I am trying to install a Linksys wireless router (WRT54G).  Linksys
support is no help.  I disabled the firewall and "Christian filter"
from this computer as support said it might make a difference.

Ran ipconfig and the ip numbers on the default gateway ends in "0.1"
support said it should say "1.1".

The software included an additional software I downloaded from Linksys
to install the router gets to the point it is trying to recognize the
router and then stops saying "Couldn't detect router".

Upon Linksys' instructions I exchanged the router for a new one, but
same problem.  Any help would be very appreciated.

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Clarification of Question by tyler_eastman-ga on 21 Nov 2005 12:48 PST

Actually I'm not even to the wireless card point.  I'm trying to
physically hook it up to the desktop and I can't get the router to be
recognized by the computer.  After I get the desktop hooked up I'm
hoping that my IBook's integrated wireless ethernet card will find the
network.

The CD is pretty much worthless in my opinion, and is not required to
make the router work.

First, are you sure your wireless card works?  Have you tried it other places?

The first clarification that would help in answering the question is
what the first two numbers of the IP octect on the desktop are. If the
first number in the octect is 169, then you do not have ethernet
connectivity. This would lead me to diagnose a bad ethernet card; the
fact that this is occuring on two distinct routers is what takes my
troubleshooting thought process in this direction.

The other way to rule out the router as the problem is to use the
iBook to configure the router. If the iBook connects, once again, the
diagnosis leans toward bad hardware on the desktop. If you
successfully configure the router using the iBook, make sure DHCP is
enabled and then connect the desktop; it may just not be getting a
good DHCP seed.

Additionally, the IP stack may be screwy on the desktop; try
unplugging the ethernet cable and plugging back in after 30 seconds or
so to reset the IP stack.

No brainer question: has the desktop successfully connected to the
internet in the past?

Also, are you using DSL or Cable Modem to connect to the internet? Are
you required to use PPoE to connect? Does your WAN device (cable or
DSL modem) do any kind of MAC Address binding? If so this could be the
source of your problem.

Ok.  The router should've come with an ethernet cable.  Connect one
end of the cable to the desktop and connect the other end to one of
the lan ports on the router (make sure it is not the wan port).

Make sure the router is plugged in and turn on the desktop.  When the
desktop comes up, a light on the front of the router should flip on
indicating connectivity between the laptop and the router.

Now you need to set your desktop to use DHCP.  Do this by clicking on
Start->Control Panel or Start->Settings->Control panel.  If running XP
make sure you're viewing the control panel in classic view and not
category view.  Double click on Network Connections, right click on
local area connection and hit properties.  Under the general tab
double click "Internet Protocol TCP/IP".  Make sure both "Obtain an IP
address automatically" and "Obtain DNS Server Address automatically"
are checked.  Click OK on both network connections windows and close
the control panel.

Now, click start->run and type "cmd" and hit ok.  A black dos window
should appear.  Type ipconfig /release and hit enter.  Then type
ipconfig /renew and hit enter.

It should get an address and list the gateway.  Open your webbrowser
and type: http://gatewayaddress...probably http://192.168.0.1 or
http://192.168.1.1 and login using the username admin and password
admin.