Need help connecting my PS2 to my school's internet

[Jabberwocky]

I am trying to set up a POL connection for Final Fantasy XI, but since I haven't changed the info in over three years, I kinda forgot how. I'm connecting via an ethernet cord to a wall jack, no router.

I am trying to figure out the info I need to enter so that I get past the initializing phase. Any help is greatly welcomed. Thanks.

[Tradition]

Ask your school's tech support people.

No, seriously. We don't know what ports your university has open. :D

[Jabberwocky]

Yeah see, my school's IT department is less then helpful.

[Jabberwocky]

Turns out it keeps stalling because the network requires some virus scan. So.... I'm at square one again.

[Kriz]

At my school, we had a special site to enter in the hardware address (MAC) of your PS2/Xbox/GC so you would skip all that

[Jabberwocky]

Yeah, well. That would make to much sense.

Second question, is it possible to split an Ethernet cable?

[Antonidas]

Sure you could, with a router and more ethernet cables.

If you mean splice an Ethernet cable, then... what the hell are you trying to do? You'll still run into trouble at the school's firewall, and youre carving up cables.

[Jabberwocky]

No, there is just 1 outlet and I wanted to have my ps2 and laptop connected at the same time.

Well anyway, I'm getting closer to solving my problem. Question though, is the Network Access Disc the same as my Network Adapter Start Up disc that came with the PS2 HDD? I'm in over my head, stupid school IT dept. -.-

[Popsiclestick]

I used to work for a school IT Helpdesk a couple years back and they were rolling out a log in page that sounds similar to what you are experiencing. What they had was a web site that would authorize the port for use if the PC that was used on the port was compliant with a virus scanner, firewall, and no known simple port issues opened up by viruses. Now from your posts, it sounds like you HAVEN'T ever asked your Help desk for any real help. You are blowing them off when they could probably answer your simple questions.

I am pretty sure the people at your school's IT department have XBox/PS3s/PS2s all connected to the network. The IT Department is full of nerdy gamers.

Oh to answer your questions:

o Yes you will need a router to split the connection. The PC connected to the router will authorize you through their walled garden.
o With regards to the discs. I only remember 2 discs with the PS2 HDD. There was the obvious HDD disc, then there was the Network disc. The network adapter came out prior to the HDD. There was one disc to walk a user through in configuring the adapter's connection. A startup disc sounds odd, I only recall one disc to walk the user on basic network configurations.

[LinktheDeme]

I used to work for a school IT Helpdesk a couple years back and they were rolling out a log in page that sounds similar to what you are experiencing. What they had was a web site that would authorize the port for use if the PC that was used on the port was compliant with a virus scanner, firewall, and no known simple port issues opened up by viruses. Now from your posts, it sounds like you HAVEN'T ever asked your Help desk for any real help. You are blowing them off when they could probably answer your simple questions.

I am pretty sure the people at your school's IT department have XBox/PS3s/PS2s all connected to the network. The IT Department is full of nerdy gamers.

Oh to answer your questions:

o Yes you will need a router to split the connection. The PC connected to the router will authorize you through their walled garden.
o With regards to the discs. I only remember 2 discs with the PS2 HDD. There was the obvious HDD disc, then there was the Network disc. The network adapter came out prior to the HDD. There was one disc to walk a user through in configuring the adapter's connection. A startup disc sounds odd, I only recall one disc to walk the user on basic network configurations.

I'm pretty sure the network disc does nothing for POL though but I could be wrong. my network thing was on 56k then i switched it to highspeed randomly didn't have to touch that disc

[bungiefan]

Your school's network could also be like mine was, where you had to not only supply the MAC address of the device connecting to them, but only the email and web browser ports were open. No online games could be played on my school's connection, and IM and P2P programs were also blocked. They said if we wanted to game and do more with the internet, we had to get our own internet connection installed in the dorm and pay the ISP's fee for it.

Fo plugging multiple devices into one wall outpet, buy a simple ethernet switch and a cable for each device. Ethernet switches haev at least 4 ports, and split one jack into multiple ones.

[Spekkio]

router/switch is actually a point of issue here. if he can get his PS2's MAC authorized, just buy a 20 dollar switch, plug everything in and you're golden. if not, but the ports are unblocked, get a router and set its MAC to that of the PC. if your tech support department isn't paying much attention (and many don't) just that little trick will get the job done. just don't connect that PC anywhere else w/ your router hooked up like that. ^^

[Nirokun!]

im not the most computer-savvy person, but i played PS2 ffxi during my first 2 years of college. I remember a similar issue to yours and i was so sad and dumb (( so it took me a month before i had ffxi back. what i did was get a router (i have a lynksys[is that how you spell it?] one, that i bought at walmart maybe), plug in my main internet cord thing from the wall into the main internet cord thing on the back of the router (i think it had a white box around it, and it was the first one [they were numbered.]) then i took 2 more cords, stuck the ends into the back of the router, and put one in the back of my laptop, and one in the back of my network adapter (the black box on the back of the ps2, i forget if thats what it is called.) Then i logged into the internet from my laptop from this... page that the school put up, where i put in my school username and password (resnet, you might have the same thing) to give me access to the internet. after that, i turned on my ps2 and could log in.

i know there was a TCP/IP thing i looked at when i was fiddling around trying to make it work. i dont know if i changed anything, but i remember writing it all down so that if something happened, i had all the info to play again.

my instructions suck, but i hope it helps

[Spekkio]

nah, niro. that's pretty much the easiest way to do it. the router allows all your devices to hide behind the same MAC/IP, so you use your computer to register the router, then your PS2 will happily cruise through the connection.

[Asrun]

A few years ago I traveled extensively and did not have a laptop capable of playing FFXI. So, I took my ps2 with me. Hotel internet services sound frustratingly similar to what you're describing here. While getting a router sounds like a solid solution, it might not be valid in your case (your school might require you to log into a webpage every day to connecti) or if you can't afford a router, I might have a cheaper solution.

You will need two network cards. If you have a desktop this is easy, if not your laptop should have some sort of built-in wireless that can be used for one (hopefully you have a wifi signal in your room). You also need what's called a "Crossover" cable. It's a network cable that is wired differently. Don't worry, it's common and best buy carries them.

Connect your ps2 to your computer with this crossover cable. On your computer, go into start > settings > control panel > network connections. Go into the properties of the card you're going to use to interface with the ps2 and set up Internet Connection Sharing. Make sure your ps2 configuration is set to "DHCP" so you don't have to configure it yourself.

Basically what you're doing here is setting up your computer to act as a router. Traffic from your ps2 goes through the PC and out onto the internet.

[Jabberwocky]

Would that be using my computer as a server? (Again, I'm not tech savvy, sorry if this is stupid.)

I think I'm just going to go down to Target after class and buy a router.

[Asrun]

Would that be using my computer as a server? (Again, I'm not tech savvy, sorry if this is stupid.)

I think I'm just going to go down to Target after class and buy a router.

Basically, yeah. Although the proper terminology would be a router or a gateway.

If the router solution works for you, that's a much more elegant solution since you don't have to have your computer turned on to work, etc etc. If not, mine will work in any case.

[Spekkio]

Would that be using my computer as a server? (Again, I'm not tech savvy, sorry if this is stupid.)

I think I'm just going to go down to Target after class and buy a router.

Basically, yeah. Although the proper terminology would be a router or a gateway.

If the router solution works for you, that's a much more elegant solution since you don't have to have your computer turned on to work, etc etc. If not, mine will work in any case.

it's definitely tried and true. back in the day when dialup roamed the lands, people used USB ethernet cards to connect their PS2s to the internet. since it obviously lacked the ability to dial in using that equipment, there was a lot of buzz about doing exactly what you mentioned.

honestly, though, for a less computer adept individual, i'd go with the router solution. way more plug and play. just make SURE you flip off the wireless function on your router or secure it properly or you'll find your port shut off faster than you can say "but i swear i didn't download kiddie porn." just a warning, cause i know i've seen similar in my days working the helldesk. ^^

[Asrun]

just make SURE you flip off the wireless function on your router or secure it properly or you'll find your port shut off faster than you can say "but i swear i didn't download kiddie porn."

But I swear I didn't know what it was until I opened it!

[Jabberwocky]

just make SURE you flip off the wireless function on your router or secure it properly or you'll find your port shut off faster than you can say "but i swear i didn't download kiddie porn."

But I swear I didn't know what it was until I opened it!

Ok, how do I click that off? I don't see a switch....

And I have both plugged in via Ethernet.