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configure the D-Link DIR-506L wireless access point- SOLVED

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Rich442:
I am trying to use a D-Link DIR 506L "Shareport Go Mobile companion" wireless access point to connect to a fairly standard wireless network. I don't know the steps to accomplish this because I just bought the thing and have never connected wireless on my OS/2 4.5 machine. Now, I am using ecomstation 2.1 and I just don't know where to start. I am not very good at DOS. I included a bunch of information from my Hardware manager listing in System settings below.

How can I configure the shareport go mobile to work with my machine's ethernet port and connect to my wireless network? I am using the GenMac driver wrapper and the xwlan wireless app. I am using ecomstation 2.1

In my home network, I have a wireless network with with five computers running Windows 10. I  also have 1 IBM workstation running eComStation 2.1. My network only requires that I give it my network ID and my WPA2 security key.

I connected a D-Link DIR 506L ("Shareport Go Mobile companion") to the ethernet port on the IBM workstation (and the other end to the 506L's ethernet plug) in hopes of connecting to my wireless network at home. eComstation's installation identifies the device as an "unsupported device" and then installs the GenMac Wrapper 2.2.

I don't know if the 506L counts as a wireless adapter or an ethernet connection (since I connect it to my computer's ethernet port. I don't know which internet connection app is the correct one to use

During boot
The device is listed in the hardware manager as "unsupported device" on IRQ 5.

Under I/O, it shows
0x4000401F address lines: 16 EXC

Under memory, it lists two values:

0xD008000-0xD009FFFF EXC
0xD008000-0xD007FFFF EXC

I think that my machine is acknowledging that the device is there ( and the d-link 506L does detect my local network)

How can I configure the shareport go mobile to work with my machine's ethernet port and connect to my wireless network?
Thank you for all responses. :)

Doug Bissett:
I have one of them. It is a GREAT device. The biggest "PROBLEM" is that the ethernet port only runs at 100 Mbs while the wireless will work at 300 Mbs (or perhaps even faster).

There is a trick to making it work as you want to. It must be used in Repeater mode, and it is a bit of a pain to get it running using OS/2 unless it happens to get the same IP range that you have the computer set for (You can't log into it). I usually do it with windows (to save a lot of messing around). Once it is connected, you can reboot to OS/2 and it will work, as long as your wired NIC will work (no special setup required). It looks to OS/2 as a wired network connection.

If I remember correctly, when you log in to the DIR-506L, it goes to the setup wizard were you select the mode (Repeater), then it asks for the access point (or router) to attach to. Then (the confusing part), it wants a device name, and configuration (including password) for other devices to log into the DIR-506L (other wireless devices can use it as a router). After a DIR-506L restart you need to ask for a DHCP renewal (or reboot) to get OS/2 to ask for an IP address.

Some experimenting may be required.

Rich442:

--- Quote from: Doug Bissett on April 02, 2016, 12:58:34 am ---I usually do it with windows (to save a lot of messing around). Once it is connected, you can reboot to OS/2 and it will work, as long as your wired NIC will work (no special setup required). It looks to OS/2 as a wired network connection.

It wants a device name, and configuration (including password) for other devices (other wireless devices can use it as a router). After a DIR-506L restart you need to ask for a DHCP renewal (or reboot) to get OS/2 to ask for an IP address.

Some experimenting may be required.

--- End quote ---

I have eCS as the only operating system on my PC so I was hoping that there was a way to configure the 506L from within ecomstation. 
I think my main problem is that I don't know how to use the OS/2 apps, ecomstation internet assistant, the MTPS configuration app and the eCSoNet.
I checked this website http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?name=wifi and found that, under wireless access points, like the 506L,:


--- Quote ---Normally, these devices should act as a DHCP server. Just plug them into your Ethernet port, configure the port to be a DHCP client, and reboot.
--- End quote ---

I wish that there was a networking Howto document that would explain how a network works (I'm more familiar  with the windows (Networking and sharing Center) way of doing things. I really kind of need totally basic instructions from the beginning such as

a). buy the unit, buy the ethernet cable (the 506L only comes with a charger cable and a battery)
b). plug in ethernet cable
c). open TCP/IP configuration from WPS->Local System->System Setup
d). set as DHCP connection (and here is where I become lost because I really don't know how these TCP/IP apps work)
e). reboot?

Doug Bissett:

--- Quote ---I have eCS as the only operating system on my PC so I was hoping that there was a way to configure the 506L from within ecomstation.
--- End quote ---


It can be done, easily, once you know what IP addreses to use. The wired NIC and the device, need to be on the same IP address range, or they can't talk to each other (it may be possible with some routing, but i never bothered to figure that out). http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/util/network/tcpip/ipprf_10.zip is useful for making temporary IP configurations, and getting back to the normal one, but it can't find the address for you.

I will spend a few minutes to see if I can find a way to do it.

Doug Bissett:
I can't find a reliable way to find the address, when it is in Repeater mode, other than to look in the router to see what address it got. Most of the time, you cannot do that.

For those who might think of another way: In Repeater mode, it uses the router, that the DIR-506l is connected to to get an address for itself (the DIR-506l). The computer that you connect also uses the router that the DIR-506l is connected to to get an address. Neither one is guaranteed to be the same as it was previously. You can PING the devices, and find a possible address, but every device that is connected to either the DIR-506l or the router that it is attached to, will respond (but only if it happens to be on the same IP address range). In some cases, that could be thousands of addresses. The DIR-506l is supposed to respond to the name that you assign to it (I think that is "DLINK_DIR-506l.local" by default - I changed mine), but Firefox always seems to want to use "www.DLINK_DIR-506l.local", and that doesn't work. Firefox in windows doesn't have that problem, and it can always find the device, no matter what address range it happens to take.

The only other way, that I know of, is to reset the DIR-506l to factory. Then it will assign a compatible address to the computer, and Firefox will go to the name "DLINK_DIR-506l.local". That takes you to the setup wizard, which does the rest. After it restarts itself, you may need to ask for a new DHCP address (or reboot). After all of that, it should continue to work (even if powered off), until you need to connect it to another address range.

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