“Dlink DWL-G820 Gaming/Bridge Adapter - Setup Help”

By Ron Stultz

12 June 2008

Updated 30 April 2009

Summary: The DWL-G820 might work right out of the box for you but it did not for me. More difficult to set up than it should be.

Background:

Bought a Slingbox and then discovered it did not have built-in wireless or USB port but only an Ethernet port on the back! Of course, no Ethernet cable near intended Slingbox location, so needed an Ethernet-to-wireless adapter to get my Slingbox on my home network.

After researching retail offerings, went with the Dlink DWL-G820. 

Now perhaps, as the short Dlink user manual says, if your existing wireless router network is set up using the default channel (6) and no security, the DWL-G820 will work right out of the box, but in my case, because of other wireless networks in my neighborhood, my router is set to use channel 8 for all wireless connections, so I had to configure the DWL-820.

How to set up the Dlink DWL-G820:

 Now Dlink provides instructions on configuring the DWL-G820 but I found them confusing and I spent a lot of time learning the following:

- Must connect the Dlink via an Ethernet cable directly to a PC to configure the Dlink. In my case, I used Windows-based PC.

- To reset the Dlink to factory default settings, must unplug the Ethernet cable and while Dlink is powered on, press and hold the Dlink reset button, located in a hole on the back of the case, for a good 20 seconds. Then reconnect the Ethernet cable to the PC. If at any time, you can not gain access to the firmware in the Dlink, you will have to reset the Dlink.

- To have access to Dlink internal setting, using the attached PC: you open Network Connections in the control panel; enable the LAN adapter and then right mouse click on LAN and select properties. In the properties window of the LAN: you select the TCP/IP entry and then click the properties button. Here you change from "obtain IP address automatically" to defining a static IP address of 192.168.0.28. No other IP  address will work (this is the Dlink server Lan-side address, much like the gateway address on your router). The subnet address will fill in automatically once you have entered the static IP address defined above and used the enter key. There is no need for a default gateway entry. Close the TCP/IP properties window and then the properties windows for the LAN connection.

- If you are using a laptop with a wireless card or built in wireless capability, go into Network Connections and select the wireless connection and disable it. You do this by highlighting the wireless connection, right mouse clicking on it and then selecting disable.

- On the desktop, you click on Internet Explorer and in the URL definition box at the top, type in 192.168.0.35 and then press the enter key. 192.168.0.35 is the factory default IP address of the Dlink DWL-820 and will gain you access to settings inside the Dlink. If when you press the enter key, Dlink's admin's access window does not appear, you will have to check every step so far and in the worst case, do a hard reset on the Dlink unit.

- If you have set up the PC correctly and entered the correct, default, IP address of the Dlink in IE's URL window, a Dlink access window will now open and you enter the word admin in the username field and press enter. You will now have access to settings inside the Dlink with the first window showing a large button in the middle of the screen called "Wizard" and 3 smaller buttons in a panel on the left hand side of the screen.

- To manually configure the Dlink: click on the wireless button in the Dlink's left side screen panel. Then press SCAN to see local wireless networks. Select your network and Dlink will automatically adapt itself to the channel, subnet, etc of your router.

- Now in my case, a Slingbox adapts itself to whatever LAN IP address is being used by the adapter and thus there was no need for me to change the adapter's LAN-side IP address. However some devices are going to have a fixed IP address and for it to work with the Dlink, the LAN server side IP address of the Dlink will have to be changed. To do this, on the main Dlink screen, click on the LAN button on the left hand side of screen and then change or enter the desires IP address. Once you have enter the desired address, perform a Save operation and then unplug the Dlink adapter from power and unplug the Ethernet cable going to the attached PC.

- Now move the Dlink to its operational location and: attach the Ethernet cable to the device (my Slingbox); plug in the Dlink's power adapter; wait for 1 minute; reset the attached device (Slingbox will then find the IP address it needs to use with the Dlink and the attached device (Slingbox), adapter and your router will be connected.) 

Finally, you can not define a wireless IP address inside the Dlink. Your router is going to assign the adapter and IP address. Not exactly what I wanted but I was able to go into my router and change the address assigned to the adapter to a fixed IP address I wanted.