connect android phone to internet

Question

i have an bridged internet connection. That is i connect my router and then i have to connect to the internet. There are two steps to be followed. I do that on my computer by first connecting to the router wirelessly and then filling in the credentials to connect to the internet then. The internet connection is of broadband type. when ever i use my android phone to connect to the internet, i am able to connect to the router but after that i am not able to connect to the internet. After connecting to the router if i try to access any website on my phone, it says failed internet connection.

All i see when my phone is trying to connect to the router is "obtaining ip address". This usually takes a very long time and after connecting to the router there is still no internet connection.

How do i connect to the internet using my android phone. I have HTC Desire Z with Android 2.3.

Answer 1

Many ISPs link a modem to the particular MAC address of a connected device. If you're bridging, when you switch devices then you'll be sending the MAC address of your phone instead of the one from your PC. If this is what's going on, you would need to either power cycle your router and/or call up your ISP to register the MAC address change every time you switched devices.

If you're worried about wireless security, most routers have a mode that will only allow devices with registered MAC addresses to connect wirelessly ("Wireless Card Access List" or the like). That's what I use to lock down my own network.

Answer 2

It should be possible to configure your router to permanently connect to the internet, or connect automatically on demand. I would recommend using these settings - after all, that's why broadband is called "always on". The router should also cache your password details.

If your router is the USB kind, then it's a bit more tricky, as these routers are actually not really routers at all, but ADSL/cable modems. They are just designed to connect a single computer to the internet. However, I suspect that is not the case as you talk about connecting with your browser.

Also, the fact that your wifi isn't connecting properly rings alarm bells. You need to make sure you've got the security set up properly, that you're using the correct passkey, and make sure that you don't need to press a button on the router when you want to allow other devices to connect.

Really a lot of this stuff is dependant on the make and model of router, and I think this I really more a question for your router manufacturer.