Wireless, a DS, and Me.

korodullin · August 2010

Okay, the gist of my problem is that I can't get my DS online using Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection. I've tried changing my wireless router to WEP, but that didn't work, so I have a wireless USB adapter (this one) that I'm trying to use to create an ad-hoc network that I then bridge to my current wireless network and then connect my DS to said ad-hoc network. As evidenced by the fact that this thread is here, this has not been working.

My network currently consists of a Wireless-n router (some Linksys model that I forget) that's set up in my mother's room (and for my purposes should be considered something that can't be tinkered with), along with my PC which has a Wireless-n card and the aforementioned USB adapter. My OS is Win7, if it matters.

I'm a total novice when it comes to wireless networking, so I'm not really sure what I'm doing. I set up the USB adapter's drivers, went in, created a new ad-hoc WEP network using Win7's Manage Wireless Networks deal, and then attempted to bridge the two, which resulted in an error pertaining to an IP address conflict.

I've been futzing around with this for an hour and a half and I'm just totally lost at this point. Any help would be appreciated; if anyone believes they can talk me through it, then by all means shoot me and PM and we can work through it over MSN, AIM, or Steam.

DHS Odium · August 2010

The DS is wireless B, your router is probably set for N only if everything else is using N. I don't have an N router, but it was a similar fix with my G one. Had to go in and set it to mixed (G+B) mode. You'll have to access the gateway of the router to try and fix (something like 192.168.x.x).

korodullin · August 2010

Hm. I don't see any option in my router settings (it's a WRT310Nv2 by the way) to switch it from N to anything else. Any idea what it would be under?

Even then, the DS won't connect via WPA, and as I mentioned before, I cannot really change it from WPA to WEP, even temporarily.

Edit: Switching it to mixed G+B didn't work; in fact it locked me out of the router entirely and I had to factory reset it.

maximumzero · August 2010

Might want to just track down one of the Wi-Fi USB adapters.

korodullin · August 2010

$45-200 is a little pricey for something I'm not going to be using on a very regular basis.

I would rather try to find a solution with what I've got, if it's even possible. Someone somewhere has to know if it can be done with how my network's configured. If it can't be, then I'll just shrug and move on.

My Google-fu must be pretty weak, since the only information I can find out about getting a DS online with a USB wifi adapter pertains to that one discontinued adapter.

Dehumanized · August 2010

The nintendo DS is retarded when it comes to wireless, and will only connect to WEP or unsecured routers that are running wireless B. You won't be able to wrangle your router into allowing it to connect without obliterating your network security. If mixed B/G/N mode didn't work, your options are pretty much to try again or give up.

korodullin · August 2010

That's disappointing to hear. No chance that a USB wireless adapter that's not Nintendo's would work? I mean, I figure that the official Nintendo one is simply one that's already configured properly, so I would assume that you'd be able to at least replicate it using any given USB adapter.

I've pretty much given up on it working via my router (a Linksys WRT310Nv2 for the record) after reading that at the end of the day, the DS just simply refuses to cooperate with some routers, regardless of security settings.

stigweard · August 2010

Basic Wireless setup page - choose mixed mode for n, g, and b wireless. Once you've got that right, disable security completely and make sure the ds can conenct. Then, re-add wep and try again.

korodullin · August 2010

I've already tried that. No matter my distance from the router, the signal strength icon on the connection test screen is red with 0 bars, and then it pops up a 51xxx error about not being able to find a compatible access point.

I've tried this with my router set to WEP, no security at all, set to mixed wireless mode (which it defaults to), and each individual mode: b, g, and n. No combination of the above works. At all.

DHS Odium · August 2010

If it's not a DSi it won't connect to WPA, but it seems you've tried everything else. Are you certain the wireless on the DS even works? Try to connect it to another WiFi source, try Starbucks or McDonalds or something.

Also try changing the routers broadcast channel. When I first got a DS years ago it would not work with my router, I went in and changed the channel to like 11 or something, and it starting working - it was a documented issue with that router at the time.

Mustachio Jones · August 2010

Yeah, the DS phat and lite only work on channels 6 and 11 or something stupid like that. Same with the Wii.

korodullin · August 2010

DHS Odium wrote: »

If it's not a DSi it won't connect to WPA, but it seems you've tried everything else. Are you certain the wireless on the DS even works? Try to connect it to another WiFi source, try Starbucks or McDonalds or something.

Heh. Problem with that is that the nearest McDonald's is half an hour away, and the nearest Starbucks is over an hour. I live smack dab in between everywhere, but always at least half an hour from something. I could give it a try next time I go out of town simply to see if it works at all.

Also try changing the routers broadcast channel. When I first got a DS years ago it would not work with my router, I went in and changed the channel to like 11 or something, and it starting working - it was a documented issue with that router at the time.

I forgot to mention, but I also tried it with the two channels that the DS looks for (1 and 11, according to Nintendo), and that didn't work as well. I've pretty much given up and just accepted that my router's one of the ones that it just doesn't seem to want to work with.

Though nobody's given me a definitive answer on using a third party USB wireless adapter in the ad-hoc setup I mentioned in the OP.

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Wireless, a DS, and Me.

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