Installation & Registration
From FON Wiki Beta
The process to successfully install the La Fonera or the La Fonera+ is the same. It is made of two simple steps: the Installation i.e. connection of the La Fonera, and Registration i.e. association of the La Fonera to your FON account.
If I don't register the La Fonera: You will not get the Linus or Bill status, so you don't have roaming privileges on other FON Spots. In addition the first Fonero logging in your FON Spot, will get the router assigned to his account (and get the roaming instead of you).
Installation & Registration
Installation
- First connect the La Fonera to your modem or router with the provided flat cable; in case you need a longer cable you’ll be able to just use any other Ethernet cable you have.
- Now connect the power supply to the La Fonera and wait a little bit, the La Fonera will now update its firmware, please wait while this operation is completed and do not interrupt it. Sometimes it will take long time (up to 45 minutes) but when the 3 lights light up green you’ll be able to continue.
- Now look for the “Wireless Network Connection” icon in your computer if your computer runs under Windows or the airport icon if you are using Mac. You’ll find two WiFi signals, both the FON_ and MyPlace.
La Fonera+ has two ports:
The white port (WAN) to your modem or router The black port (LAN) to your computer or any other network device you want to connect via cable (optional)
Installation: Troubleshooting
Why is only MyPlace WiFi signal visible?
If you see MyPlace signal but not FON_ check the User's Manual since you might need to make some customizations. Usually this means, that you have to change the settings to make the La Fonera/La Fonera+ work in 'PPPoE/PPPTP or ‘static IP’ mode. Those changes are made on the Management Console.
I don't have a free port to connect La Fonera, what can I do?
If you have a La Fonera:
- Disconnect the current cable from the occupied plug, connect your La Fonera to a plug that has been in use on your modem and connect the previously connected PC or notebook or other device via WiFi to the Internet.
- Or plug a switch to your modem or router, and then you will be able to connect all your devices at once.
If you have a La Fonera+:
- Disconnect the current cable from the occupied plug, connect your La Fonera+ to a plug that has been in use on your modem and connect the previously connected device to the La Fonera+.
Could my network (Ethernet) cable be defective?
Make sure that you hear a “click” when you plug each end of the cable. When a network cable is connected from a powered-on modem to La Fonera, the WAN or the Internet LED should be lit or start to blink.
None of the LED lights lit; is my La Fonera broken?
First, try to find out if the power supply isn’t defective (perhaps a friend has a measuring tool), then contact Support Team.
Why do I have to wait for up to 45mins?
The La Fonera router will be updating its firmware right after being connected to the Internet for the first time. It is not common for the La Fonera to take the full 45 minutes to update, however, we advise you to wait for this period of time without disconnecting it. As soon as the FON_ Signal is showing up constantly, you are ready to register it.
What do the LEDs stand for?
- Power: La Fonera is ON
- Internet/WAN: La Fonera is properly connected to a modem/routeur
- Computer/LAN: La Fonera is properly connected to network device
Is there something special with my ISP?
Most Internet Service Providers have the same setup. Nevertheless, there might be specific issues with certain ISPs when you try to connect your La Fonera. Here you can check if a specific set up is required for your ISP
I have an internet access with a cable provider, anything special I have to do?
If you have a cable modem or router, you should power off both the cable router and La Fonera, wait 15 to 30 minutes, then power on La Fonera first, and lastly the cable modem. If 45 minutes later you are still not detecting the public FON_ signal you might need to use a special configuration for your ISP
I have a special network setup here. How do I connect my La Fonera with it?
If you have to setup some special things before your computer is able to access the internet through your network, then the La Fonera might have to be setup with the same settings. The standard setting with the La Fonera is DHCP but you might have to set a static IP. If other settings are required for conneting a network device, please consult your IT administrator.
Which ports do La Fonera needs?
If you have a Firewall in place that performs outbound filtering (eg it doesn't just stop intruders from the internet to your LAN, it also stops anyone from accessing the internet, including La Fonera) you will have to request your Firewall Engineer to open up a few ports.
- Best is to give your La Fonera a Fixed IP address, perhaps your engineer can also filter on the MAC address of the La Fonera on his Managed Switch
- Ask him to open up the following ports for La Fonera's IP address:
- 123/UDP & 123/TCP: this is an Internet Timeserver. The La Fonera has no batteries to keep an internal clock so if you don't want to have customers logged in the year 2000 this will give the correct time&date on www.fon.com
- 53/TCP/UDP, 1937/TCP & 1938/TCP: Used for a heartbeat signal towards FON. It will tell our maps tool (maps.fon.com) your La Fonera is alive & kicking and will also check for firmware updates.
- 80/TCP & 443/TCP: this is the HTTP/HTTPS port which is used for the captive portal content, to ask the user their username/password on a secure way.
- 1645/UDP & 1812/UDP: This is Radius authentication where the user authentication will take place
If you have opened up these ports you should restart your La Fonera and have a FON_ signal within 2 minutes on your Wireless Networks window.
Your network does not give Internet adresses automatically?
- Symptoms: If you plug in a laptop (or any other device) to your network, you can not browse the web.
- Cause: There's a chance that no DHCP server is operative on your network. If this is the case, please give your La Fonera a Static IP.
Your network requires a PROXY server to surf the internet?
- The La Fonera can not be configured to use a PROXY server. We recommend that if you really want to use something like this, you should Install a TRANSPARENT PROXY solution, which is even available for free in the Linux world!
- Another solution is to allow the La Fonera to access the Internet without going through your Proxy.
Registration
To register the FON router, you need to connect to the public (non encrypted) FON_ signal. Please make sure your PC may not be connected by Ethernet at the same time.
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Once you have connected to the FON_ signal open your browser (IE, Firefox, Opera…) and go to any website i.e. www.wikipedia.org. You will be forwarded to the FON Captive Portal.
Log in with your FON account details (email and password).
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After logging in a "Welcome Back" page will open. Once here click on the "GO TO MY FON" button and the 'register La Fonera form' will open.
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Fill out the registration form in order to locate your FON Spot on the FON Maps!
Fill out all required fields on the registration form by entering your Country, Region, etc. Note: you can use the map to drag and drop the FON Spot exactly where it is.
Finally click on the submit button at the bottom. You should get a confirmation message saying you have successfully registered the router.
Registration: Troubleshooting
What happens if I don't register the La Fonera?
- You will not get the Linus or Bill status, so you don't have roaming privileges on other FON Spots.
- The first Fonero logging in your FON Spot, will get the router assigned to his account (and get roaming in stead of you).
Why is only MyPlace WiFi signal visible?
If you see MyPlace signal but not FON_ check the User's Manual since you might need to make some customizations. Usually this means, that you have to change the settings to make the La Fonera/La Fonera+ work in 'PPPoE/PPPTP or ‘static IP’ mode. These changes are made on the Management Console.
I have modified a setting for my router, but nothing has changed
If you have modified the router settings on www.fon.com, it may take up to 24 hours for changes to be effective. If you want them to be applied right away, rebooting your La Fonera might help.
I see FON_ but can't connect to it
Some antivirus or firewall software might prevent you from connecting to the FON public signal. They do so as they prevent your from connecting to non-WPA/WEP encrypted conections. If you notice that deactivating your security kit allows you to connect, then you should check this page in order to configure your software correctly.
Why am I requested to purchase a day pass while trying to register the La Fonera?
If you log in at the Captive Portal, but in stead of getting the registration form, you see a page asking you to buy a FON pass, please contact the support team and tell them what has happened. Please provide your La Foneras Mac ID. You'll find it on a sticker on the bottom of your router.
There can be two reasons for this:
- You have a second hand router and it is already registered to another account
- You did not register the La Fonera immediately and it got assigned to the first Fonero logging in.
I'm not able to pick a Fonero profile in the registration form
If you are using Safari, please follow this workaround
I'd like to be a Bill user however only the Linus option is shown in the registration form
Bill profile is not available for all Countries[1], in these cases the registration form will only show Linus as choosable profile.
The WiFi connection gets cut off quite often, what can I do about it?
In this case, we suggest that you change the WiFi channel on which the La Fonera is emitting by following these instructions You might also want to check that there are no known issues with your WiFi card [link to wiki WiFi card compatibility section] or device. [link to wiki device compatibility section]
