bridge connection problems

[Bob Holmstrom]

Team 2411 was successful on the initial try to get the bridge configured, but now we cannot connect to it. We have tried reseting the bridge and repeating the setup procedure, but cannot reach the setup screen.

We cannot connect to the bridge using the supplied disk - it cannot find the adaptor.

I attempted to use Linksys chat support - rather frustrating - they said the WPA600N cannot be used as a "bridge" - it is a game adaptor! Eventually they had me run all kinds of tests and they concluded that the adaptor is defective - but I do not have a lot of confidence that they (or I) know what we are doing!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed if the instructions in 5.6.1 do not work?

Bob

[GregW11]

Try using Windows to connect (or Apple if you're using a mac) and not the software on the disc. And make sure that your computer's ip is set to 10.XX.YY.6 with the default gateway to 10.XX.YY.4 (where XX.YY is the Team number, it would appear to be 2411 for you so use 10.24.11.6 for the ip and 10.24.11.4 for the default gateway.) for the ethernet port. It's worked fine for us, it loads code and everything, so it may just be the software.

Vista directions for setting static ip (can't remember how to do it with XP, I'll add those tomorrow.):
Go to Network and Sharing Center and click manage network connections. Right-click Local Area Connection and choose properties. UAC should prompt for confirmation here if it's enabled. In the dialog box for the connection items, select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties. Do NOT select IPv6, since this does not use a traditional ip address. In the Properties menu select "use the following IP Adress" and type in 10.XX.YY.6 for IP address, leave the subnet mask alone, and type 10.XX.YY.4 for the default gateway. Leave the DNS Server blank, click OK, click OK on the properties menu, and try to connect to the bridge/robot again.

XP directions are identical to Vista, but instead open the Start menu, hover over the "connect to" menu, and click the "open all connections" option. I don't know how to do it for a mac, sorry.

It does help if you're not connected to a wireless network when doing this, since some will have a defense mechanism to prevent you from connecting using the ethernet as well.

edit: one other thing, make sure your firewall is set to allow connections to/from the router.

[Bob Holmstrom]

The "bridge" adaptor has been reset several times - why should it still respond to a team related IP address? It does not respond to team related IP address using the GaGo pinger or to pings from cmd.

Bob

[GregW11]

hm... did you try ipconfig to make sure the ip is set correctly?
(sorry for sounding a bit redundant but sometimes it's the little things that cause the problem)

[Bob Holmstrom]

The Linksys rep had me set a static ip address as follows:

IP address: 192.168.1.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.250

I could still not connect to 192.168.1.250.

Thanks for your help - Bob

[Jon Stratis]

Originally Posted by Bob Holmstrom

The Linksys rep had me set a static ip address as follows:

IP address: 192.168.1.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 192.168.1.250

I could still not connect to 192.168.1.250.

Thanks for your help - Bob

Bob, those look like the correct numbers to me (i just set ours up last night and used very similar numbers). The only difference is that i left the default gateway blank.

How are your wires configured? It's best if you leave the router out of it completely - just go straight from the laptop to the gaming adapter with a regular ethernet cable (it probably doesn't matter since they make these things smart now, but i would NOT use the crossover (orange) cable).

With the above settings and setup, try opening the command prompt and putting in:

ping 192.168.1.250

if the gaming adapter is on that IP address, then you should see something similar to the following:

Pinging 192.168.1.250 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.250: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.250:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

If it's not setup on that port, or not working, you'll see something similar to the following:

Pinging 192.168.1.250 with 32 bytes of data:

Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.250:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

I hope that helps!

[Bob Holmstrom]

SOLVED

Yes, I was connected directly to the bridge. 192.168.1.250 did not work.

I found a copy of the wga600 manual online - and found the answer.

When the button on the front of the bridge is pushed, the device changes from wireless bridge mode to party lan mode and the security light is lit AND the bridge address changes to 192.168.1.251 !!!!!

Note - this button could easily get pushed accidently or by "curious" helpers. It should probably be protected with a guard.

Note - I asked the Linksys tech several times if it mattered if the security light was lit - he/she said definitely no!

Hope this helps others. Thanks to everyone who helped with this issue.

Bob

[techsupport07]

did you disable wireless security?

[Bob Holmstrom]

did you disable wireless security?

We left the security Mode on the WGA600N Wireless network settings screen at "None" All other settings were as per 5.6.1

I have not attempted to see if we can recreate the problem by pushing the button on the bridge - there are other opportunities to work on.

Bob

[techplex]

Hello,
We are having a similar problem...

After returning from the Boston regional, we wanted to hook up our robot for sponsors night. The driver station continuously says "no comm".
I knew that at the competition a FIRST volunteer had changed our WPA settings.

I reset the router and the bridge to factory defaults...
Then proceeded to follow the instructions to configure the wireless components.
After a successful configuration, while the Ethernet cables were still connected: pc > router > bridge i could, ping and access the configuration pages for each. When I disconnected the cable router > bridge, I could not see the bridge wirelessly. "No comm".

Without a teather the robot will not do anything.

Please Help,
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