I recently purchased a Netgear DG834GT ADSL Router from eBay, knowing that it was restricted with Sky Broadband’s custom firmware.
The reason for me doing this is that the router my ISP provides is absolutely dreadful, when I got it out of the box the firewall was disabled and there was no password to login to the admin web interface. The navigation through the interface when configuring the device is terrible. So you can see why I wanted to change it for something different.
Of the many different vendors’ I have tried in my time, I’m quite a big fan of Netgear products. I’d heard from a friend that the Netgear DG834GT that Sky supplies have custom firmware on them, and that they are locked down to prevent use with another ISP. Still, firmware can be changed cant it?! So I nabbed myself a bargain and purchased a Sky branded DG834GT from eBay for £30. After a quick Google it turns out that Netgear provide a utility for rewriting the firmware to the eeprom in the event of a user bricking their device when upgrading it through the web interface. I was also going to need the original Netgear firmware to flash over the top of the Sky firmware that the router was programmed with already.
Before I go any further in explaining how I flashed my Netgear DG834GT, with Netgear’s own standard firmware, you should take note that the following procedure may ‘brick’ or render your router useless (as happened to a friend of mine!). You flash it at your own risk!
Firstly disable any firewall software you may have installed on the computer you are using such as ZoneAlarm or Norton Personal Firewall.
Grab the following files from here:
Firmware version 1.02.13 (latest version at time of writing)
Firmware version 1.02.04
Recovery Utility
Now copy all 3 files onto a Windows XP computer, this is very important because the Netgear recovery utility does not work properly in Windows Vista. It results in a bluescreen when you try to flash the firmware and renders the router useless. If you are using Vista do not try to flash it.
Unzip the recovery utility to a new folder and copy the firmware file that you downloaded for version 1.02.04 (filename dg834gt_1_02_04.img) into the same folder as the files for the recovery utility. (The recovery utility automatically detects the firmware in the same location as the utility and uses this for the flash). So basically we are going to flash the router with version 1.02.04 of the firmware first. I have not tried flashing it with the newer firmware at this stage, all documentation I have read on flashing the router at this point uses version 1.02.04 to flash the device. (I will explain how to upgrade to the latest firmware later on). So you should now have a folder layout like this:
Plug the Ethernet cable from your Windows XP computer into one of the LAN ports on the router. Now plug the transformer for the Netgear router into the wall and turn it on, do not plug the power into your router at this stage. Now grab a pen or paperclip, hold your router with one hand and use the pen or paperclip to hold the reset button in on the back of the router and at the same time plug the power cord into the back of the device. Continue holding the reset button down for 3-4 seconds and then remove the pen or paperclip. Now look at the front of your router, you should see the two lights (the power and the test light) on the left hand side of the router flashing alternately. If they are not flashing alternately repeat the procedure until they are.
Now that the lights are flashing alternately on the front of the router, run the file RmDrv.exe in the Netgear recovery utility folder. Once you have run this utility run UpgradeWizard.exe to start the flashing process. Firstly click next to confirm you wish to upgrade the firmware for your router:
Secondly select the network card that you have in your Windows XP computer that has the Ethernet cable plugged into it. You may see more than one device here including wireless network cards and firewire cards. Click next when you have chosen the correct network card:
Now you will see a list of devices connected to the Windows XP computer through the network card that you chose on the previous screen. Since the router has not fully initialised (because the reset button was held in when the router was turned on) it will not have given your network card an IP address. So in this list you should see only a single MAC address of the Netgear router we want to flash. Click next to continue:
Now you are prompted to upgrade the firmware on the router. You will see a progress bar on the bottom of the screen, when it reaches 100% you know the flash has completed. Upgrade the firmware as advised. When I flashed my router it took about 5 minutes to complete the flashing process. When it was complete I turned the power to my router off, waited 10 seconds and turned it back on again.
When you turn the router back on access the admin web interface by typing the following URL into the browser of your Windows XP computer:
http://192.168.0.1
You will be prompted for a username and password. Sky’s default settings are as follows:
Username: admin
Password: sky
Try these to log into the router, if successful you will be presented with the Netgear admin web interface. If the above username and password do not work, turn the router over, and whilst it is still powered on, use the pen or paperclip to push and hold the reset button on the back of the router for 10 seconds. Now wait for the router to initialise (the lights on the front of the router will settle) and try login to the router using the same URL above and the default Netgear username and password:
Username: admin
Password: password
Now that you are logged into the router upgrade the firmware to the latest version (filename dg834gt_1_02_13.img) by browsing through the menu:
Maintenance -> Router Upgrade
Click the browse button within the admin web interface and find the latest firmware - dg834gt_1_02_13.img. Now click upload to upload the newest firmware on your Netgear DG834GT router. Once this completes you may have to log into the router again using the same username and password as you did previously. Check that your router is running the latest firmware by browsing through the menu:
Maintenance -> Router Status
The firmware version should be the same as the version you just uploaded to the device. Your Netgear DG834GT is now running the latest version of Netgear’s own firmware and the device will work with any ISP, including Sky.
One last note, If you had to login to the router using:
Username: admin
Password: sky
You will probably want to reset your router back to its factory default settings by using a pen or paperclip to push and hold the reset button on the back of the router for about 10 seconds whilst the device is powered on.
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excellent guide - thankyou so much for this!
excellent guide, worked first time. Many thanks
I bought a dg834gt not knowing it was locked to sky.This is an excellent guide,worked a treat & very quick , thanks
Your a Complete Genius, Thanks so much for the Guide! it was simple, Straight forward quick & easy, Your a Legend Many Thanks!
Hi I bought a sky dg834gt without knowing it was locked to sky, I have followed your instructions to the letter but the upgrade will not work for me, in the blue windows I have screens over imposed on each other and when I select upgrade the 0 - 100% bar does nothing, any ideas?
Hi Nigel, I also experienced this when I was testing the process in VMWare Workstation. At the time I did research the issue and seem to remember there being a problem with a computer driver. I would suggest trying it on an alternative computer.
hi all just to say man your the best i've got my one up and running now i can bin that bt home hub and just to let you all know i have just put the new Version 1.02.13 on my modem and all is fine
Hi JJ,
Many thanks for the info. I followed your instructions and had not the slightest trouble.
I now have a "Sky" unit I can use with any ISP.
You are a star. Cannot thank you enough
HI Well done mate have been looking for this.
Cant believe SKY wont let customers update their routers with vital firmware updates.
oh my god, you dont know how much i appreciate this.. there are loads of sites claiming to do this, you are the only one that has worked, thanks!!!
Hi Nigel,
You can upgrade using Vista, just make sure that you run both apps in xp compatibility mode and use the 'run as administrator' command. I done this succesfully. Cheers for you help.
Scott
Fantastic… Well done. I carried out your instructions to the letter and had absolutely no problems whatsoever. I now have a cheap Router from Ebay thanks to you.
Many thanks Alpha Foxtrot
DG834GT UNLOCK. Like everybody else, thanks for explaining in understandable language how to delete Rupert M. I too now have a top router at a budget price
Absolutly brilliant!
I can't and don't need to say more
Thanks
a1 mate will recomend everyone i know works great
Thanks to your step by step instruction I now have a cheap (ex Sky) DG834GT wireless modem/router that will work with any ISP.
You are the man
Thanks for the Vista help too Scott!
I am so pleased with your guide, it is brilliant!!!!!!!!!!. You have managed to help me recycle my brand new sky netgear router which I never used. God Bless you. I had spent so many hours on it sunday night and never got it working but just 15-20 minutes yeaterday and it was cracked.
Oops...i messed it up !!!
I took Scott's advice on running this utility on a vista machine in XP compatability mode and screwed it up.
I don't blame Scott though, its because of my stupid Dell machine i guess...i reached the stage when I had to click on upgrade...and the moment I did that I saw an error saying "a unexpected error occured...restarting your machine"....and that was the end of my router.
Obviously the machine crashed at the time when the EEPROM was erased/being erased and now I simply cannot do it all over again for the simple fact that there is no MAC address ahown in the list of devices when u run the upgrade tool.
Can someone think of a way I can still continue with this and give a new lease of life to my router???
Hi, when I went to the device list it doesn't find any.
Any solutions?
Thanks
If the device list is empty make sure the lights are flashing as per the instructions. I was too eager and didn't check the lights and saw an empty device list. I tried again and it worked perfectly.
Many thanks for these instructions - I was given a Sky router which Sky had diagnosed as not working so I wasn't expecting too much. I was able to update the firmware to version 1.02.04 then to 1.02.14 which is the latest (after updating to 1.02.04 the default Sky & Netgear passwords did not work initially so I reset with a paper clip - I had to do this twice then the Netgear password worked so persevere!!). I've now replaced my old DG834 with this & it's working fine on Tiscali. Once again thanks very much for posting this
Thanks. I updated using a Windows 2000 Pro laptop. The firmware update took over an hour and was successful. Now the router has V1.02.09 - DGTeam Rev. 0743 firmware installed and its running well on Be* Unlimited.
Worked No problem, Thx verry much!
I was in a bit of a rut after buying a DG834GT on ebay, but your guide made the upgrade a breeze. Thanks so much.
spot on matey boy runs a treat and best of all my ports forwarded unlike wen i was with sky and there setting so now i can host network games on it ta very much
Does anyone know if i can do this with my mac osx? thanks
all good on the old one the DG834GT but sky now have the new black one out any one know how to unlock this one....?
hi - great guide and have followed this and other guides to the letter for the last few weeks - but keep getting stuck in the recovery utility. It just does nothing whatsoever when I click Upgrade on the last screen. Reading on here that someone's took 1 hour to upgrade maybe I am being to hasty - how long does the progress bar take to move from 0%..?
Hi Tim. I have heard from some people that there have been problems with certain network card drivers being used. When I flashed my router it took approximately 5 minutes to update it and the progress bar moved steadily across the screen. If you are having problems at this stage of the flashing process it almost certainly sounds driver related. I would suggest trying the process on another (different) pc or laptop although my first instinct would be to actually check if there are newer drivers available for the NIC on the computer you are using.
Although I never mentioned this in the blog, I actually tried this to flash my router by running the application(s) in VMWare Workstation first of all. I had similar problems to what you are experiencing, including the application UpgradeWizard.exe actually not being able to display the progress bar properly. Needless to say I ended up flashing my router directly (no VMWare) as above and didn't experience any problems at all.
Hi,
I don't usually post on forums but someone might find this helpful. A friend of mine needed a second router because the lack of wireless coverage in his home. He purchased a Sky DG834GT from
an online auction and the plan was to extract his username/password from his original Sky router and setup the new Sky router with latest official Netgear firmware.
So I needed to extract the username/password from his original Sky router, which I've done in the past on my own router via the URL injection hack. The only problem is, the latest Sky firmware (V1.03.87) has stopped this method from working. After a lot of searching on different websites/forums, I didn't really find an answer. So I used the Sky CD that came with my router and downgraded the firmware from V1.03.87 to V1.02.28 via the Web interface - Router upgrade page and selected the older image file. This went through the normal process and completed fine.
I could then extract his username/password via the URL injection method.
On his new router which he had just purchased, I followed the instructions on this site and came into problems with upgradewizard not displaying information correctly and hanging. As other people have said, this seems to be a hardware/driver related issue. I tried it on two different PC's that have different NIC's and drivers, I also tried VMWare but they all had the same problem. I dug out an old laptop and tried it on there and when I got to the selecting device it actually displayed a valid MAC address, which none of the other machines did. After this, the router was then upgraded to the latest official Netgear firmware (dg834gt_1_02_14.img) and has been running fine since.
Just wanted to say THANKS to everyone who has contributed to the above information and hope my experience can help someone else.
Superb - was pulling my hair out until I found your walk through!
Absolutely immaculate. Smooth as Silk ! Done in 4 minutes straight with 1.02.14 now the new FW. Happy with Talk Talk now from Sky.
thanks for the help. it was alot better than the site that says an idiots guide to unlocking sky netgear. I am a computer technican and the idiots guide wasn't for idiots
Excellent guide -- works a treat with talktalk (remember to change the mtu to 1400)
ive re-flashed it and it appears to work fine as a network router, i just cant get it to connect to wanadoo bband, any ideas i put in correct username and password etc
Excellent, worked a treat. Picked up an Ex-Sky router from Ebay for £15 and am very content.
You are a genius - can finally escape the clutches of Sky!
The new Sky black DG934 router can be "upgraded" to non-Sky firmware by working through the instructions on this thread here
http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/technical-discussion/20880-dg934-hacked-running-official-netgear-firmware.html
I bought a DG934 for £5 + £5 postage on eBay and now have an "unlocked" router with the latest Netgear firmware up and running 100%
As they say in the movies, the answer is out there
Add to the above - the poster "digitaldazz" has the answer, read each of his posts - one of them has a concise set of instructions distilled from all the chat in that thread.
Good luck and enjoy.
Fantastic, worked perfectly using Windows XP (does not work with Vista). Thank you very much. A****
Hi
Sorry about this very noob! I just picked up one of these from ebay. Is this procedure done while my computer is connected to the internet via my own router? Or do I remove mine and connect the Netgear to my phone line?
Pete, remove all network connections of any kind from your computer. Then plug a network cable between your computer and the new Netgear router you wish to flash. The Netgear router doesn't need to be plugged into your phone line. Just make sure that the only networking devices connected are your pc and the router.
Hello JJ,
thanks for the time in recording all this info.
Went through your instructions and got to the "access the admin web interface" but cannot get to it. Do you just type in "http://192.168.0.1" and just search, or type it in the Run box, and search?
I am trying to use the Netgear with Virgin media broadband. The connections I have are 2 standard Ethernet cable connections to the computer and to the back of the router, both are plugged into 2 out of the 4 standard sockets. Do I need to have the Virgin modem box plugged into the grey router socket?
Also the Firmware version 1.02.04 file has the G clamp icon in the middle file icon instead of the 6 picture file icon. Is that still ok, they are all in the same folder, as per your instruction.
regards,
Richard
Managed to flash router and it appears as NETGEAR in my list of available networks. My netgear laptop card says its connected to NETGEAR. NETGEAR says it's connected to wireless network, but it won't let me access any internet pages. Asks me to check my connection.
Box lights are Power on, Wireless - flashing, No 1 on (cable still connected) any ideas please?
I'm on BT.
Hi
Most helpful instructions, only problem is, it doesn't work!
I've been trying to flash a sky dg834gt, as per your instructions, but keep failing at the point where I should see a device. If I flash the router with the current sky firmware (1.03.87, as it came installed with) the device appears and it runs without any problem. However if I try any of the netgear firmware versions the device doesn't appear. Reading all the posts I get the feeling that I need to roll the sky formware ver back to 1.02.28, and then flash to a netgear version. Any ideas where I can get 1.02.28? I can't find it on the sky user web.
I've even tried renaming a netgear img to the same as the sky one, no joy; tried using the sky img file to get a device and then swappingthe file for a netgear one (using same name), but no joy.
It seems that the latest sky firmware is specifically designed to stop anyone from changing to a netgear version.
Any suggestions?
I'm having the same issue as Rob. i've tried it in so many diff ways. usin Vista, altho was advised by yourself not to and in Xp.
oh rob, you wont be able to use Firmware 1.02.28 to flash the sky router back, it wont let ya, its locked to sky
i think i have to agree that the most recent Sky firmware V1.03.87 has completly locked you from flashing it!
Anyways, i'll keep tryin diff things to Flash this and if i find out will let uz know.
Andy
Good news, managed to get rid of the rotten sky firmware.
What I did was download a 3rd party firmware from:
http://dragonslight.altervista.org/ubergt/index.html
Go to the download tab and download the latest: Firmware 1.02.09.UberGT1.06 BETA 4 (file name is UberGT1-06-beta4.img). Copy the download img file into the netgear recovery dir, and run as per the instructions at the top of this thread. A device was found first time and the box was reflashed successfully.
Then log onto the router, remembering that the login/pwd is now admin/password. You should get the full menu.
You can stop at this point, as this firmware is good to go, and has some extra settings, for mail servers I believe.
Personally, I then went on and ran an updrade from the netgear/uberGTI menu, browsed to a previously downloaded official netgear img (I used dg834gt_1_02_14.img), and upgraded the firmware to this. Why oh why couldn't it have been this easy when I was trying last week? Damn you Sky!
Hope this helps.
Cheers Rob.
p.s. pc is running XP
Hi,
Many thanks for this - mother-in-law moved from Sky to TalkTalk and wanted to use the Sky router instead of paying £30 for a new one from TalkTalk.
Worked an absolute treat. Followed the instructions precisely and it's great.
Many thanks
Dave
I have followed your instructions on two different "sky" units. Both have given the same response. After I've run the RmDrv file I start the upgrade wizard. The first blue confirmation screen comes up, I click OK and a little box pops up stating "Open Registry Fail". Any answers to this please?
Myk, it sounds to me like you do have administrator privileges on your computer. Make sure the user account you are logging onto your computer with is a member of the administrators group.
Thanks for the intsructions. They seemed to work perfectly. I carried out the 'flashing' on my old XP PC and once completed tried to use the router on my new Vista laptop. The laptop is talking to the router perfectly OK but the router is not connecting to the internet. Did it just not work or did it brake the router? I am not very technical and am lost. Can you help please?
Thanks James but I have just checked my user account and I have full admin privilages.
Great guide and easy to follow. The problem is that after I ran the utility all the way to the end it says 'Upgrade failed'. and now all the router does is blink its green and orange light alternatively.
Is it bricked? I tried running the utility again but it can't find the device anymore. I tried the renaming a DG834PN firmware trick but that doesn't work.
Any suggestions? Thanks
Steven, what operating system did you use to flash the router? Did you use VMWare workstation? I've only ever seen a friend brick a router when he used Vista to flash it hence the note in the guide not to use Vista. Can you also tell me what lights are flashing?
Actually I tried it again on a Vista laptop with the DG834PN firmware and it worked! So the moral of the story is to try as many computers as you can (I tired 4) and using this firmware if the device list won't recognise the router.
Here is what I did.
Placed the 834PN firmware in the utility folder and renamed it firmware.img. Followed the instructions to the device list. Do not press next. Delete the firmware and put in the real 834GT firmware (renamed to firmware.img) into the folder. Then upgrade as usual.
Yay.
absolutely fantastic! I've been given a sky dg834gt and have been looking for a way of getting it working. I'm just going to give the whole thing a try now (nothing ventured nothing gained)
Absolutely brilliant!! Sky sent me two 834GT's originally as the guy in India decided that the first one they sent me was faulty. I didn’t bother to send the first one back, put in the loft for a year or so, it was only when a friend wanted a wireless Modem/Router that I thought I would take a look on Google for a hack. This was far the best set of instructions I found and it worked, not at first but I read through the comments and note the issue with some computers. Tried another computer and worked like a dream. Its happily working on TalkTalk broadband. Thanks again
Cheers James, I followed your guide a couple of weeks back on a Sky DG834GT I got from an online forum. Worked Perfectly first time!
I'd recommend the DG Team firmware (that's what I stuck on mine). Some great features, best one for me being the SNR margin adjuster.
Hi Laurence. I totally agree that the Uber GT Firmware is by far the best I've seen for the DG834GT. My ISP is BeThere and I also use the firmware to adjust my SNR and slightly lower my download speed for a more stable connection.
Thank you James. Following an ebay purchase of a Sky DG834GT and an awkward night, last night, trying to set it up on my girlfriend's PlusNet DSL, you've saved my skin today. Happy girlfriend, happy me!
Top man, this is the first web fix I've used that works and James does it for free! A very clever fella.
Hi everybody, got a problem with this, followed instructions to the letter.
Run RmDrv and get screen instantly saying:
Running first Service Control Entries
Running second Service Control Entries
Program execute finish, press any key to exit
_
I press any key and that display disappears.
Then I go to upgrade wizard
select adaptor card and press next
Then I get display:
Could not get system information correctly
Please exit Upgrade Utility and execute RmDrv.exe which is located in the same directory with Upgrade Utility, the runUpgrade Utility again.
I have done this but just going round in circles, any help out there for me??? I have tried on 3 PC's and get same result!!
Hi Steve. Just to clarify - you only have a single network cable running between the computer you are using and the router. No other networked devices should be plugged into either the computer or the router. If this is the case then I recommend borrowing a different laptop from someone and trying it with that. Make sure it is running Windows XP.
I have never seen this problem before but as unlikely as it sounds (as you say you have tried three computers already) it seems like it could be a driver issue. Either that or the network cable you are using could faulty.
I would suggest trying a new Ethernet cable and a different laptop.
Hi James, interesting I have tried new ethernet cable and now get through that section but no device found, have tried on 2 PCs and 1 laptop!!
Extra info: The pc is an AMD athlon xp220+ 1.79Ghz with onboard NVIDIA nForce MCP Network Adaptor
Steve, I'm glad that's working. I would recommend making sure you try it on a computer with an Intel network card. That's what I always use and I've never had an issue.
If not, have you tried the network lead in different ports on the router? Sometimes the contacts inside the physical port can become bent and not make contact with the RJ-45 plug properly.
Hi James, thanks for all your help, discovered a firewall was stopping device coming up ( could be other peoples problem) Diabled firewall and hey presto I now have a Netgear router, as always your help and advise is fantastic, Regards Steve
James
I've got a Virgin Netgear DG834GSP V3 that has the same Firmware as the Sky DG834GT (V1.02.04). I can get the router working on my own ISP just by going into http://192.168.0.1 and changing the settings (this is also how I know what the firmware version is). The problem I have is that I can't upgrade the firmware despite trying your process here. After selecting the network device list I don't get the MAC address, simply a shadow box with one field having DG834 in and the other E417. Any ideas, it sounds like the process should be very similar.
Thank you James, this information help me also, you are doing a great job here, keep it up buddy
Cheers
My problem is getting the router to talk to the PC at the 1st stage (after inserting the paperclip and powering on).
I get the 2 flashing light but am then unable to obtain an ip address. I can get the ip address if powering on the router normally so the ports seem to work although I have tried all 4 ports.
I've tried 3 machines with different network cards (broadcom, nvidia and realtek) all running xp pro and with no other network devices attached. I've also updated the drivers and checked that it's set to obtain an address automatically.
I tried a different cable as well.
Any ideas?
Hi Matt. Your are correct in saying you are not getting an IP address, obviously you can't if the router is your only DHCP server and it is in diagnostics mode. Your assumption about not being able to get the 'router to talk to the PC' is however incorrect. Data is transmitted using the MAC addresses of each physical network component. When you run the UpgradeWizard.exe a MAC broadcast is sent through the Ethernet cable to all hosts using the ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff address. This allows the application on your PC to discover and communicate with the router, thereby allowing you to flash it.
Thanks for the response James, i've now tried it on an intel based chipset with the same results.
i've gone through the wizard and I get the same as a few of the posters above with the screens imposed over themselves. I don't get the mac address screen and the upgrade process doesn't progress.
My lan network shows limited access and the ip address default to the windows default ip
I'm sure i'm just being thick but what am I missing......
)
I found a workaround for my problem
Downloaded the file DG834GT-1SKUKS_V1.02.14.img from
http://www.delweddau.com/images/DG83...S_V1.02.14.img.
Powered up the router normally and logged into 192.168.0.1
Went to router upgrade and browsed to the file.
Once this proggressed to 100% I could then change my user name and password to my new isp and use the router successfully.
I had hoped that I could then flash to the official netgear firmware but still can't.
Problem with this is if the upgrade fails your pretty much stuffed if you cannot get the netgear recovery utility to work.
matt you are a diamond. i tried to flash my router and it didn't work but your method does. i owe you my gratitude and a pint
)
p.s your link doesnt work right. this is what it should be
http://www.delweddau.com/images/DG834GT-1SKUKS_V1.02.14.img
Bought mine on Ebay and followed your instructions James.
Worked perfectly. I still have the same sky password i.e. sky to log the router and the network shows on my laptop as SKY30620.
I have not tried to change this, but presume it's OK to leave as it is.
It works fine on Talk Talk and wirelessly on my Toshiba laptop using Vista.
However I cannot get a satisfactory wireless connection to my Sony laptop using XP home. The wireless connection status shows it's connected to the network SKY30620, with full signal strength. When I try a URL it will try to connect very slowly. Packets sent and received move up very slowly and then gives up. I used the diagnostic device, which makes the router lights flicker, but it will not make a perfect connection. I try the repair method , but this says my wireless setup is not correctly set.
I have removed the Talk Talk modem software from the system.
I have setting the router to the laptop IP address, but it doesn't help.
I am out of my depth here, so can anyone help please?
Vista on the Toshiba, doesn't need any setup, it connects with a click on the wireless icon and works fine.
Thanks
Alan, what encryption do you have the router set to (wep or wpa?)
It may be worth setting this to disabled briefly to see if this sort the problem.
Matt thanks,
WPA-PSK (Wi-Fi Protected Access Pre-Shared Key)
I will try disabled
I am trying unprotected.
It tells me I have a duplcate network.
Looking at the list of networks I cannot see a duplicate.
Home wireless is listed as unsecured. This doesn't always show.
I can see that my Sky connection is listed as automatic,not connected It will automaticaly switches to a Tiscali router which may be a neighbour, then tries to obtain that IP address, but it is secure.
When I ask it to repair, it always tries to connect to this one.
I noticed that at one moment during the repair, my network was shown as firewalled. I have turned off the firewall, but it will not connect to sky. It continuously tries to aquire the Tiscali IP address.
When I click on my network to connect. A box opens and shows a progress bar which eventually shows connected, but it isn't.
Well that's the result so far.
Thanks for your help
Alan,
It would seem that your laptop ('Sony laptop using XP home') is trying to connect to another wireless network. To change the default wireless network you are connecting to with this laptop you need to:
Double click the icon of the wireless network connection in the system tray next to your clock -> Under related tasks click 'Change the order of preferred networks' -> Remove the wireless networks that are unneeded from the list of 'preferred networks'
The first wireless network listed in the 'preferred networks' list is the network your laptop is trying to connect to first. I am guessing this is your neighbours and not your own hence the problem you are having. Changing the order and/or removing the unnecessary wireless network from that list so that only your own wireless network is available to connect to will fix this.
Thanks James,
I will try this again, but I have done this and only have my own network showing, as peferred. Then when I click on show list of available networks, they are still all listed. Sometimes mine is at the top, sometimes it's 2nd or third, out of 5 or 6.
I suppose this is how it should be, but although I only have one preferred, it will automaticaly move to aquire the IP address from the next one on the main list.
It does usually try mine first, so I presume the problem lies with my laptop settings, so I will have another go.
The Toshiba using Vista, is set up the same, and lists the same networks available, but has no problem in connecting first time. I did not even need to make a preferred list. Since mine is only one with a full signal strength
Couple of things Alan, are you using the wireless software that came with your laptop? If so I would uninstall this and use windows. (make sure Wireless Zero Configuration is running in services.msc)
I would then reinstall the wireless nic driver
Once reinstalled
Goto the wireless network properties and click on the wireless network tab and make sure that you sky connection is the only one in preffered networks and that there is a tick next to Use windows to configure my wireless settings.
Click on advanced and make sure there is no tick in automatically connect to non prefered networks
Also check the general tab do you have one entry for tcp/ip or does it show more that one?
If you can connect to your router check what ip address do you get - it should be 198.168.0.x
If you can connect but still can't browse You could try flushing the dns cache (type ipconfig /flushdns)
then ipconfig /renew
Thanks Matt,
I reinstalled from the XP CD. couldn't find services misc.
Checked I only had one preferred network.
I did have 2 TCP/IP entries. I kept the Internet protocol
I still couldn't browse although connected.
ran- ipconfig /flushdns, Windows couldn't find it
Shut down Zone alarm, because I couln't figure out how to allow my router connection.
Then tried to Switch on Windows firewall, but it wouldn't.
Checked network connections and noticed that I was also connected to the 1394 net adapter.
I disabled this and bingo, I was browsing.
I had to restart to sort out the firewall. I was able to use windows firewall but Zonealarm would block the connection, I had to close it again.
Thank you and James for your time and expertise in helping me.
Alan
when i was doing this i got to the bit when i have to choose a network card and the current page, was stuck with the previous page and it was like guled together i had to just cancel the recover utlity... any 1 no why?
Hi !! I have reed the guide but I have two question, after the flashing of the new firmware is it possible to change the username and the password with 2 random ? and another thing, the lock it's only a software thing or there is something different in the hardware ?
Tanveer: You need to try flashing it on a different computer. As per the comments above there are issues with certain network cards. Hopefully the next computer you try will have a different network card.
Alessio: After flashing the firmware it is possible to reset the the device back to the Netgear default username and password by using a paperclip or pen and pressing/holding the reset button on the back of the router. This will reset the credentials to:
Username: admin
Password: password
Lastly, the 'lock' as you put it is purely firmware (the software on the router) specific and not hardware related.
Hi
Had tried the instructions above, got the two flashing lights, ran both appls in order, get to the selection of network cards (firewire, wireless and ethernet), when I select ethernet plugged in to router I get the next screen but nothing listed
When I try to go back to the router typing 192.168.0.1 I can no longer connect to the router either to restore my old settings
I am using a Dell netbook
Any help would be appreciated
Hi,
I had to try 3 computers before the ugrade would complete. The upgrade utility now get to the end and says that the upgrade is complete, but afterwards the lights on the front flash in an odd pattern and I can't login to the router. The power light comes on, then the test light (tick mark) flashes orange twice. The power light stays on for a few seconds then goes out. It then comes back on and the wole sequence repeats. Meanwhile, the wireless and LAN likes flicker at regular intervals as if trying to make a conection. On the computer the network icon in the system tray (bottom right hand corner) alternates between trying to aquire and IP address and telling that a network cable is unplugged. This last happens on all 3 computers.
I'm a bit foxed. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance,
Tony
I solved the above problem by replacing the power supply.
Tony
Thank you for taking time to help us non-techies, worked straight away. My son now thinks im a genius! Still had problems getting the router to connect to my isp - this link worked a treat
http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/view-wireless.html
Keep up the good work xxx
Does anyone else have problems downloading the firmware and recovery utility files from the Netgear website?
My router is ex-sky so I know to have to flash it to allow me to set it up for my new-ish ISP (O2). I've been searching for ages on forums and this is definitely one of the most helpful but i'm still having problems.
I've tried downloading the Recovery Utility file with McAfee and Windows firewalls turned off but no joy. I just get a message saying the web page is unavailable!!! I have downloaded them on my laptop running Vista but have read not to flash the router using Vista as it will knacker it. I have been able to d/l the UberGT1-06-beta4.img file mentioned earlier in posts but if my understanding is right i still need the Recovery Utility file for this to work?
Hi Shaun,
Firstly - whatever you do don't use Vista! How about downloading it on the Vista machine and using a CD or USBDrive to transfer it? I updated the download links a couple of days ago. I have just tried them and they are working, I can download all 3 files.
Download the files and put them on a Windows XP computer and try the method in the post above to restore the native Netgear firmware on your router.
Hi James,
Thanks for your help but i think i've bricked it!
I think i broke the reset switch as it's not working and now something is rattling inside. Unless someone can tell me an alternative way to reset the router it's game over! Is it possible to open the unit up without damaging it so i can check the reset switch?
I'm trying to replace my Thompson (O2) router as I'm struggling with it regularly losing connection when on Xbox live and port forwarding is a bit of a nightmare. I've also heard the wireless security is non-existent as its extremely easily hacked. If you or any of the posters have any ideas I would be really appreciative.
Shaun, you can open the devices (without damaging them). I have done so myself a couple of times. There are a few screws on the underside of the device and then the bottom lifts off. If you have broken the reset switch then I think you are going to need your soldering iron to fix it!
I got hold of second SKY DG834GT and attempted to flash it with the NetGear firmware but the PC 'blue screened' whilst erasing eeprom. After that there was no device listed in the Device List. Tried different PC's, firmware etc. but thought I had bricked it. I saw steven w's comment above about using the DG834PN firmware and decided to give it a try - Worked a treat. Now running with the latest Netgear firmware.
To recap steven w's comment:
Placed the 834PN firmware in the utility folder and renamed it firmware.img. Followed the instructions to the device list. Do not press next. Delete the firmware and put in the real 834GT firmware (renamed to firmware.img) into the folder. Then upgrade as usual.
Thank you very much for your clear, accurate and helpful guide!
An interesting thread. Only thing I couldn't find was a warning not to try to flash any router via a wireless link -- always use ethernet cable.
From my own experience there can be issues with some Network Interface Cards, the symptom is that the screens shown in the original piece appear corrupt. I had to try with a couple of different computers before I succeeded with reflashing.
There is a wealth of knowledge about the Sky DG834GT and newer Sky routers from Sagem and Netgear on http://www.skyuser.co.uk
See also Netgear's own user forum.
If you are using VMWARE from a mac, make sure you have wireless turned off on the Mac, otherwise you won't see the router in the device list.
Cheers
Works really well - many thanks. Update programme appears to not like Dell PCs fitted with Broadcom network card (even when the latest driver is installed), but worked a treat on an HP computer.
Thank you very much! I live in Republic of Moldova(near Ukraine) and this router I received from my uncle from UK. It was Sky branded of course and I couldn't set it to work with my local ISP. Read a lot of info and the only thing that helped - is your article. It's VERY clear and accurate, and for sure very useful.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! My NetGear router works now just like clock!
Thanks for the great article. I only have one PC with more than one network card and that is a new Vista laptop. It wouldn't work on any of the other PCs.
On Vista set the properties of BOTH executables to
1) run in XP compatibility mode
2) run as administrator
3) disable visual themes
4) disable desktop composition
It runs perfectly! I now have my old sky router up and running on Tiscali!
Many, many thanks.
A big thankyou for this post. It told us everything we needed to flash this router. I looked at other posts and they missed out vital info ie disable 3rd party firewalls and the Sky password using sky instead of password. This post contained a comprehensive tuition that covered simple but vital info needed to tranform the crap sky firmware to a workable generic router. A most grateful thanks.
David
You are my GOD..... thank you soo much for this, now i can have a router at 2 ends of my house so i am totally immersed in wireless wherever i am. other tutorials failed me. yours didnt.
I knew how to do this from a previous sky router but had forgotten. Thanks for making life easier. I think that Sky are guilty of a potentially restrictive practice. I am surprised that Ofcom have not picked up on this.
A noob question. I have a RJ 45 broadband coming in and I have my sky router which has an ADSL input. Do I need a RJ 45 to ADSL converter or because it doesnt recognize the connection.
Many thanks you have saved me the cost of a new router as my new work laptop is set to only work with WPA2 which the sky version did not support. The latest version V1.02.19 supports all of the versions from wep to WPA-PSK+WPA2-PSK. You are the best...
Just a note, please be very carefull if you still want to use the router on SKY, do not reset the router as per the instructions given above.(See below)
"One last note, If you had to login to the router using:
Username: admin
Password: sky
You will probably want to reset your router back to its factory default settings by using a pen or paperclip to push and hold the reset button on the back of the router for about 10 seconds whilst the device is powered on."
Unless you have used the SKY Router Password Generator which can be found on https://www.cm9.net/skypass/
I reset my router as above and found that it had lost all the settings, luckily I had kept a copy of the actual username and password that SKY set the router to. Hope this helps...
Hey i really need help wen i run the upgradewizard it just say open registry fail! and i have admin rights so am totaly stuck on this one. i have even downgraded it from 1.3 to 1.2 and still no luck cud some plz advise me i am in much need of it?
@Varun,
Sounds like you have cable broadband. So this tutorial is irrelevant - you can't use an ADSL (telephone line) router (like the DG834GT) on a cable connection.
HI,
Sky 834GT was working fine for abt a year with talktalk after using the utlitiy from this forum, but since ISP was down yesterday & today whole day, Whilst troubleshooting multiple times with the lady in India, I think ive lost/mistyped the login & password to get into the router menu! (Admin/Sky & Admin/Password) dont work.
Any other way of getting into the router menu ? Tried reflashing it and also the pen job/power button thingy, again but still doesnt allow me inside to change my password with my ISP. Cant connect to the net either.
When typing admin/sky the message says"The server 192.168.0.1 at NETGEAR DG834GT requires a username and password.
Warning: This server is requesting that your username and password be sent in an insecure manner (basic authentication without a secure connection).
Its a windows Xp sp3 dell machine. Any ideas & help?
Thanks in advance
hi, many many thanks for your tutorial.
as others have said, i too followed other sites to get this sorted but yours was by far the easiest to follow.
thanks!
I wanted to get wireless access at my dads place using my old router but i didnt want to mess up his talktalk connection. so ive got an ethernet cable running the wireless router connection for me to access on my Mac which is working fine.
But, its running a but slow. Is there something im missing?
thanks again!
i have flashed my dg934g router all ok, but when i try to access ip via 192.168.0.1 it does not find the router? can anyone help me??
Scott, have you then tried to reset the device to the factory defaults by pressing and holding the reset button with a paperclip?
Thanks a bundle!!!
Also to Netgear for their product commitment (current firmware is now v19).
Please note, you do NOT need to use any earlier firmware version after resetting the router.