Connecting to DS and Wii

robolots · 28-09-2007, 16:14

I have Virgin BB and a Nintendo DS and Wii. I recently purchased the Nintendo dongle to allow the DS and Wii to connect to the internet. After calls to Nintendo-"it's not our problem it's a Virgin problem" and then calls to Virgin "er-dunno" I am a bit p'd off.

Has anyone got any suggestions on how to get the DS and Wii connected to the internet via Vigin BB. I don't want to go out and buy some other stuff that aint gonna work!!

I'm using a NTL250 cable modem connected to the pc via ethernet.

dev · 28-09-2007, 16:32

virgin are only responsible for getting the modem working, anything on your side is up to you.

what sort of dongle is it? is it a wireless one? how are you trying to connect the wii/ds up? what are you connecting them to etc?

Tezcatlipoca · 28-09-2007, 17:37

Moved to "Networking"

It's a wireless dongle. Uses ICS on the PC to share the connection wirelessly with the Wii & DS (my brother has one, & found it very annoying).

robolots -

Do you have a software firewall running on the PC? [& if not... get one!]

There are various apps which require permission to connect so the Wii & DS can get 'net access, plus certain IPs need to be "Trusted".

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc..._USB&catId=USB

Some troubleshooting info:

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/wfc...ionTrouble.jsp

Also, as it says in the 2nd link, make sure you're using the latest version of the Nintendo software.

I think you'd be better off with a router... easier to set-up, & works perfectly (no issues using my Wii via my Netgear router). Only thing with a router is that the DS only supports WEP & not WPA (if you use the Nintendo WiFi USB dongle, it uses a proprietary method)..

robolots · 28-09-2007, 19:42

I was told by Nintendo the problem is squarely with Virgin and it's network. The dongle thingy works ok on other ISP's but Nintendo said they couldn't get it to work on Virgin's network. They said they have asked Virgin for some settings so that they can configure the dongle to work but Virgin don't want to play ball-which is pretty poor in my opinion as Virgin don't really offer wireless routers (yet) or not that they will support anyway. When I asked Virgin they said "der, I don't know" and blamed Nintendo.

I have tried the dongle on 2 other pc's (Sky and BT ISP's) and it worked first time with the Wii and DS no problems.

I see that I can get a wired adapter for the Wii (i'm not bothered about routers/wireless etc) I just want it to work.

I do have a firewall and antivirus and have tried all the usual stuff like turning it off etc etc-the problem seems to be with the virgin network.

Valerie · 28-09-2007, 21:01

I had no problems wirelessly connecting wii to my router (had to allow it in router settings as I do for all wifi stuff) so don't think it's a virgin problem. Didn't try any other route (wii gone to wales now with son...)

As for ds - all around the world you'll find forums of people desparately seeking answers. I believe wep works fine (my son used to be able to connect at other peoples houses with wep) but I never got the usb dongle to work for more than a few minutes.

Tezcatlipoca · 28-09-2007, 22:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by robolots

I was told by Nintendo the problem is squarely with Virgin and it's network. The dongle thingy works ok on other ISP's but Nintendo said they couldn't get it to work on Virgin's network. They said they have asked Virgin for some settings so that they can configure the dongle to work but Virgin don't want to play ball-which is pretty poor in my opinion as Virgin don't really offer wireless routers (yet) or not that they will support anyway. When I asked Virgin they said "der, I don't know" and blamed Nintendo.

I have tried the dongle on 2 other pc's (Sky and BT ISP's) and it worked first time with the Wii and DS no problems.

I see that I can get a wired adapter for the Wii (i'm not bothered about routers/wireless etc) I just want it to work.

I do have a firewall and antivirus and have tried all the usual stuff like turning it off etc etc-the problem seems to be with the virgin network.

I really do not see how it could possibly be anything at all to do with Virgin.

It's a networking issue to do with your PC and/or the Nintendo dongle & software.

If it worked on other PCs, it won't be because they use different ISPs, it'll be because they are different PCs.

Virgin have no responsibility for things like this - if the PC can connect using the cable modem, then that's the end of it. Anything else is your responsibility. They don't have to sort out your networking.

It works perfectly fine on Virgin - I know, as my brother has one for his Wii & uses VM cable broadband. The only issues he had with getting it to work were firewall issues, plus the usual ICS type annoyances.

If you do a Google, you'll find many people have issues using the Nintendo USB wireless dongle thing.

A router is a far easier solution.

And also not exactly much more expensive, as you can get good wireless routers for 40 quid, only about a tenner more than the dongle thing.

Elsie · 28-09-2007, 22:15

I tried the USB dongle but found that (even when I could install the damn software) it always wanted to be 192.168.0.1 which was the address of my router. So I changed the router and eventually mamaged to get the dongle working but then I could use the internet. It was either the dongle or my router that would work - never both! Gave up in the end.

I've now bought a Netgear WGT624 (v3) and this is working with my NTL:250 on 20mb, the Wii and my DS. Still, it's early days yet (only installed it on Tuesday) but initial results are promising.

Barton71 · 28-09-2007, 23:11

I bought the Nintendo dongle to connect my DS to the internet and the only problem i had was with my firewall. I was using the free version of Zone Alarm at the time, and it didn't offer enough access to its setting to allow my to connect my DS to the internet. I had to shut it down completely every time i wanted to play online. There was absolutely no compatibility issues with VM. Today i use a Netgear router to connect my Wii, DS and laptop, and it works fine (apart from issues with me Terayon modem, but thats another story).