Can't Figure Out How To Set Up Wi-Fi to get Past First Screen of Set Up

[Susan Fabian]

I did a search of this forum before posting this thread but didn't find the answer to my problem with the initial Wi-Fi set up screen.

I just bought the Nexus 7 yesterday and was so excited to get started with it when I got it home. I turned it on and clicked on the arrow on the welcome screen and got to the screen where it says "Select Wi-Fi". It identified my NetGear router immediately. Under the NetGear name it says "secured with WPA2 (WPS available) and it shows the symbol/icon that shows the signal strenght (excellent). So I clicked on that line. It is asking for a password. I don't have a password for my wi-fi (I live more than 1/2 mile from the road or any neighbors so no chance of anyone hacking it so no need for a password) so on the keyboard that pops up with this screen, I just clicked on "done" without typing anything in figuring that would bypass it. It doesn't. It stays on the password line with the cursor blinking. I can't get past this screen so I hit "cancel". I noticed next to the "select wi-fi" that there was another symbol of three little stacked squares so I clicked on it. A box came up that says "Automatic Setup (WPS)". So I clicked on that. Another screen comes up that says "press the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button on your router. It may be called "WPS" or contain this symbol (two arrows in a circle)". Since the WPS button is already on (its a huge blue button on the side of the router and it lights up to say it's on) I figured that step was done so I didn't do anything to the router and let the tablet run. A blue line showed the progress of the transfer (?) but then when it finishes I get a message that says "WPS failed. Please try again in a few minutes" and the screen goes black (I guess goes to sleep) and I have to click the "on" button again. I tried this a number of other times both last night and this morning. I've tried turning the WPS button off and back on but nothing is helping.

I'm not very technologically savvy so I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what I need to do to get this wi-fi set up done so I can actually use this tablet.

 

[TimeHunter]

Without knowing who set up the router or how it was set up, if it says it is running WPA2, then there is a password. WPA and WPA2 cannot be set up without a password. This may have been configured by WPS when the router was first set up.

If the router was set up by someone else for you, you should ask them. If you set it up, best to refer to set up instructions you used so you can recall what steps you took.

The WPS button on the router is lit to call your attention to it. It is not an "if it's lit, it's on" kind of thing. So you'll need to repeat this:

"I noticed next to the "select wi-fi" that there was another symbol of three little stacked squares so I clicked on it. A box came up that says "Automatic Setup (WPS)". So I clicked on that. Another screen comes up that says "press the Wi-Fi Protected Setup button on your router. It may be called "WPS" or contain this symbol (two arrows in a circle)"." And then click the WPS button on the router, then wait until everything either connects or times out. Don't push the WPS button multiple times as it can confuse the process.

Netgear also calls the WPS feature "Push to Connect". I suggest referring to the user manual for your router to see if it says anything specifically about the process.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[anon(931741)]

Most routers I know of have their password printed on a sticker on the underside of the router itself. Have a look.

 

[TimeHunter]

Most routers I know of have their password printed on a sticker on the underside of the router itself. Have a look.

Thanks for that reminder. WPS would not use that. The WPA might if it has not been changed during set up.

 

[MarkFL88]

You should always have a secure wireless network does not matter how far away anyone is and I agree if it is WPA or WPA2 it has to have a password. You can web into the router interface and should be able to find the password in the wireless security section of the router config page. To web in you need the IP of the router, open a command prompt from your home PC and type ipconfig at the command prompt. Make note of the gateway address this will be the IP of the router that you need to put in the address bar of your browser. Hopefully you know the login information to your router if not you won't be able to do much more other then resetting the router to factory. You can Google the make and model of your router to find the default admin name and password which may not have been changed when your router was setup. Good luck.

 

[Unicorn Rancher]

If it's WPA2 and Susan didn't change the password, I think the suggestion from tombud10 is the place to start.

 

[Susan Fabian]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. Your information was very helpful. I set up the router myself but it was almost a year ago so it wasn't until you all mentioned it that I did remember that there was a password provided by NetGear that I had to put in for it to work. I remembered that it was an odd combination of two regular words with some numbers. I had to do a lot of searching in my house to find the NetGear box that had the password but I did find it. And with that password I was able to get the Wi-Fi set up and the tablet is up and running. I really appreciate all the great advice.

 

[flacousa]

Glad you found the solution, years ago some routers came with the default password of "password"

Last week I went to the Dr.'s office and asked them why don't they let the customers access to their WiFi, office worker told me they couldn't do that for security reasons, yesterday I went back to the same Dr. and saw a WiFi with the name B2G5z1 just for the heck I tried to connect and when asked for a password I entered B2G5z1and Bingo, I should have thanked the office worker on my way out.hehehe.

Sent from planet earth

 

[anon(847090)]

I really dont get the idea of password printed at the back. why cant there be an option to set password for routers. some manufacturers are lazy

 

[GMJeff]

The password printed on the box or sticker is a default password from the manufacturer. If you go into the router setup, you can change the password to anything you like, within certain perameters, usually.

Perameters like numbers, capital letters and length of password.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

 

[carracerz14]

Meh. You should just use mac address filtering. Just put the mac address of your device in your router setup and disable encryption. It will be faster, and you never have to worry about remembering a password.

Sent from my RAZR MAXXIMUS

 

[mr_nobody]

Meh. You should just use mac address filtering. Just put the mac address of your device in your router setup and disable encryption. It will be faster, and you never have to worry about remembering a password.

Sent from my RAZR MAXXIMUS

If security is not important to you, that is certainly a valid approach...

The six dumbest ways to secure a wireless LAN | ZDNet

 

[Unicorn Rancher]

I really dont get the idea of password printed at the back. why cant there be an option to set password for routers. some manufacturers are lazy

Usually you can change the router password. What they did was put the default password on a sticker AND not give everyone the same default password of "password" or "1234" or "admin"

 

[Felicia Thiel]

If you haven't already done this, go into your INTERNET OPTIONS on your computer and DISABLE the ETHERNET... I'm an end-user too and couldn't
get my NETGEAR WIFI to work. I called Best Buy (where I bought the computer) and called Comcast/Xfinity twice and NO ONE could tell me what the problem was. I FINALLY got a Comcast guy in California who told me about how if you don't disable the ethernet in your computer, your WIFI won't work.
Even if you are out in the boonies, everything I've read still recommends that you have a password on your WIFI; call the techies at your internet provider and ask them to walk you through how to re-set-up your WIFI with a password. Although I'm in town, I didn't set my WIFI up with a password and I am now going to have to set it up all over again because sometimes there are a ton (over 170) active connections that really slow down my computer and who I'm not computer savvy enough to identify as friends or foes (scary!). Good Luck!