Apr 1 2007

problems connecting to orange livebox wirelessly

Posted by mark at 10:56 AM
7 comments
- Categories: Resources

I recently took delivery of my orange livebox for my home broadband connection..."great I thought", I got it all plugged in and working by connecting with an ethernet cable...excellent, the service is fast and reliable...and then I tried to connect wirelessly...this is where the fun ended abruptly! I remember it was pain it in the arse when I set up my parents wireless connection to a livebox so, I searched google, found several "solutions" with varying levels of complexity, none of which worked..yes..not even the orange technical article worked. so, several hours of hair tearing out frustration....here's the solution that got me up and running (I'm writing this on my new wireless connection) hopefully it'll save you some time!:

I should add that I'm using a centrino laptop with built in wireless adaptor, the rules will probably be different for external adaptors etc

I have updated this article to make it easier to follow..i kinda had to do this as I had to re-install my operating system....sigh...windows....

  1. go to "start>control panel>network connections"
  2. right click on "wireless network connection" and select "properties"
  3. select the "wireless networks" tab
  4. ensure that "use windows to configure my wireless network settings" is checked
  5. highlight your livebox in the "preferred networks" list (if there is more than one, the name is on the bottom of the livebox), if there are none, proceed to next step
  6. click "properties"
  7. set "Network Authentication" to "shared" and "data encryption" to "WEP"
  8. enter the WEP code (also on the bottom of the livebox). it's worth typing this into notepad or other text editor ensuring all letters are in uppercase and remembering that anything you think is a letter "o" isn't...its a zero
  9. confirm the code (if you took my advice and typed it into notepad you can copy and paste it to save time and errors)
  10. select "Authentication" (the middle tab at the top of the window)
  11. UN-check "Enable IEEE........"
  12. click "ok"
  13. close these two windows but leave the "network connections" window open
  14. in the "Network Connections" window, right click on "Wireless Network Connection" and select "View Available Wireless Networks"
  15. press button "1" on the back of the livebox itself, to put it into pairing mode
  16. select your livebox from the list (remember, if there are more than one, your livebox name can be found on the bottom of the livebox itself) and click "connect"
  17. in the security window that opens, enter your WEP code and also confirm it (bet you're glad you took my advice and typed it into notepad so you could just copy and paste, aren't you?)
  18. you should now connect successfully...

oh..and one last piece of advice, in a browser window, type 192.168.1.1 into the address bar, this will open your livebox configuration page...by default the user and password are "admin" and "admin", once you're in, navigate to "Configuration" and then "Administrator" and change your password...just a little extra security to make for a happier life!

Comments

the.pyrophoric

the.pyrophoric wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

dont talk to me about wireless! im in the middle of going through the same pain in the arse with my fancy looking bt broadband box.. can I get my wireless to work?

i'll have to have a go at this again tonight...
mark

mark wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

well scott, why don't you post the results up here when you've figured it out? I'm sure there are others with the same problem and it would give you that warm gooey feeling that you've helped your fellow man...or something like that!
Craig

Craig wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

Scott, you're a f***ing star!!! simple(like me) and effective solution.
It's great to come across a real solution for a change after following
all the 'expert' guesses that seem to get posted these days.
Thanks!!
mark

mark wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

thanks Craig....my name's Mark but I can see where the confusion came from!

I always mean to update this post but I've found the livebox to be super reliable, never had any problems with it or had to start from scratch...I've even got my windows mobile smartphone connected to it wirelessly and recently my linux(ubuntu 7.10) machine...which was even easier...I just punched in the WEP code and away I went....no messing about like windows, just point and shoot.
iam0007

iam0007 wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

This does exactly what it says on the tin (box) and I have 3 pc's each using Vista, XP pro & home and 1 laptop running xp pro all connected with no problems
. Also using the live printer on all machines (easy peasy) and with a Wii & Playstation 3 all connected a running sweet as a nut. I am very satisfied with
my Livebox.
John Bradley

John Bradley wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

My problem with Livebox is the opposite of
others. Whilst we struggled connecting the
Wireless laptops initially and a Desktop with
a Belkin G Wireless thingy they are fine now.
The only thing is that they seem to squeeze
out the main PC which is connected with an
ethernet connector. The internet connection
cuts out and it refuses to reconnect. When I
reset the Livebox it seems to work again but
this does not make me very popular with the
Wireless Users in the house. Any ideas?
dean

dean wrote on 03/19/08 11:24 AM

i am having problems connecting wireless using windows me i dont have network connections in my control panel.so cant find wireless network connection.can anyone help please.

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