Old lady needs help w/ Apex

Sorry :( I'm back. Here's the scoop... My computer went on the blink so I had to take it in for fixing...record time with Best Buy :0) Had it back within 24 hrs! Begging does help!! lol

OK, now the Apex and Hotspot. I may have broken the WNCE2001 :( There are only 2 lights showing: the power light is blinking green and the LAN is solid green...NO light on the WLAN.

I bought another NetGear Universal WiFi Adapter for Smart TV & Blu-ray. I haven't opened it but the box picture looks the same. Hopefully I won't have to use it but if I do, that's fine.

I have Not tried to use the Apex and the computer together since bringing the computer home.(Just been using the Apex display.) The Hotspot is connecting me to the Internet as well as HughesNet. (I couldn't get internet service before BB fixed the computer)

1. Do I need the Linksys Router anymore? (I have Hughes Net service until Dec. 10th).
2. What approach does everyone/anyone think I should take for connecting the Apex and HotSpot? I just do not want to mess this up...the replacement for the NetGear was $70 and I don't want to mess up the Apex...Hughes, I could care less :0)

Thanks everyone! :0)
 
Regarding the lights on the WNCE2001... I don't think it's necessarily broken.

The WLAN light will only light up when it has a wireless connection with your router, or whatever device is serving as a router. So if it is not configured yet - which would be the case since you pressed the "reset" button - that light will not be lit up.

I'm not sure what the power light blinking green means - it doesn't mention a green blinking light in the manual. Blinking yellow means "unit is busy."

Have you hooked the WNCE back up to the computer as mentioned earlier and tried setting it up? Do you get the setup screen when you enter the address www.mywifiext.net (or .com) as noted previously?
 
No, I have not hooked the WNCE up to the computer. When I pushed the reset button, it did not change colors...the light just went out. I'm afraid to do anything right now as I don't want to mess anything up...the Apex and computer particularly.
 
I cannot access the mywifiext.net Here's what I did. I unplugged the Ethernet end that was in the Apex 'ethernet' slot. I plugged that end (NetGear/WNCW) into the computer's Ethernet slot. I turned the HotSpot on. I connected it to the Internet. The green light was still blinking green and the LAN light was a steady green on the WNCE. The link didn't pop up so I entered it in the browser and clicked. Nothing except that there wasn't a connection....fix connection was the error message. Windows/diagnostics couldn't find the reason for no connection.

So what am I dealing with here? I did not try to go through HughesNet service since I will not be using it...

The HotSpot is on and when I views more information it said file type ThermadataT Logger File File Extension etl I have no clue!

Could the WNCE/NetGear box be broken since there is no light showing up on the WLAN and, since it didn't glow amber when I tried to reset it? I wouldn't be surprised if I broke it....Murphy is my middle name :0)
 
The WLAN will only light when it has successfully connected to a WiFi network (in this case your HotSpot). Because you have not yet told the WNCE what the name of your network is and what the password is, it is normal that the WLAN light isn't lit.

I think you misunderstand what the "www.mywifiext.net" site is. You may think that you need the internet to be working to get there, but it is actually a built-in webpage in the WNCE unit. When the WNCE is connected via ethernet cable to your laptop, and the WiFi adapter is temporarily disabled on the laptop, the browser should then try to use the wired ethernet connection instead, and should access this built-in configuration webpage on the WNCE. It is here that you should be able to enter the network name (SSID) and the password. You may also have to enter the network encryption type (WPA2 is typical).

You don't necessarily need that original reefer friend to help with this. Do you have any friends/relatives that may know home network setup? Or their kids? Knowledge of how the Apex works is not needed to get this all working.
 
Yes... like Morty mentioned, you need to turn off the wifi on your laptop when setting up the WNCE2001. You'd done this once already... or got really close, if you reread back through this thread.

I really don't think your WNCE2001 is broken - I think you just need to step through the setup and give it your hotspot's SSID and password, then things will work as before.
 
Thank you so much guys for hanging in there with me! Please don't give up on me :0) 3 weeks ago I was diagnosed with a brain tumor so you are dealing with a senior citizen who "will" eventually get it!
 
Terri Ann - why don't you send an email to Neptune support and setup a time for Paul or one of the other guys to walk you through this on the phone next week? They'll spend as much time as it takes to get you going. You're going to spend years doing it this way!

support@neptunesys.com
 
Ok, I have tried to do this 4 more times. Here's the steps that I've taken.

1.Turned off the wireless to the computer.
2. Unplugged the WNCE from the Apex...the Ethernet cable.
3. Plugged the Ethernet cable into the computer.

When I did that, a green circle, revolving, showed up in the bottom right of the computer which shows the bars and whether it's connected or not. The circle went round and round for a couple minutes, then the it disappeared and the yellow sign came up showing no connection/wireless.

4. I unplugged the WNCE from the computer. Waited 10 seconds and plugged it into the computer again.

Same thing happened as stated above.
5. Repeated step 4. Same with the circle but this time I brought up the brouser and typed in http://www.mywifiext and entered....

The screen said there was no network connected. I continue to get that screen! I even get it when I'm connected to the internet and no screen!

6. I went to the HughesNet modem and unplugged it for 2 minutes. After it was on/setup. I then unpluuged the Linksys for 2 minutes. Plugged it back in :0)

7. I went through the steps above EXCEPT this time I unplugged the Ethernet cable from the box(with the lights) and plugged that Ethernet cable into the computer. Having wireless off before plugging it in :0)

The exact thing happened again! No screen from the WNCE and no connection when I entered it in the browser.

For sure, the wireless has been off on the computer before plugging in the Ethernet. The HotSpot has been turned off at all times I've tried.

Should I try the new NetGear WiFi I bought? I will be leaving the forum here for awhile but I will check in in a couple hours :0)

Thanks EVERYONE!!!
 
You have to make sure the wireless adapter on the laptop is disabled (shut off). When you say "having wireless off before plugging it in", what do you mean? What steps did you take to turn off WiFi on the laptop? Configuring the WNCE does not require you to do anything with the Hotspot. When you say you unplugged the Hotspot, this leads me to believe that you misunderstand what "disabling WiFi on the laptop" actually means. You should actually be leaving your Hotspot plugged in throughout this process.

What you are trying to do is get the laptop to temporarily switch which connection it is trying to use to for its network connection. If WiFi hasn't been disabled on the laptop, it will continue to try to use it instead of the ethernet port, and the laptop will never communicate with the WNCE thru the ethernet cable.

To disable the WiFi in Windows 7, you would need to go to "control panel", "network and sharing center", and choose "change adapter settings" on the left. One of the icons you then see should be for your laptop's WiFi (wireless) adapter. Right-click it, and choose "disable". Then, try entering the mywifiext address again to see if the configuration page comes up for the WNCE device. Once you have it set up to use your Hotspot's SSID and password, the WLAN indicator should light, and you should then be able to go to a common website (like Google) to see if is communicating with your Hotspot. (There should have been a step-by-step quick start guide that came with the WNCE unit that leads you thru connecting to a WiFi network like the Hotspot's.) Once you have established that it's talking to your network, you can then reconnect it to your Apex as before. Afterward, don't forget to go back into your laptop's "change adapter settings" window, right-click the laptop's WiFi adapter icon, and choose "enable" to get your laptop to start using its WiFi connection again.
 
I don't know what all I did because I disabled everything in the Network and Sharing except for the Hotspot. Then I started going through each one I disabled and turned it on...the Local Area Connection thing was the culprit. I had to do something with it and once I did, up popped the mywifi page! It had the Hotspot's info listed, in addition to the HughesNet-I think. God, I can't believe it!!! I really thought I had broken the WNCE when I tried to reset it!

I see you're in Minnesota :0) My brother and sister-in-law live in Zimmerman. Are you close to them? If so, whenever we get up there, which is once in a blue moon, I'd love to meet you!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
 
I'm just so overwhelmed with joy that I can't begin to express my feelings. I tend to frustrate others because of my condition but when they hang in there with me, just like you did Morty, I usually can get the job done! WOW! Finally, something has gone right:=) Here's to you Morty! :beer::celeb3::love1:
 
:beer:

I take it this means you are also now able to access the Apex's dashboard? If so, great!

(I live SW of the Twin Cities, Zimmerman is actually quite a ways N from me... But happy reefing!)
 
You are pretty close to the Twin Cities :0) About 4-4 1/2 hours from me :( If there is anything I can do for you, please pm me and I'll see what I can do :0) Thanks again and Happy Reefing to you, too!!
 
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