IP changed to 169.xxx.....

[brebeans]

Hi:
I've had a wireless system set up for a couple of years with minimal problems. Have two Tivos (one 240 and one 540), a Dell wireless adaptor on the 240 and a Netgear wireless adaptor on the 540....

All HME functions worked, new functions also worked (games, etc.).

I recently installed Tivo desktop on my laptop computer and transferred some programs successfully.

I then shut down my desktop computer for a few days while I was away.

When I got back, one of the Tivos had an IP address of 169.xxx.xxx....and the other said it couldn't find the server.

I suspect it has something to do with the laptop, so I uninstalled Tivo desktop on that.

I still cannot get the Tivos to "get" any IP address...at all.

My laptop recognized two Netgear networks, one on channel 6 and one on channel 11 (althought the router is set on channnel 6).

What else can I do to get back to square one?

I've unplugged, restarted, rebooted, etc. the tivos, the modem, the router and the adaptor connections....to no avail.

What else should I be looking for on the laptop? Desktop? router?

I don't think it's a Tivo problem...it's a network problem, but I'm getting in a bit over my head with some of the settings, etc.

I'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks.

[petew]

Sounds like a neighbour has recently bought a netgear router. Change the name of your router to something unique (default is netgear) and reconfigure your Tivo's to look for that unique name. The 169.x.x.x IP address is the default when a DHCP server can't be found.

[brebeans]

Hi:
Thanks. My closest neighbor, though, is about 300 feet away. If I change the name of the network, and I still have the problem, any follow up things I should be doing?

I had a similar problem once before and, I think, the problem was related to the laptop and it's IP address. Right now it's IP address is 192.168.12 and the Tivo's addresses WERE 192.168.2 and 192.168.4 . The desktop's is 192.168.3 and the routers' is 192.168.1.

The message on the Tivo settings page is now saying DHCP server cannot be found.

Thanks. Hope this give you some useful info.



Any thoughts along those lines?

[pdhenry]

Right now it's IP address is 192.168.12 and the Tivo's addresses WERE 192.168.2 and 192.168.4 . The desktop's is 192.168.3 and the routers' is 192.168.1.Go back and look at the IP addresses more closely. Valid IP addresses have four sets of numbers; you've only provided three for each.

[brebeans]

Hi:

Sorry....I left out the third set..., but the last numbers (1, 2, 3, 4 and 12 are the correct numbers for the router, Tivo, desktop, Tivo, and laptop, respectively.

Thanks.

Annie

[brebeans]

Hi:
Forgot to add that my laptop now has a hard time getting an "excellent" connection.

It is now low or very low........

Should I just change the channel on my router to channel 11 and see what happens?

Channel 11 is the stronger one for the laptop, but both Tivos worked fine on Channel 6......

thanks.

[petew]

Hi:
Thanks. My closest neighbor, though, is about 300 feet away. If I change the name of the network, and I still have the problem, any follow up things I should be doing?


In your OP you stated:

My laptop recognized two Netgear networks, one on channel 6 and one on channel 11 (althought the router is set on channnel 6).


This leads me to believe you are recieving a signal from a neighbor. Regardless it's alwasy good practice to change the name (SID) of the router

[yostmatt]

a 169.254.x.x 255.255.0.0 is an automatic configuration sent out by windows saying you cannot pick up a IP address from your DHCP server (router). Check your scope and make sure you are allowing enough addresses. You can also statically assign an address.

Any time you set up a WIFI, you want to change your SSID. Not only will it identify your network, but when you have a AP with a default name on it, that is usually an open door for a hacker to attach to it.

[brebeans]

Hi:

I tried changing the name of my network on the Tivo and it wouldn't "save" it.

My old network name "NETGEAR", keeps coming up on the Tivo settings network screen.

Also, how do I change it on my laptop?

I know this is more of a networking question than a Tivo question, but now my network is in question and Tivo cannot connect at all and I can't seem to fix it.

I changed my network name and the channel from 6 to 11.

Now my laptop recognizes the new network name, but the new name signal is lower than the "netgear" signal, which is excellent.

Help.

Now that I've changed a few things, I don't know what to do next.

My SSID is ANNIES and the channel is 11 on my router.

I went into Tivo network settings and my old network name was their, I entered my new network name, but when Tivo tries to connect it cannot find it.

Please provide any advice that you think might be helpful or ask me any info that you need to help me through this.

thanks a lot

[petew]

Leave your router on Channel 6, trying to use the same channel as another router with a very strong signal is going to cause problems. The coverage pattern of the router is a "disc" perpendicular to the antenna. So assuming your router and Tivo are at approximately the same height make sure the both antenna (Tivo and Router) are vertical.

You might also want to check that the antenna on your router is still securely connected. If your nearest neighbor is 300ft away, you shouldn't be getting their router as your strongest signal.

[petew]

I tried changing the name of my network on the Tivo and it wouldn't "save" it.

My old network name "NETGEAR", keeps coming up on the Tivo settings network screen.



probably because the signal from your router is too weak, and Tivo is unable to complete a connection to it.

[brebeans]

Hi:

I'm still getting two networks...NETGEAR and ANNIES on the laptop with NETGEAR being very strong and ANNIES being very weak.

Also, NETGEAR keeps coming up as the network on my Tivo setup page...when I go to change network settings and enter ANNIES , I see it on the "settings" page but it says the network is not found.

Should I start over? Just go back to NETGEAR and channel 6 on my router and reset the Tivos accordingly?

I still think this is connected, somehow, to my laptop, but I'm not sure how.
Perhaps I'll call Tivo tech support.
Any other thoughts?
thanks.
this is frustrating, for sure, but I'll keep at it , or else Tivo won't be able to make the connection and I won't enjoy HME
thanks

[Maxnl]

Leave the SSID the same, but try changing the Ch to 1.
Also, do you have any cordless phones that are 2.4 GHz?

[petew]

As maxnl says lesave the SSID as ANNIES it's the only way you can tell you're connecting to the correct network. How far appart are the Tivo and the Router? You've got a signal strength problem that's stopping the Tivo from connecting. Untill you can get an acceptable signal you'll never get it working.

[brebeans]

Hi:

Thanks. The router is upstairs and Tivo is downstairs.

Prior to this event, though, I always got strong signal and never had severe problems with accessing DHCP server.

Had signals of 90% on one Tivo and 60-70% on the other Tivo.

Had both Tivos networked wirelessly, transferring programs from one to the other, HME working fine, games working fine, etc.

Now, I can't get a signal.......

Although, as I said ....on my laptop, the "netgear" network signal is excellent and the annies network is low or very low.

I've had this happen before with the laptop....it had two different signal strengths coming in.

I'lll try a few more things, rebooting, restarting router, Tivos, etc. etc. before I call tech support.

I do have a 2.4 mhz phone in the kitchen, about 25 feet away from the Tivo, but have always had it and have not had this kind of problem.

The only thing differently that I did recently , was "add" Tivo desktop to my laptop...and then uninstalled it, thinking that could be causing the problem.

I'm at a loss as to what to try next, except tech support.

thoughts?
thanks again

[TydalForce]

I wonder if.....
Both wireless networks were called "Netgear". That, to me, suggests that you and a neighbour both have the same or at least similar models of routers. Meaning, the steps to configure either are the same as the other.

The network in your house should be strong. The neighbour's should be weaker. I wonder if you didn't accidentally change the settings on the neighbour's router.

Easy way to confirm this: Go pull the power plug on your router. Now, which network(s) do you still see? If "NETGEAR" disappears and you still see "ANNIES" then my theory is correct (and you might want to fix it).

[petew]

Have you been using encryption at all? If not then I suspect you might have been using your neighbors router all along and it stopped working when you neighbor realized and turned on encryption.

Assuming the antenna on your router is vertical you are generating a flat horizintal signal, which will be stong upstairs and weak downstairs. Easiest way to fix this is to move the router downstairs. If this is not possible you'll need to adjust the possition of the antennas till you get a strong signal.

Also be aware that WIFI signals don't travel through walls and furniture very well.

[TydalForce]

Also be aware that WIFI signals don't travel through walls and furniture very well.

Wireless is usually OK going through wood, drywall, glass. It'll have a really tough time with brick or stone, metal, the denser things like that.

However if the signal's gone from good to bad, and nothing's moved (or moved between) I somehow doubt a new wall has gone up (c:

Do check the antennas as one post mentioned above.

[brebeans]

Hi :
Thanks.

Nothing has changing regarding placement or walls. Everything is the same, except for the laptop configuration.

Antenna is in the same place it's always been. It is not removable.

I'll try unplugging the router and seeing what network shows up.

Also, on my Tivo central screen, when I go to wireless network, the NETGEAR network is the only one listed in the networks that have been found. I've inserted ANNIES as the name of my network and that comes up on the settings screen, but says that ANNIES is not recognized....need address from DHCP server....

I can't seem to "get rid of" the NETGEAR listed on the left, as one the network that's listed as recognized by Tivo.

I've changed the name of my SSID on my router to ANNIES and it is on channel 6. It is recognized on my desktop and I can get on line just fine.

Both ANNIES and NETGEAR are recognized network names on my laptop .

That's the latest update.
Will try some of this tonight...better get back to work.

[hitbyatrain]

I wonder if.....
Both wireless networks were called "Netgear". That, to me, suggests that you and a neighbour both have the same or at least similar models of routers. Meaning, the steps to configure either are the same as the other.

The network in your house should be strong. The neighbour's should be weaker. I wonder if you didn't accidentally change the settings on the neighbour's router.

Easy way to confirm this: Go pull the power plug on your router. Now, which network(s) do you still see? If "NETGEAR" disappears and you still see "ANNIES" then my theory is correct (and you might want to fix it).


This very well could be the case, especially if the OP and his neighbor kept the same default admin password on their router, and the OP was administering the router through the wireless connection.

The OP should check this out, definately. Also, if this is what happened, I bet his neighbor has a big case of, "What the hell. . . . " going on.

[petew]

The network in your house should be strong. The neighbour's should be weaker. I wonder if you didn't accidentally change the settings on the neighbour's router.


Good thinking.

[pdhenry]

Won't your neighbor be surprised!

[brebeans]

Hi:

OK, the problem is solved and here's what happened.

I unplugged the Tivo, disconnected the wireless adapter, and unplugged the router. I replugged everything and still no connection to the ANNIES network.

During this whole thing, the "netgear" network, came up on the Tivo phone and network site as being "found" by the Tivo. I also created the ANNIES network name, which never had come up on the list of recognized networks.

So, I switched adapters between my Tivos and the connection came up as 1%/poor and then disappeared .

Last, on the Tivo phone and network screen, I went to the "netgear" network that was recognized, hit select and , voila, connection was excellent.

I then went to the other Tivo, now with the Dell wireless adapter and that worked , too.

All HME functions are working and I can transfer between Tivos.

I used Tivo tech support to help me walk through this/get beyond my own frustration and he, too, did not understand why this "fix" worked, but it did.

Long and short, the Tivos never recognized the name change to ANNIES, I guess, but still recognized the NETGEAR network. When I stopped fighting it and just went with it.....well, it all worked. Laptop also recognized the NETGEAR network and is connecting fine at excellent strength.

So, thanks for your help. Sometimes, when things are working again, even though we don't know what caused it, that's really all that matters...

Any thoughts from you guys as to what was happening?
I have my Tivos back! yay

[petew]

Assuming you only posses one wireless router then one of the two router you see is your neighbours. I would recomend you follow Tydalforce's suggestion and unplug your router then look on your laptop to see which network disappeared. If as we assume Netgear disappears, power your router back on, connect to netgear and change the name to anything except Netgear or Annies. Also change the admin password. Then connect your Tivo's to the new name. Finally on your laptop go back to the ANNIES router and reset the name back to netgear.

If when you unplug your router ANNIES disappears then you are hijacking your neighbors router and your router is probably faulty. You should probably fix this.

If you don't want to risk disconecting your Tivo's with this test an alternative is to disable wireless on your laptop and connect it to the router using a network cable.

Finally I would recomend that you enable WEP encryption on your router, the Tivo's and your laptop.