Posted on 03/26/2026 5:40:17 AM PDT by Paul R.
I am trying to set up a "Miracast" connection from my laptop to a TV, and apparently I need to manually change the IP address of my wireless router. Although the router is working just fine, I cannot "find" it from my desktop machine, which is connected via a "fast switch" and ethernet.
Hi, thanks for the reply! I’m finally getting back to more of the replies to me.
Yes, the ISP “feeds” the “fast switch”, and then the switch presently “feeds” my desktop machine and a D-Link wireless router. Normally the switch would also feed another switch (which feeds various equipment including yet another switch out in my shop, which “shop switch” is in turn connected to various goodies), but I have the feed to the 2nd switch disconnected as I’ve been trying to diagnose this bugaboo. I’ve also swapped the feed to the PowerLink “send” or “injector” module to an Ethernet port on the wireless router since my original posts. It even appears to make no difference in what I “see” if I disconnect the Cat6 cable to the PowerLink “send” module, though of course that defeats its function, which is to send data back and forth over that AC power circuit. (Basically, it substitutes the AC house wiring for ethernet cable.)
So... The PowerLink “send” module is plugged in to and sends data to / receives data from a 120v AC power circuit in our house. At the far end (sort of) of that AC circuit is another PowerLink module (transceiver?) that plugs into said “far end” (bedroom) power outlet. The latter Powerlink module is both WiFi and also has an ethernet connection to my wife’s desktop machine.
Again, I don’t think any of this last matters — I can pull the Cat6 cable that feeds the Powerlink “injector” module from the router (previously the switch) and it makes no difference - except for losing the wired network connection to the bedroom...
I instead DO suspect that you are correct in that the problem with locating the D-Link wireless router is that the D-Link wireless router is “behind” the fast switch, as “viewed” from the connection to the ISP or my desktop machine.
The setup was done this way because the fast switch is much faster than the ethernet capability of the D-Link router, and the Powerlink module is supposed to be faster too, although in practice the speed turned out not to be of great practical benefit. I just don’t do stuff that is all that demanding, and the connection to our ISP usually ranges around 80 mbps upload and download: Slow by today’s standards, but plenty fast for us. Probably the most demanding thing we do is my wife’s watching movies over the web. I had ideas to do backups over our network, but, I never got that working. Instead of fighting it further, I freed up a HDD for direct backups of my wife’s desktop machine, and left similar “as they were” for my machines.
As the network is “pared down now”, I’ll try to find time to get the info. as it stands now, to you. I “busted” almost a day fruitlessly trying to figure out what the heck was going on, so I have a bunch of other “criticals” (not computer problems) I have to get to, too. A decent meal would be a good start...
Thanks much!
The ISP is the local telephone company - via fiber optic.
A “fast switch” is just an ethernet switch faster than those of some years ago. This one is more common than mine:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BC7QMM/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AWXBONHVNQ00F
Supposedly there is a firewall in the fiber-optic interface unit from the ISP, but, it’s possible I misunderstood that. Every computer but my desktop feeds from some sort of router (the PowerLink is essentially a form of router.)
Yeah, yet ANOTHER thing to carry around with or have hooked up to the laptop. I'll likely need a better USB hub with more ports, too. $$ :-( Is your SSID broadcast turned off?
No, it is on.
Thanks for the reply, though. :-)
Correct. Mine, IIRC, is supposed to be able to do 2 GB/s.
Bluetooth on the laptop just literally disappeared. I can find nothing in settings or anywhere else that indicates anything to reset, or any other indication it exists... anymore.
WiFi itself on the laptop works fine. Except with Miracast.
It is the laptop that had Bluetooth. The desktop never did (but I have wired audio connections to it, as the whole desktop setup is stationary.)
Bluetooth on the laptop has disappeared from settings and device manager.
The only reason the desktop came into play was that I was wanting to log into the router, as part of trying to get Miracast working on the laptop. (Miracast WOULD be cool to get going, as then I could “cast” not just audio, but video, from the laptop.)
Try power cycling your Beeber. That is if it’s not stuned.
Please read my OP(s) again. It was the Bluetooth failure that lead me to try Miracast instead. Then, Miracast appeared to have an IP address conflict, and I discovered I could not find a way to log into my router (likely because it is behind a switch.)
I am pretty dumb on this stuff, but I am WELL aware Bluetooth and Miracast are separate and distinct systems, and Bluetooth does not utilize WiFi.
I have also stated the WiFi on the laptop was otherwise working fine.
I have no way to post pics directly from files, on FR*, and I have no photo hosting service. Never needed one...
*FR is the only forum I’ve ever used that has this limitation, but, I understand, it saves money.)
There’s not an IPv4 IP address???
My desktop “lost” the Bluetooth ability and I spent hours trying to get it back before I finally just backed it up and did a full W11 reinstall which solved the problem. Reading on the net, one of the updates killed the Bluetooth on a lot of machines and they never bothered to do anything to undo the problem. If it worked in the past and suddenly quit, my guess is you ran into the same thing.
I could have fixed it a lot quicker by just going straight to backup and full reinstall.
First, gigabit switch ports are the baseline standard these days. It was considered fast when I got my first one perhaps 15 years ago.
2.5GbE is coming on, and really 10GbE and better is what all the cool kids are doing in their homelabs.
Generally fiber connects to an ONT, an optical network termination that converts the FO to a twisted pair Ethernet jack of an appropriate speed (1, 2.5, 10). That typically goes on to a router, or the ISP might provide an all in one ONT/router/network switch. Maybe even include a WAP, wireless access point.
It’s unclear to me which of these functions are being handled by your ISP gear, and what by something else.
If your ISP provides the router, you might see if there’s a management interface you can log into and see status of things and change setting if need be.
What happens when you type Win + K
That should bring up a screen of Miracast devices to connect to. It it is peer to peer and doesn’t go through networking equipment. I gave it a try and it shows my neighbors TV is available.
Looking back through your replies it looks to me like you had a power surge or a partial equipment failure that created the hot mess. If you haven’t done so, I would power everything down for a few minutes.
Buy a long HDMI cable and tuck under the carpet.... Also do Amazon search for - wireless display / HDMI adapter .... Search eBay too
Hi, All!
Sorry for the lack of replies. Today blew up worse than yesterday (non-computer issues), and then this evening a completely unrelated problem (I think) disabled my desktop machine. I have it booting up now, but it is still non-functional otherwise (totally frozen on the desktop screen.) I’m still trying to clear the debris out of that crater. :-(
More replies to y’all tomorrow, I hope...
Oh.
My.
God.
I have Bluetooth on the laptop working again. Almost by coincidence, I happened to try plugging a USB Flash Drive (stick) into the laptop. That’s when I discovered none of the USB ports were working. I tried the USB stick on my desktop machine — it was fine.
I was like: WTH?
So, I tried looking at the internal USB 3.0 hub’s properties in Device Manager, and it came up with an error code 43. I researched THAT and the 3rd suggestion was to disable and then re-enable the device. I did so (under “Properties”) and the USB ports “came back”. And... A whole list of Bluetooth “stuff” came back in Device Manager (the entries are for both the laptop and all the Bluetooth devices it has connected to.) I was then able to connect to a Bluetooth receiver that feeds a little stereo system severable feet away, just fine. Ditto for my usual Bluetooth headphones.
Son of a... !!!
I’m going to guess that essentially there is a Bluetooth dongle inside the laptop, and it runs off a USB connection just like an external dongle would.
When I get time I’ll gather up the screen names of everyone who gave good advice and refer them to this post.
Thanks, All!
(Later, I’ll get back to the whole router / Miracast problem. I’m still horribly behind with “life” at this point of the weekend!)
:-)
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