For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Merlin

Ministry of Retr0bright and Street Judge
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After spending about 5 hours today sorting software issues out on an Acer Aspire 5315 laptop, that kept throwing up BSODs 10-20 minutes after boot-up on Vista Home Basic setup (shudder), the only thing I hadn't fixed was the wireless internet, which was 'sort-of' working earlier in the day, as it allowed me to install IE8 and some other updates in between BSODs, then once the updates and a copy of Eset NOD Antivirus 4 had been installed the laptop wouldn't connect. I had finally cured the BSODs which were Norton related (surprise :roll: ) and there were no obvious hardware faults showing up, so it had to be the router.

The lady who owned the laptop showed me a card and sticker which was reported to have the router access password - no worries, or so I thought... it just refused to connect. The ADSL router was a Sky badged Netgear, so I typed in 192.168.2.1 - the default router login for most Netgear routers - zilch. I even tried permutations of most router login IPs I know and it wasn't having any of it. I even tried resetting the router to factory default - nope, not having that, either...

Eventually I figured out that the laptop had downloaded the updates via another local insecure wireless network! :shock:

Having come away determined to get this sorted, I found out a shocking fact; Sky lock you out of the router, so you can't log into the home page to change the wireless password or any other settings!!

After much consulting of the Google oracle, I came across a site that allows you to enter the MAC address and serial number of the Sky router and it coughs out the wireless password. Somebody has sussed out the algorithm of Sky's router password encryption. :mrgreen:

Link:- https://www.cm9.net/skypass

The wireless password had been changed from that shown on the card!! I thought that those on Sky Broadband should be aware of this, as a hard drive or an OS crash could you leave up that familiar creek 'sans paddle', so to speak. I would recommend that those with a Sky router find out what the router wireless password is just in case and keep it in a safe place. Note that you do need the MAC and serial number, so it can't be used to directly hack into a wireless network.

This sad episode only underlines my deep hatred of the following items.

1. Vista, with it's UAC that needed disabling before the laptop would do anything;
2. Norton 360, which infiltrates just about everywhere on a Vista install and took 3/4 of an hour to finally rip from the registry;
3. Acer laptops that create data partitions that even the user isn't made aware of.
4. iTunes, that installed 10Gb of music onto a 30Gb partition and slowed everything to a crawl. I had to move the 10Gb to the spare partition as the laptop only had 400Mb of free space when I got to it!!

The last bit I suppose should have gone into AmiRant but sack it, it's staying here now.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

I have no experience with those UK SKY routers, (locking them by the isp is way too lame btw)

BUT

I confirm 10000% that:
a. everything Norton nowdays is TOTAL crap
b. iTunes for windows (at least) is norton-quality crap :jester:

good to see all working again Merlin, this could be one of those situations that you spent many hours over stupid software probs!
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Thanks Leo; it was definitely a coffee and paracetamol moment!!

I only found out later that Sky send the routers out with a pre-set password and customise them so that only they can access them remotely; you can't get in via an IP address home page. How crap is that?
(/Merlin nudges Kinnie, whom I know uses Sky)

I wasn't going to let this bloody laptop defeat me; I have a reputation to maintain, dontcha know... :wink: There have been very few PC problems that have beaten me over the years and every one of those was a hardware fault, such as hard drive failure - I wasn't about to allow this laptop to be my first OS repair failure.

Vista is truly a crap OS, especially with UAC turned on, as you can't do sh*t without it stopping to ask your permission. That, along with BSODs kicking in every ten minutes after boot-up, made everything a real pain.

I left the laptop last night running pretty snappily, the only thing left to do is to correct the wireless password and all should be up and running.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

In case you forget the number over da fone m8y, my Sky Netgear Router = 192.168.0.1 - U/N = admin - P/W = sky :D

Kin
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Cheers Kinnie, I'll give that a spin later today.

(y)
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

I was about to say that the 2 Netgear routers we have here both use 192.168.0.1 as well, and this is the default IP for all Netgear ones. With default details being U:Admin P:password. So if Kin's work they only change the password.

This is one reason I never touch ISPs that provide their own routers. They are always normally locked or special restricted versions that only work on their own networks. I want to be in control of my own router, not the ISP.

And I totally agree with Norton's and iTune's. Both complete crap that riddle the OS with junk that is hard to remove and just slows the system down. Anyone using an iPod or other MP3 player should look at Media Monkey. Very nice MP3 library software which directly supports iPod and other players and doesn't require any connection to the spyware giants Apple!

As for Acer laptops. Most of the big name laptops makers do similar things. I tend to format the HDD when i get a new laptop and reinstall, so that none of the crap they normally load onto the systems is filling up the drive.

Finally UAC on Vista is indeed very annoying, and also part of Windows 7. Disabling it is always one of the first things I do. Then Vista is pretty nice to use.

These problems you've had is just another reason I wouldn't touch Sky Broadband. I would rather pay more for my ISP and know it is just an ISP provider that cares about its customers because that is their only market. Not a broadband provider bolted only a larger company who's main concern is something else, such as broadcast in Sky's case.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

As I said earlier, I'm pretty sure that the one I saw yesterday was locked, as I tried all permutations of router login Ips that I could think of.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

So did you get in there in the end?

Kin
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

I brought the router home last night and logged into it first attempt. The only thing it can be now is either the ethernet or wireless adapter drivers. Since the machine was suspected of having a trojan on it, I ran Combofix followed by a Vista CD with the command sfc / scannow, so that any damaged files would be repaired. The BSODs are triggered by a file called Netio.sys, so my suspicion is that the ethernet driver or a support file is screwed.

I've set the router for 64-bit WEP with a known password, so I know that I should be able to connect to it. I am going to install Vista SP1 along with the updated drivers for the ethernet and wireless from Acer for SP1. Hopefully this will replace any damaged files and get networking up and running properly again. Once I have confirmed internet communications are AOK with WEP, I can try and get back into the router via the laptop and WPA-PSK going again, as it was originally.

Now that I've eliminated the router, it can only be software drivers. Every 'No' is one step closer to a 'Yes'.....
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Merlin said:
<snip> Every 'No' is one step closer to a 'Yes'.....

/....smiley mode on....

That's the Micro$haft experience all over. :jester: - Glad you're nearer than where you were earlier though. (y)

Try re-setting TCP/IP using the netsh command. "netsh int ip reset c:\resetlog.txt"

There's a handy Link here on the Microsoft support site. At least try this before messing the drivers about. When it comes to having to mess with the drivers, be sure you uninstall them before re-installing them & it's always a good idea to physically pull them after uninstalling & shutting down. Some cards such as Belkin have to have the software installed first anyways, otherwise they never work?? :Doh: :stick:

Good luck m8y. (y)

Kin
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Having spoken on the blower with the Kinster this evening, here's an update.

Vista SP1 and the updated Acer drivers installed without a hitch and I am now at the stage where the laptop says it's connected by both LAN and wireless to the router by WEP using the key I had put in the router yesterday via my own PC. Now I'm at the stage where everything looks AOK from the drivers and connection standpoint, but I still can't connect to either the router's home page or the Internet!!

Just to make things even more frustrating, I can type IPconfig and see the default gateway correctly as 192.168.0.1 (thanks Charlie) and I can ping 192.168.0.1 and I get 4 packets sent and received; I just can't log onto the router's home page :shrug: !!

The issue appears to be with authentication on Sky's network or on the router, as I can connect to another local insecure wireless network and surf the Net (naughty). It's only after I lock the connection to the Sky router that I lose Internet access. I've also tried disabling anti-virus and firewalls with no difference.

The really odd thing is this; when I try and re-install Sky Broadband via their supplied CD, everything looks AOK until the software tries to test the connection to the router, at which point it falls over and tells me to call Sky support. But this is when Vista tells me I AM connected to the router. How can I be apparently connected to the router via LAN and wireless and yet not be able to access the router home page, which should ask me for the password to log in?

I've now spent about 10 hours on this :censored: :censored: :censored: laptop over 3 days, I've stopped the crashes and done all of the usual software repairs. The lady didn't create the Recovery DVDs when she first got the laptop so even a factory re-install is not available. The only thing I can think of now is recover whatever files they need, borrow a Vista Home Basic disc , download all of the required drivers and start from scratch.

/Merlin walks off scratching his head....
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Have you tried uninstalling the network drivers and installing the latest drivers for them from safe mode? That has fixed such problems for me in the past on a few laptops, especially wireless cards in Compaq and Acer laptops.

However I learnt a long time ago that if trying to fix an install of Windows and it is taking more than a few hours then a format and clean install is the best and faster solution. It can be very hard to troubleshoot someone else's copy of Windows as you don't know the full history or what they might have done.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

/....RE: Laptop installed with Vista Home edition....

The perfect solution for you & the owner....

farrow-skip1.jpg


:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

It's gotta be worth resetting TCP/IP before writing it off. If the router works for your own comuter being plugged in it, I expect the Vista OS has corrupted somes files or other from all the BSOD's. Probably a re-install is the only answer. :|

Kin
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

I left the lady talking to Sky support last night; I don't think she will have much joy as it's not an immediately obvious fault now.

File recovery and a fresh install is the only course of action now, I'm afraid. (n) I will call her this evening and see how she got on.

Thanks for the help, guys; it's when you get a real :censored: problem like this that you need more brains to bounce ideas off.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Let us know how it turns out with her talking to sky. :popcorn: :twisted:

Kin
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Well, running 'netsh winsock reset' and renewing TCP/IP protocols achieved a grand total of zilch. I'm beginning to arrive at the conclusion that the laptop ethernet port has failed or that something is badly screwed deep in Vista's engine room. The wireless card now gets an IP of 192.168.0.3 and still I get no internet.

:nuts:
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

So it is definitely seeing and obtaining an IP from the routers DHCP server. Can you ping anything? Even the router?

I would definitely just wipe the system and do a clean install.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

That's the really weird thing, Harrison.

I can ping the router on 192.168.0.1 and get 4 packets sent and received with no loss, and yet after all this repair work it still can't access the internet. The only thing I can possibly think of now (besides a format and re-install) is either WINS or DNS resolution. Could something have got messed up here and it's the DNS resolution that's blocking the connection? The bit that has 'gasted my flabber' is that I can't access the router's home page at all, yet I can ping it's IP.... :nuts:

This has to be THE strangest fault I've ever come across on a PC. Everything apparently works OK from the Windows and driver perspective, in that it says it's fully connected with an IP address from the router, yet there's no internet. It's off the scale of my Weird-o-Meter.

@ Kin Hell

Am I correct in thinking that the yellow Ethernet is normally only needed for initial setup, similar to cable routers, in that once things are up and running, it can be removed? This is my first exploration into the world of ADSL routers so I'm a bit of a n00b with how they set up.
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Remove norton or the remains of norton using the norton removal tool http://service1.symantec.com/Support/ts ... 3108162039

Check customer has adsl filters fitted correctly

Go through the Vista Network repair again; netsh, winsock, tcp/ip

can you now access the router, if so log on and look at the router status page to see wether it shos the modem as connected and a Gateway IP address and a domain name server, if so then it is connected to sky.

There is a diagnostics on these routers where you can ping or lookup from within the router so give that a try to see if the problem is router or windows.

Check the routers firewall settings.

If you can try another router then these are the Sky settings:
VPI 0
VCI 38
Encapsultion PPPOA
Multiplexing VC
MTU 1458

Gary
 
Re: For those on Sky Broadband - router password recovery

Bloody wireless cr4p. :roll:

Tbh Dave, all I know is the two yellow ports only work RE connecting to the Router. Wireless mode is usually set to off by default, unless sky have now changed their policy. In all honesty, having a wireless & wired connection at the same time should be fine.

Having said all this, you could end up re-installing only to find out the crap-top's NIC is buggered. 'Prolly one of those suck it & see events in order to help. The customer never downloaded the Vista Home disk images, so there isn't a re-install option open to you. :Doh: A right old can of Whoop Ass eh. :nod:

I'd send you a copy of it if I had it, but Vista does not reside @ my address & never will.

Good luck m8y,

Charlie

@ Gary

He can't even log into the Router. He can ping it but page unavailble everytime. He already tried the router on his own Pee Cee & he can log into it, so its a Laptop fault.
 
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