Can't get the WiFi to connect

[taming]

Originally Posted by Lowla

For a company that advertises WIFI, and specifies the Bell network, this is almost false advertising!

I understand that you are frustrated, but the advertising about Bell has to do with using your Kobo at Bell hotspots, not with some special affinity for your Bell configured home network.

Are you still having a problem or have you figured it out at this point?

[zoran]

Originally Posted by taming

I understand that you are frustrated, but the advertising about Bell has to do with using your Kobo at Bell hotspots, not with some special affinity for your Bell configured home network.

I assume outdoor is not an option during winter for this.
Hotspot in caffee is something people rarely use. They
flock there to meet and talk and drink. For million times
I decided to try out hotspot with my nokia 770. Guess
what? I never did that. At the place it looks pretty stupid
to me. Letting users connect is safe. Traffic would be on
the low level.
Would be interesting to look at the traffic log between wifi
kobo and the hotspot.

[Lowla]

I have already tried resetting the kobo to factory defaults. I tried to connect Again last night (just once though) and it did not work. While I'm pretty sure I have shut down and restarted the modem, I will try that.
The bell software manages the modem aNd the security. If I type in http://mynetwork, or input my location # I'm directed to the sAme thing. I have 3 pc's and they all do the same thing. I didn't load any software that I recall.
I have no intention of buying a new modem just because I can't get the kobo to work when it works fine on every one of my other devices.

[taming]

Have you called your ISP/Modem provider for assistance? They will be the experts.

[zoran]

Originally Posted by Lowla

I have already tried resetting the kobo to factory defaults. I tried to connect Again last night (just once though) and it did not work. While I'm pretty sure I have shut down and restarted the modem, I will try that.

You have to restart the router also, if the problem originated there.

The bell software manages the modem aNd the security. If I type in http://mynetwork, or input my location # I'm directed to the sAme thing. I have 3 pc's and they all do the same thing. I didn't load any software that I recall.

Forgive my ignorance. I use cable modem, which is simply hardware
and has no software part to work. My best bet is that you call web
server on the modem, like webmin. If so, you could count it as a piece
of hardware, you should not blame for the problem.

I have no intention of buying a new modem just because I can't get the kobo to work when it works fine on every one of my other devices.

This is helping forum and we all try to help you. I assure you that I could
find manual for your router and read it. The point is that it is not "power
up and use" issue. To have it all working correctly, it should be configured
properly. Some other posters already confirmed they used that kind of
encryption. Another ones confirmed the reader behaved strange and they
solved it after factory default. What was left is the router. I could try to
assist you on irc or in private message, but don't assume no effort on your
side. I previously led you to the most frequent spots to look at on the
encryption troubleshooting. It is still not sure if it is encryption problem,
since you did not connect without encryption. What I stressed was to
reboot all devices. You have to remove arp cashe to start from the
very beginning. Finally, you are right you don't want new router. If I would
have 3 pc-s and 5 more wifi devices connected to, I'd have the best router
to fulfill the task, in a price range that is not insane.
To conclude, I don't see at which point you fail to connect kobo ereader
to wireless network.

[BrianM]

I had the same problem with my wi-fi unit. Several calls to Kobo Support produced nothing. Then I thought to check my AVG Internet Security and changed the firewall setting for Kobo.exe from "Allow for Safe" to "Allow for All". It now works perfectly. When I mentioned to support they should be telling users to check firewall settings they just blew me off. Hope this helps.

[zoran]

Originally Posted by BrianM

I had the same problem with my wi-fi unit. Several calls to Kobo Support produced nothing. Then I thought to check my AVG Internet Security and changed the firewall setting for Kobo.exe from "Allow for Safe" to "Allow for All". It now works perfectly. When I mentioned to support they should be telling users to check firewall settings they just blew me off. Hope this helps.

That was mentioned somewhere in wiki or else. I was afraid for
the first time I connected reader to my box. I set ipfw with
dynamic rules on unux and all went fine. For the record, it uses
packet filter. Different than application filter you have. (I'm not
an expert on anything about win, including firewalls for it.)

[Russells_Teapot]

My daughter and I got new Kobo Touch's this weekend. Neither of them will connect to our home network.

Here's the network details:

SSID: Penguin
Security type: Shared
Encryption Type: WEP

And I have to specify the network security key.

There appears to be no way to change the security type. All of the other devices in the house can use this network, including:

Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 desktops and laptops.
MacBook Air
Smartphones (Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Phone)
Tablets - XP Tablet and iPad
iPods
Sony PS/3 and a Nintendo Wii.
My wife's Kindle

The ONLY ones that cannot are the two Kobos.


Any hints? Oh, and changing the security on our network is not really an option. The wireless networks at my place, my fathers place and my father-in-laws place all use the same settings, allowing us to instantly attach to the network, whenever we visit.

Not one device has had a problem, once provided with the correct settings, in almost 10 years. I've used several different routers here and at the other locations, and I've used both ADSL and Cable systems.

[Joe563]

Have you upgraded the firmware on your Touch to the most recent version which is 1.9.14? There have been some firmware changes that have addressed problems with WiFi on the Touch so it is important to have a recent version.

[Russells_Teapot]

THanks for the reply, Joe...Yes, both Kobos are running 1.9.14.

Apparently, some Barnes and Nobles "Nook" also suffers from the same problem of not being able to attach to WEP networks with Shared Key Authentication, only OPEN ones.


http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/nook-review-2.html reports:
For networks secured with WEP, NOOK uses only Open Key authentication and will not connect if the router is set to accept only Shared Key authentication.

[Russells_Teapot]

Almost 60 hours ago, I opened an incident (111204-000322) with KOBO Customer Care, via their website, about this issue.

Not heard a thing yet from them.

Not even a "We're sorry...we don't support that type of network configuration, nor do we ever intend to. Please change the network settings on four routers in three different locations and the other 20 devices so the pair of Kobos can connect wirelessly."

*sigh*

It's a shame, really, because I really like the device. I've downloaded a few classics from Edgar Rice Burroughs (Barsoom, here I come!), Robert Louis Stevenson, H. Rider Haggard and Steven Leacock, but I'm not going to actually buy any ebooks until I know if I'm going to keep the device or not.

[taming]

Russells, they really do seem to be clearing out a bunch of those old tickets. I had opened one 8 days ago that cleared tonight. I also heard from a few people privately that had their tickets cleared today. The new data centre is no doubt helping with this.

Have you gone onto getsatisfation.com/kobo to report the problem, ticket number etc? That is an official Kobo support site staffed by Tier 2 Kobo employees.

As for router settings, I know they do not currently support WPA Enterprise settings. See their support page: http://kobo.intelliresponse.com/inde...20a%20network?

[Russells_Teapot]

I think I'll have to get a cheap wireless router and set it up so that the Kobo's can use it.

[taming]

I use WPA2 without any issues, just not the Enterprise version.

[Russells_Teapot]

I grabbed an old router, a Siemens Speedstream, and set it to be completely open. It's only capable of 802.11b.

My XP tablet connected instantly. Not so the Kobo. The Kobo detected it, but steadfastly refused to connect.

So, then I tried setting the SpeedStream so that only certain MAC address would be allowed, and by alternately remiving and adding the MAC address of the XP Tablet, found that this function worked nicely.

The Kobo continued to ignore all my attempts to make it happy.

It's getting frustrating.