PRS-T1 Wifi problems

[tk_]

Hello,
My son just got a PRS-T1 for his birthday and has been hounding me to get the wifi working.

Let me preface this by saying I work on/with computers all day every day, fix them, set them up, set up wireless/wired networks, etc., suffice it to say I'm no noob when it comes to computers.

But for the life of me, I have yet to get this thing connected to my wifi network. It is supposed to support WPA/WPA2 Personal TKIP (and AES) b/g/n, but I can't get it connected. I've even gone the route of trying to use the WPS, and the best I've gotten is that I see the router and reader passing info back and forth, and they say they successfully configured the reader, but this is not true --it still will not connect (but it does remember the network for me, yippee skippy!). I can see the reader on my router, but the IP is zeros instead of the static IP I've assigned to it. BTW, the static IP, netmask, default gateway, and DNS are all correct. I have several other wireless nodes connecting using the exact same configuration, so I can't figure out what the deal is here.

I have not connected the reader to the PC using the USB cable yet --wanted to get the wifi working first. I'm wondering if there's a firmware update that fixes wifi on the reader, maybe?

Any ideas?

TIA,
tk

[Charie]

Have you tried simply unplugging and then replugging the router? Worked for me, while the sophisticated approach didn't: my T1 easily connected to Wi-fi after that like it was supposed to from the start.

[tk_]

Originally Posted by Charie

Have you tried simply unplugging and then replugging the router? ...

I assume you mean unplugging the power, and replugging it in (since there's nothing to unplug/plug in for wifi)?

If so, then no, although the router has been rebooted several times throughout this processes.

Thanks,
tk

[DrDoom]

I also was unable to connect to my wi-fi router set as WPA TKIP+AES, the PRS-T1 tries to connect and disconnect several times without success.
The solution was to change encryption to WEP 64 bits.
May be a future firmware update could improve WPA wi-fi authentication.

[ghostyjack]

The last time I had an issue like this was with my mum's Kindle, had to factory-reset my router to sort it out.

Don't think I can help you though as my T1 connected to my router first time and has been fine ever since.

I'm using 802.11n with WPA TKIP+AES, you could try a factory reset on the router, the T1 or both of them. I don't know your set-up so can't say how convenient that would be.

[ghostyjack]

You could also try setting up a static IP on the T1, that solved some connectivity issues on Kindles, might work on T1's as well.

[carpetmojo]

Much to my surprise, I was able to get mine working almost straight away - but a few days earlier, I had a problem with accessing Google on my PC , and after my provider checked wotever it is they check, was told to unplug the router, and leave it for 1/2 hour, and plug in again and proceed. It solved the problem. 2 days later, in comes T1 , on goes wifi with hardly any hiccups.
It seems actually unplugging things is more helpful than simply turning PC's, routers etc.. off, although I 'spect you know about that.
I don't as yet find it any quicker/easier than PC ing books, but I sort of expected that, but didn't appreciate it had a browser, handy.

But how do we stand re: virus attacks, malware etc.. is it open to these, and does it have security built in, or what ?

[tk_]

Originally Posted by DrDoom

...The solution was to change encryption to WEP 64 bits.
May be a future firmware update could improve WPA wi-fi authentication.

I'm not willing to severely weaken the security of my wifi network by going back to WEP.
While WPA/WPA2 is also vulnerable, it's not nearly as much so as WEP. If I have to wait for a future firmware update to truly support WPA, then that's what I'll do and the T1 will be only a little better than my own PRS-650 in the mean time with regard to features.

Originally Posted by ghostyjack

You could also try setting up a static IP on the T1, that solved some connectivity issues on Kindles, might work on T1's as well.

Sorry, I guess I wasn't very clear in my OP. I only do static IP's, no DHCP for me. :-)

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

...was told to unplug the router, and leave it for 1/2 hour, and plug in again and proceed. It solved the problem....

I've seen this work by shutting down wifi nodes overnight (e.g. laptops, game consoles, etc.), and then the next morning it automagically works. I'll try unplugging the router when I go to bed in a bit and plug it back in in the morning. See if that helps. Will let you know tomorrow.

As for virus', trojans, malware, being vulnerable, etc., it's a network node and from what I've seen, doesn't have any type of anti-virus/firewall, etc., so it is reasonable to assume it is vulnerable to these types of things. If they can hack cell phones, printers, etc., then this doesn't seem like a stretch for them to get into your network via your reader, then pivot and get to your other systems. That's a topic for a different thread, though, and a more general one not specific to a particular reader or brand of reader.

Thanks to everyone for their ideas and posts, I really do appreciate them and if I've come off sounding condescending, my apologies, that's not my intent. If there are more ideas, please feel free to post them.

Thanks,
tk

[tk_]

A new day.

After powering the router back up (after unplugging the power as noted in my previous post) and then the reader, and attempting to connect, nothing still. Same old results.

Note: Something stuck in my mind as odd, that being that my router could see the reader, however it looked to it as if the reader did not have the static IP I had assigned to it. This will be resolved shortly... (teaser alert).

I finally performed a soft reset to clear the static IP information, hoping to see if it would prompt me for an IP (didn't think it would, but at this point I didn't have anything to lose). Nope.

Now the big gun: I did a hard reset to restore it to factory settings (sheesh, that's ALMOST as bad as doing a hard reset on the HP iPAQ's! ...but let's not go down that road). Still no connection.

I was about to tell my folks to take this thing back to the store they got it from and throw it through the window (oh, sorry, wrong company), when while in the thinking room, I had a fleeting thought... (insert several minutes of commercials, maybe a week until this episode continues )

[tk_]

Originally Posted by tk_

...Note: Something stuck in my mind as odd, that being that my router could see the reader, however it looked to it as if the reader did not have the static IP I had assigned to it....

In the static IP settings, there are fields for two DNS addresses. No problem, I only put one in since that's all I'm using. Any other system does not have a problem with that and works just fine with a single DNS entry........

Note to Sony: you need to fix this, you ALSO need to DOCUMENT how to set a static IP on these things, as well as list all the fields that are REQUIRED!

The thought I had in the thinking room, was what if I put in an address in that second DNS field. Would an invisible OK button magically then appear?
I entered 0.0.0.0 and low and behold, the reader INSTANTLY connected. (No OK button ever magically appeared, though.)

To sum up: after hours of working on this, if you are going to use a static IP, you MUST put something in ALL the fields on that page for this reader --even if it's just a bogus address.

I think it's time for a drink. Good luck and hope this helps anyone with the same issues.

Thanks again to those that posted, these Mobile Read forums have the BEST people on them, always willing to help out. They are the best forums of ANY of the many forums I've been in. My hat's off to you guys!!

tk

[AJ Starr]

When I was setting up my T1 for browsing I had lots of problems. At the same time my husband's laptop in the other room was having problems. We reset, (by unplugging the router, waiting 10 slow seconds, repluging, waiting for the router and modem to sinc) and then we both got on.

Next day, same problem. After a while I realized my 5 yr old router just wasn't performing consistently, so I bought a new router (just router, not modem), and set it up.

So far, I have not had any problems logging on with my T1. It connects every time.

Lesson learned: routers don't last forever.

[gjasso]

Originally Posted by tk_

... what if I put in an address in that second DNS field. Would an invisible OK button magically then appear?
I entered 0.0.0.0 and low and behold, the reader INSTANTLY connected...

I got my reader yesterday, and had exactly the same problem. Adding a secondary DNS address did the trick. Thanks for posting your solution!

[Hef]

tk_ thank you for the solution. I got my reader last week and had the same problem. I contacted Sony which send me to the repair center (assuming my reader was broken down), so no help from them. I finally took the ereader back to the store. Now, with your solution, I wanna buy it again. However I am not a computer expert as you, so I am not really sure to be able to solve the problem.

Would you be so kind to establish a step by step procedure to follow to fix the problem? (for instance, where and how do I have to put the address in the second DNS field)

Thank you again,

Hef

[gpunktschmitz]

i fixed mine by updating from 1.0.05.11130 to 1.0.07.05070 using the stock-updater