introduce the Vista box, and though it sees the router fine, and connects, and each machine can see the other ... Web browsing is p-a-i-n-f-u-l-l-y slow.

So, something is just gone nuts.

I've found a few posts about some stack incompatibilities, and setting tcp properties with the DOS 'netsh' command (e.g. see

http://itsvista.com/2007/02/itsvista-tip-37-why-certain-web-sites-are-slow-in-vista/),

but none of this works. Still just s-l-o-w.

VERY frustrating ...

 

[markdmac]

Make sure that on the Vista machine you have installed both the Reliability Pack and the Performance Pack. Each should make Vista perform better.

I believe your router only supports IPv4 so you may want to disable IPv6 on your Vista machine. Vista will try to connect on IPv6 which could be slowing it down a lot.

Vista's IP stack is different from XP, it was redesigned from the ground up, I just find it really crazy that LinkSys would have a problem with that. I have a d-link that is a few years old and it works fine with Vista.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[spoz]

Mark, I've seen more comment on various pages about the IPv6 "fix", and it all seems hokey ... some say it works, others that it doesn't. I'll try it ... but, if that's all it amounts to, I'm happy to spend the $100 for a new router

As for the Reliability Pack and the Performance Pack, I have no idea what these are (yet), but will hunt for that, too.

Thanks.

P.S. I find it so frustrating when what I perceive as gratuitous changes are made to core software. And that's all that this seems to be. Gratuitous. Make the user go through hell to simply get the machine plugged into a network that's been working well for years ... what a great strategy!

 

[markdmac]

There is actually a lot more to it with the IP stack. Previous versions had all been hacked up older versions with a lot of cludgy patches. With Vista the IP team decided to do a complete rewrite to ensure the code would be better optimized to take advantage of the newer bandwidths available today.

Or to rephrase it, the old NT 3.51 IP stack was written for 28.8 modems while today we have broadband.

So I will have to disagree with you that it was gratuitous. There is sound reasoning behind the need.



I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[spoz]

Mark, as a Microsoft employee, it's not too surprising that you would disagree

As a user who's wasted two days now trying to simply get a machine plugged into a network that's been working well for years ... well, I will continue to curse and wonder why Microsoft doesn't consider backward compatibility important.

BTW, in the interim, I have tried the trick of disabling ipV6 (as very thoroughly documented in

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/09/09/disable-and-turn-off-ipv6-support-in-vista/)

... and, of course, it still doesn't work. So, I'll try to spend the $100, and see if that'll make Vista the IP team happy:-(

 

[linney]

As for the Reliability Pack and the Performance Pack, I have no idea what these are (yet), but will hunt for that, too".

These should be on your machine automatically via Windows Updates of about August 15th.

An update is available that improves the performance and reliability of Windows Vista

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938979