HOW TO: Connect a MacBook to a home network via a Linksys WRT54G v5 router
Still more notes to myself just to make sure I have this around when I need it (and as an added benefit, scare off any and all potential regular readers who may have been drawn in by my other writing…)
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So it turns out that my router, a Linksys WRT54G v5, doesn’t play well with the MacBook I just bought for a project - specifically, it won’t allow the Mac to pick up an IP address via DHCP. Apparently, the fix is to downgrade the firmware on the Linksys, router. However, I just last month spent more time that I care to admit getting *everything* properly networked, my machines, M’s wireless Netgear print server, Tivo with Tivo desktop, etc. etc. - - and with WPA, which took more than a little doing with regard to the Tivo. At this point, I’d almost rather take the Mac back then have to screw around with flashing the router again. So… My temporary fix is a hack - - specifically, just configure manually and end-run the DHCP issue. Steps to duplicate:
- Go to Network Prefences (Finder-Location-Network Preferences)
- Set "Configure IPv4 to "Manually"
- Assign an IP address (below the Linksys’s autoassign range to avoid conflicts)
- Assign a couple of reliable DNS servers (there’s a good list here)
- Click "Apply Now" and "Lock" to prevent any utilities from "helpfully" changing the values back.
Done.
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Are the new readers gone yet? ;)