Troubleshooting

To help diagnose a problem, first use the following troubleshooting checklist.

  1. Confirm that you are using the AC power adapter that came with your gateway and that it is connected to the gateway and to an active wall outlet. Make sure the Power switch is switched to the on position. The LED should be lighted.
  2. Confirm that you have securely connected the telephone cable to the telephone wall jack and to the gateway. The LED should be lighted if you have ordered and correctly configured DSL.
  3. If you are using a wired connection from the computer to the gateway, confirm that you have secured the Ethernet cable(s) to the computer’s network interface card and to the Ethernet port(s) on the gateway (labelled 1, 2, 3, or 4). The corresponding LED should be lighted on the front of the gateway.

For more information on the LEDs, see the Status LEDs section earler in this document.

Opening the Web user interface

The Web user interface will be your main tool for configuring, troubleshooting and monitoring the gateway. Follow this procedure to access it.

  1. Start a Web browser.
  2. Open the page http://192.168.1.1 (If you’ve modified the gateway’s LAN IP address, you must use the new one.)
  3. A login window should appear:

    The default user name and password are already filled in. Click OK.

  4. The Web user interface opens with a status page.

If you cannot access the Internet...

A number of devices have to work together for your computer to access the Internet.

NOTE: For completeness, the following drawing shows both wired and wireless connections between your computer and your U.S. Robotics Wireless MAXg ADSL Gateway. You’ll normally use only one type of connection on each computer.

A. Your computer connects to your Wireless MAXg ADSL Gateway via a wireless or wired connection.

B. The gateway connects to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) via ADSL over the phone network.

The first step in solving the problem is to diagnose the cause. There are a number of places where the connection from your computer to the Internet might fail.

Windows users: You can check your connections automatically with the included utility program.

  1. Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the Troubleshooting folder on your U.S. Robotics installation CD-ROM (for example, D:\Troubleshooting, if your CD drive is labeled D:).
  2. Double-click on Troubleshoot_Connection.

This utility program tests your connections and, if there is a problem, tells you where it is.

Step 1: Can your computer connect to your Wireless MAXg ADSL Gateway?

Open a Web browser to the gateway’s address: http://192.168.1.1 (Please note that if you’ve modified the gateway’s LAN IP address, you must use the new one.)

If the gateway’s Web user interface appears, go to Step 3. Otherwise, the gateway may need to be restarted:

  1. Turn the gateway ’s power off with the switch on the back. Wait a few seconds and turn it back on again.
  2. Wait one or two minutes as the gateway restarts.

If you use a wired connection:

If you use a cable connection between your computer and the gateway, ensure that one end of the Ethernet cable is connected to your computer’s LAN port and the other end is connected to one of the Ethernet ports on the gateway. Also check that the corresponding LED is lighted.

In the unlikely event that your computer is using a static IP address, either re-configure your computer to use a dynamic IP address or ensure that its static IP address is in the same network as the ADSL gateway. (That means that the IP address has the format 192.168.1.x where x can be any number between 2 and 254, inclusive.)

Now, please restart your computer. It will attempt to connect to the gateway. Proceed to Step 2.

If you use a wireless connection:

  1. Ensure that your computer is close enough to your gateway to receive a wireless signal and that there is nothing interfering with the signal, such as a microwave oven or a concrete wall.

    2. If your gateway broadcasts its network name, you can use your computer’s wireless utility to scan for it. (This is typically called a “site survey.”) If the utility cannot detect the gateway, it may be a signal problem.

  2. Ensure that the computer’s wireless utility is using the correct network name and security settings for your gateway.

    3. Settings such as network name, security method (WPA, WEP, etc.), and security keys must all match. So if your gateway is using WPA encryption, each wireless card or adapter must support WPA encryption. If you are using a wireless PC card, PCI adapter, or USB adapter that does not support WPA encryption, you will not be able to connect to the gateway unless you use WEP encryption instead. Please click here for information on changing the security settings.

  3. If you have enabled MAC filtering on the gateway, is this computer permitted to connect to your gateway?

    4. Please note that MAC filtering refers to specific wireless adapters. If you use MAC filtering and have added a new wireless adapter to the network, you must add the MAC address of the new wireless adapter to the gateway.

NOTE: If you need to modify the ADSL gateway’s settings, you’ll need a computer with a wired connection to the gateway in order to access it.

If these steps fail to establish a wireless connection, please try a wired connection between your computer and your gateway. Connect the yellow Ethernet cable to your computer’s LAN port and to a LAN port on the gateway. Then ensure that the corresponding LAN port LED is lighted. Then please restart your computer.

Step 2: Is your Wireless MAXg ADSL Gateway responding?

Open your Web browser to the gateway’s address: http://192.168.1.1

NOTE: If you can open the gateway’s Web user interface with a wired connection but not with a wireless connection, the problem is with the wireless connection. Please see the documentation for your wireless adapter.

If the gateway’s Web user interface appears, please go to Step 3.

If the gateway’s Web user interface doesn’t appear, the gateway may need to be restored to the default factory settings. (Please note that you will lose all of your gateway’s custom settings and will need to set it up again as if you were installing it for the first time. If you’ve made a backup of the settings, you will be able to restore them. Please click here for more information.)

  1. With a thin tool, such as a paper clip, press the Reset button on the back of the gateway for at least five seconds.
  2. Wait about one or two minutes as the gateway restarts.
  3. Please restart your computer so that it will connect to the gateway.
  4. Try to access the gateway’s Web address at http://192.168.1.1

If the gateway's Web user interface still does not appear, the firmware and/or default factory settings may have been corrupted. To find out, follow these steps:

  1. Press and hold down the Reset button on the back of the gateway for more than 30 seconds.
  2. Assign a static IP address to your computer, in the same subnet as your gateway's management IP address. (For example, the default management IP address for your gateway is 192.168.1.1. The computer IP address can be 192.168.1.5, subnet mask 255.255.255.0, and gateway IP address 192.168.1.1.)
  3. Open a browser and try to open the http://192.168.1.1 address again. If anything opens, follow the on-screen instructions to re-load the firmware. You will need to get a new firmware file from your Internet Service Provider or from the www.usr.com Web site.
  4. Close the Web browser and return your computer to a dynamic IP address.

If the gateway’s Web user interface still does not appear, the gateway may have failed. Please contact U.S. Robotics Customer Support. See the contact information in the Help section of this guide.

If the gateway’s Web user interface appears, please continue to Step 3.

Step 3: Can your Wireless MAXg ADSL Gateway connect to the Internet?

If you have a connection between your computer and your gateway, it’s likely that the gateway is not connected to the Internet.

  1. Close your Web browser and run EasyConfigurator.
    2. Windows Vista users: Click Windows Start > All Programs > U.S. Robotics EasyConfigurator.

    Windows users: Press Start, then select Programs and U.S. Robotics EasyConfigurator.

    Macintosh and Linux users: Double-click the EasyConfigurator icon on the desktop.
  2. Click Status at the top of the page, and check the value of the Status field.

    3. Sample image of a gateway connected to the Internet:

    Sample image of a gateway not connected to the Internet:

    If the status is CONNECTED or CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET but you still cannot access the Internet, please contact your ISP for assistance.

    Otherwise, you need to configure your ADSL connection. Please click Configuration at the top of the EasyConfigurator window and go here for information on how to configure your ADSL connection.