File access to router without wget

October 10, 2009 1:01 PM

How do I copy files to a Netgear DG834G router without using wget?

I'm trying to install openwrt on an old Netgear DG834Gv3 router (mainly using these instructions). The instructions recommend to telnet into the router and then copy over the new firmware from the internet using wget.

Unfortunately, wget isn't playing ball. Telnetting into the router works fine and I can execute commands but whether I use http or ftp and whether I use the hostname or IP wget cannot see the internet at all. Ping isn't successful for anything either.

So how do I copy over the firmware without using wget? Or alternatively, how do I get wget to work? The router's bootloader does not allow FTP connections.

posted by alby to computers & internet (11 comments total)

You might be able to use netcat.
posted by enn at 1:16 PM on October 10

I think the problem is more likely not with wget but with some part of your network configuration. In what way does wget fail? In what way does pig fail? Can you telnet out? Do you have a netstat command and, if so, what does it show?
posted by hattifattener at 1:17 PM on October 10

s/pig/ping/, obvsly.
posted by hattifattener at 1:17 PM on October 10

I get an "Unable to connect to remote host (XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX): Network is unreachable" error.

I'm sure the error is with my network configuration, but since that's a whole new problem I don't have the first idea about solving, I was wondering if it was possible to avoid wget altogether.
posted by alby at 1:20 PM on October 10

I tried using "cat > firmware" to literally copy-and-paste the file across, but that was more in desperation than in the belief it would work!
posted by alby at 1:21 PM on October 10

The problem's not with wget, then; any program that tries to make a connection to that address is going to get the same error.

Are you sure you're connecting to the right IP address? What does netstat say?
posted by hattifattener at 1:41 PM on October 10

can you ping the machine you're connecting from by ip address? say 192.168.1.111?
posted by rhizome at 1:49 PM on October 10

The IP addresses are definitely correct. It's something in the network configuration that's stopping one router from seeing the other's internet connection; accessing the internet from a browser works fine.
posted by alby at 1:50 PM on October 10

Just to be a little clearer: if ping and wget out from the router don't work but telnet in does, it's possible that whatever is blocking outgoing network access might allow incoming connections. netcat lets you listen for connections on the router and then initiate a connection to it from your computer (or wherever you're telnetting in from). You could also use scp if an SSH server is running on the router.
posted by enn at 2:09 PM on October 10

Telnetting into the router works fine and I can execute commands but whether I use http or ftp and whether I use the hostname or IP wget cannot see the internet at all.

I think the simplest thing (presuming installing ssh/scp is out - which it appears to be) would be to copy the firmware from the internet site to a local machine, like the one you're using for telnet. Set up a webserver on that machine, and use wget from the router to retrieve the firmware from that server.
posted by pompomtom at 4:00 PM on October 10

Also, if you can telnet in to the machine, you can probably rcp a file to the machine. Also you can use a program like kermit or miniterm that allows file transfer via a telnet connection, once you have telnetted in.
posted by idiopath at 7:23 PM on October 10