Old lady needs help w/ Apex

terri_ann

New member
I'm switching internet service from Hughes Net to the HotSpot offered by US Cellular. The HotSpot is just a small black box that gets Internet service through cell phone towers...there's just an on/off button and a plug-in to recharge the battery. My Apex will not work so I need some patient, good help. I have a Lynksys gaming thing that I've used with the Hughes Modem. A fellow reefer came over and set everything up for me way back when so I really don't have a clue what to do. Reading the manuals and threads are a lost cause as I don't understand most of it:headwally:

I will be forever indebted to whomever can help me with this. Oh, my Apex is upstairs and the gaming adapter has been /is in the basement with the Hughes Net Modem. I used it wireless as there's no way for me to run wires:worried:
 
I'm switching internet service from Hughes Net to the HotSpot offered by US Cellular. The HotSpot is just a small black box that gets Internet service through cell phone towers...there's just an on/off button and a plug-in to recharge the battery. My Apex will not work so I need some patient, good help. I have a Lynksys gaming thing that I've used with the Hughes Modem. A fellow reefer came over and set everything up for me way back when so I really don't have a clue what to do. Reading the manuals and threads are a lost cause as I don't understand most of it:headwally:

I will be forever indebted to whomever can help me with this. Oh, my Apex is upstairs and the gaming adapter has been /is in the basement with the Hughes Net Modem. I used it wireless as there's no way for me to run wires:worried:

Hi, if you can get me the model of the wireless device that connected to your apex, I can show you how to change settings to work with your new zte.
 
Oooh, I'm not sure what you mean, sorry :( The Hughes Net modem is a HN9000. The P/N 1500826. The Linksys Wireless-N-Gigabit Router model is WRT31ON. That is plugged into the Hughes modem. When I disconnect Hughes, I will no lomger have that modem as they will come get it as well as the satellite dish. So, the Linksys won't have anything to plug into except the wall outlet. My computer is a laptop. My TV is a Smart TV...for a dummy:0) LOL
 
I think letoan is asking what is the make/model number of the device that is connected to your Apex network port. This assumes that it is some sort of ethernet to WiFi adapter, a la an Iogear GWU627
 
Hopefully this: NetGear Universal Wi-Fi Internet Adapter WNCE2001....It doesn't say what is the model number so there are other numbers if I have it wrong. Gosh, the numbers are SO TINY!! lol
 
The easiest thing to do for you is to change the SSID and password/key for the US Cellular device to what you have before, this required you to have the exact SSID and password from your previous router.

Another thing we can do is reset and setup the Netgear unit as a new connection. This required a laptop, know how to turn on/off WiFi on your laptop and an Ethernet cable.

Let me know which method you're comfortable with and I can walk you through it.
 
I don't know what the SSID is. I have the SAN, PIN, IP Address, Subnet Mask, Serial number and, my username and password for the Hughes service. Are any of those the SSID?
 
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The easiest thing to do for you is to change the SSID and password/key for the US Cellular device to what you have before, this required you to have the exact SSID and password from your previous router.

Another thing we can do is reset and setup the Netgear unit as a new connection. This required a laptop, know how to turn on/off WiFi on your laptop and an Ethernet cable.

Let me know which method you're comfortable with and I can walk you through it.

I have the laptop, plenty of Ethernet cables but they are all being used for the Apex:( I'm not sure how to turn the Wi-Fi on and off but I'll look :0) I went to my Device Manager on my Laptop and looked under Network Adapters. There are 4 different thngs: Wi Max,Wireless-N,and 2 WiFi MiniportAdapters. My computer is a Dell with Windows 7....

If I need to, I could go to Radio Shack or WalMart and buy an Ethernet cable tomorrow. Is there a particular one or length I need?
 
I will do whatever you think will be easiest for both of us :0) We could agree to do it at a specific time and day if you'd like :0) I'm Central time...10:58 pm right now :0)
 
I think the easiest thing for you to do is find that "fellow reefer" that originally set you up, and bribe them to do it again once you have the new equipment installed!

I'm not familiar with how the cellular hot-spots work, but let me try and simplify what's going on, and what others are suggesting...

What you have now, I think (Hughes): You have your internet coming through the Hughes modem, which is connected by an ethernet cable to your Linksys Wireless-N-Gigabit Router. Your Linksys Router is then wirelessly sending the internet signal to your Netgear WNCE2001, which is connected to your Apex.

What you're going to have in the future (hot-spot): You will have your internet coming through the US Cellular hot-spot and where it goes from there is still somewhat of a mystery... but in the end, you need it going through the air to your Netgear WNCE2001, which is connected to your Apex.

Questions:

1. Does the US Cellular hot-spot device have an ethernet port? Can you connect it to the Linksys Router, like your existing Hughes modem? If the answer is 'yes', then just replace the Hughes modem with the Hot-Spot device and change NOTHING else, and you should be good to go.

2. If the hot-spot device doesn't have an ethernet port, then does it have a built in wireless router? If so, then the easiest thing to do is what 'letoan' suggested... change the SSID/password of the hot-spot device's wireless settings to match what the SSID/password of your Linksys Router are. With this scenario, your hot-spot device would replace the Linksys Router in your existing system. [The SSID is the 'name' of your wireless network that you use when you first try and connect up to it. Depending on your level of security for that wireless network, you may or may not have a password.]

3. If there's no ethernet port, or no wireless router as part of that hot-spot device, then... well... I'm not sure how to do what you want. But you somehow need to get that internet signal from the hot-spot to your wireless router.
 
The Hotspot does not have an Ethernet port. Nothing can be plugged into it, It simply has an off/on button and a wire that connects it to an outlet to charge the battery. It does not need to be plugged into anything to work. From what I know, it works off cell phone towers, just like a cellphone...it gets internet just like the smart phones do (however that works!) :0)

I did go through the buttons that show up on the 'black box' :0) It shows a SSID and a password! US Cellular set this up for me...I just took my laptop into them and they did the rest. Maybe they can change the SSID and password then? I can call them tomorrow and ask. I don't have a clue if it can be changed or not:( Maybe it identifies my account and usage? What's nice about the HotSpot is you can take it anywhere and get Intenet service...just take your computer. It probably will work with tablets too...I didn't ask but I'm planning to :0)

The guy/reefer that set my Apex up originally may not be in the area anymore :( I never see him online nor does he message me... :(
 
OK... you're probably right about the SSID of the 'black box'. Probably the easiest thing to do is to setup your Netgear WNCE2001 to recognize the existing SSID of the hot-spot.

If you unplug the Netgear WNCE2001 from the Apex and plug it directly into the ethernet port of your laptop (make sure you turn off your wireless on your laptop) you can reconfigure the Netgear for the new SSID by typing www.mywifiext.com into a browser. That *should* take you to the setup page internal to the WNCE2001. There, you should be able to change the SSID and password for the wireless network it is looking to hook up to - which will be the one for your hot-spot. Once you've done that, unhook the Netgear from your computer and rehook it up to the Apex again.

This is how you'd do it for a normal wireless connection - I'm just not sure how those hotspot devices work. Not sure if they allow more than one connection at a time on them.

Also realize, and you probably do - but I'd figure I'd point it out anyway, if you take that hot-spot with you away from home, your Apex isn't going to be able to send you any texts or emails.
 
Do you know how to turn off the wireless to my laptop? I'll try to see if I can find out how as I only know to turn it off by turning off the computer :(

I don't have the apex setup to send me texts. Don't know how, of course :(
 
I can go to 'Network and Sharing' on the computer and turn off the wireless...I believe. I will not have an Internet connection during the time it's off...so if I type in the browser and click, will that work since their won't be internet? Also, do I need to turn off the Apex outlet that has the NetGear plugged into it?

Oh, if the Hotspot only allows one, I should be able to change it back...correct? I know the hotspot can work on several computers...just don't know if it can only be 1 computer at a time?!


And thanks for pointing it out that if I take the hotspot with me...I hadn't thought of that!
 
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Computer wireless - assuming this is a Windows laptop, you might have a little icon down in the lower right corner of the screen... down by the time... that looks like a wireless symbol? You can click that symbol which should bring up a dialog box where you can turn wireless on/off. Depending on the computer, there also might be a hot-key or button on the computer itself to quickly turn on/off wireless. But yes... somewhere under "network and sharing" you should also find the on/off switch for wireless.

As far as internet connection while setting up the Netgear - this is correct, you do NOT want internet access while setting up the WNCE2001. You DO want power to it, so yes... leave it plugged in.

If you Google "setup WNCE2001" the first entry should be the User's Manual for the WNCE2001 which will give you the step-by-step for setting the thing up.

My gut feeling is that you're going to have to figure out how to connect that Hotspot to your Linksys Router in able to recreate the type of system you currently have. I'm not a network guy, but I'm sure someone here will chime in. If not, head over to the forum at Netpune's website and one of the network gurus there will probably be able to get you up and running.
 
You're on the right track Ann, look for "Change adapter setting" in network and sharing, right click and disable your wireless adapter when you found it.

Usually there's always a button you can shut off your wireless antenna, it could be a physical switch or somewhere on your keyboard (they usually looks like a radio tower, waves, wifi logo, ect...)

Your hotspot device should able to handle more than one connection as long as you're on LTE.

To be able to use your old LinkSys router, you need to make it into a wireless bridge, which most consumer router won't able to unless you hack it somehow... The ZTE Unite that US Cellular gave you should able to do the job.

To config the WNCE2001, you'll need to know your current SSID and passkey from your hotspot device, it can be found somewhere near the battery compartment or on the screen during the power cycle.

Try this:

1. Turn off wifi on your laptop.
2. Get hotspot's ssid and passkey
3. Reset the WNCE2001 to mfg settings (use something pointy and press the reset button on the back of the unit for about 5 seconds until the power light turn amber)
4. Connect WNCE2001 to your laptop via ethernet
5. Start your internet browser, you should see the Netgear setup page. If not, type in http://www.mywifiext.net in your address bar and hit enter.
6. Follow the step by step instruction, choose the correct ssid and enter passkey when prompted, make sure you follow the wizard and save the settings when done.
7. Reconnect everything and test it out.
 
Letoan,

Thank you! I will try to do it soon. Hopefully it works! Hopefully I'll be able to get back here and give a report!

Thanks!
 
OK, I can't get the WNCE2001 to reset. Using a paperclip and pushing in there hard! There is a button next to the reset 'hole' that says WPS and has some kind of symbol with a padlock. Help!
 
I pushed that button a few times? Here's what I have now: The Power button on the WNCE2001 is blinking yellow/green, The next light is a solid yellow/green, says LAN. The third, WLAN, that light is OFF. ??
 
Ignore the wps button. Push and hold the reset button until the power light turn amber/red, should be around 5 seconds or so
 
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