[GScullin]

Help - Just bought a new Kindle Fire HD 7.0 -  Cannot connect to my WRT54G2 Router?  It finds the network and recognizes it but will not authorize connection when I type in the password?    Is it the router settings or the router itself. 

Any suggestions before I run out and by a new router

GScullin

 

[Ann in Arlington]

I'm not familiar with that router specifically, but there have been various reports from people who have had trouble getting Kindle to recognize especially older model routers.  I never had any trouble, either with our old router, nor with the newer netgear we recently got.  They've also generally always worked with public wifi.

Things to check: you're entering the correct password: O can look like 0 or o, lower case L for 1, etc. I believe you can also set it so it shows the password as you're typing and keeps it in cleartext so you can check to be sure you got it right before pressing 'connect'.

Cycle the router: unplug it, let it rest a minute, and plug it back in. 

Cycle the wireless receiver on the kindle: turn it off, let it rest a minute, and turn it back on.  Might also help to 'forget' the network that it's not connecting on and start over.

Go someplace where there's free Wifi and see if the kindle will connect -- to work out if it's a problem in the kindle, which is easily solved by calling Amazon and asking for a replacement.

 

[Tagg]

A quick troubleshooting technique is to temporarily disable all security on your router and see if you can connect.  If you can connect without any security, you know that it is an issue with the type of security.  You can then try adjusting the settings to get a match between the router and your Kindle.

 

[Morf]

Ann and Tagg have hit all the things I would think of.

Although a WRT54G is a pretty old router, it tended to be e-ink Kindles that didn't like old routers - at the end of the day, the Fire is an Android tablet, so should cope with nearly anything.

A quick search doesn't show up anything - in fact this thread was about the third hit! - so it's clearly not a common problem.

If the solutions suggested above don't work, take a look through your router settings and see if you've got anything odd enabled - check that your security is WPA2 and that you haven't got anything like MAC address filtering enabled.

As a last resort before you buy a new router, you could try a factory reset of the router - there's usually a button on the back. You'll then have to set everything back up again, but you'd have to do that with a new router as well, so nothing lost except a bit of time!