Wireless Router- Mountain lion?

There is nothing specific about ML there. They should all work if properly configured.

That's odd, I've never run into a wireless router I couldn't connect to. That doesn't mean that they don't exist - I know that some older routers don't properly support modern wifi standards - but I'm surprised that you would find multiple modern routers that wouldn't work. I wonder if it isn't a configuration issue.

Although you'll pay more for it, I like the Apple AirPort Extreme routers. They're quite easy to configure and provide full support for all the wireless features of your other Apple hardware, and work well with Windows machines as well.

Of course LinkSys routers work with Mountain Lion.

Maybe you are refering to the disk that comes with the router. The disk and software is not needed for any router. Routers are pretty much plug and play out of the box. You then need to access the router admin pages using your browser to set up security and other settings you want.

The NetGear set up easy enough and serviced up to seven devices, but at least once a day, it had to be restarted to be seen. Even then, the Internet connection was not always there.

If that's happening with multiple routers, that's more indicative of a problem with the incoming network connection than anything. My Time-Warner cable internet connection is reliable for a long time, then I'll get a sudden flurry of problems that get my wireless router all tied in knots. Although rebooting the router fixes the problem temporarily, it's not a problem with the router, it's a problem with the incoming service. Sometimes it'll fix itself after a few days or a week of once daily reboots (at a minimum), and sometimes I have to call Time-Warner and get them to do something to the cable modem remotely to fix it.

Of course, the other possibility is that you're consistently using an incorrect setting on all the wireless routers.

My last straw was to return to BestBuy for the fourth time to get a Linksys device only to find out that it doesn't support Mountain Lion OS.

All routers are blind to what hardware they're connected to. Windows, Mac, Linux; they don't care. Either they're configured correctly, or they're not.

Since you're using a stand alone router, may I then presume you're using a DSL or cable modem in line with the router? If so, conflicting IP addresses could be the issue.

If this is an accurate assessment, disconnect both units. Plug the DSL or cable modem directly into the Mac with an Ethernet cable. In your web browser, type 192.168.0.1 into the URL field and press Enter. It should connect to the modem and display a configuration screen. This is simply to verify that the modem's address is the default of 192.168.0.1.

Disconnect the modem and plug the router directly in the Mac with an Ethernet cable. Go into your browser and type in the same address. If the router also responds to 192.168.0.1, that's your problem. Go into the router's configuration pages and change its IP address to something else. A change as simple as 192.168.0.2, or 192.168.1.1 is sufficient. Click whatever button is necessary to accept the changes. The router will likely ask you to restart it so it can change its DHCP settings to the new IP address.

Once that's done, unplug both the router and the modem. If they have a power button, use that (not all units have a power button and the only way to kill them is to unplug the unit). Power your Mac down also. Now plug things back in the normal way. Modem to your incoming line, then its Ethernet out to the router's WAN port. Then the Mac to any LAN Ethernet port if you're using a wired connection.

Turn the modem on and wait until it's ready. Turn the router and wait until it appears to be in a ready state. Lastly, turn on your Mac so it can configure its new DHCP address the router will assign to it. That should be it.

I have owned D-Link, Netgear, TP-link, Linksys (including DD-WRT) routers. Since these devices, I have owned two Apple Airport Extreme Base Stations (v3, and v4). The Apple products have worked flawlessly for me.

Mine is a ThomsonTG585 v8. Totally reliable.

I think Linksys routers use 192.168.1.1 to get into the Web configuration interface.

I can connect to sites on the Internet (obviously) because I have connected my iMac directly to my cable modem via Ethernet.

Hmm, if you have the cable modem connected directly to the Mac as your normal setup, then how is the router connected? It should be daisy chained to the modem and the Ethernet cable connection to your Mac should be to the router, not the modem.

But when I type 192.168.0.1 into my browser, the progress bar stalls like I'm not on line.

That definitely isn't right, the modem should respond to that address. At least if the modem is using the usual default address it should.

That you get the same blank return with the router tells me one of two things. That you possibly have the Ethernet cable between the Mac and each separate unit plugged into the wrong ports (basically impossible to get wrong on the modem since it should only have one Ethernet port), or neither unit is using the default address of 192.168.0.1, which would be the more likely result of no response in your browser.

At this point, I'd have to do a lot of guessing without knowing what hardware you have. Please post the exact make and model of both the cable modem and router.

FWIW, I had a similar challenge with cable modem and router.

While the cable modem may be able to "distribute" multiple IP addresses with DHCP, if a separate router is used the router should be the only device connected to the cable modem, and the router then shares a different range of IP addresses (also by DHCP), usually with a different subnet mask.

My cable company (Comcast) requires cable modem to recognize one and only one device as the "authorized device" to which it is connected, and when I first set up my account with my computer connected directly to the cable modem my computer's MAC address became the "primary authorized device." So when I introduced the router (Time Capsule) into the mix I had to call them and get them to re-set the TC as the "primary device."

I made this call while my Mac Pro was connected by Ethernet to the Time Capsule, with the TC as the sole device connected to the cable modem. Comcast Support was then able to re-set my account to recognize the TC's MAC address, and after that all was well, with Time Capsule distributing local IP addresses on its own subnet by both Ethernet and wifi.

Thanks for the models, this makes it easier.

The modem appears to be preconfigured. There is no method to access it from your browser. It should have some sort of IP address of its own in order to connect to the computer's Ethernet port, though none is mentioned in the manual. There isn't even a way to set any kind of manual configuration. So it is what it is.

The router's default IP address is 192.168.1.1, not 0.1. Everyone used to use 192.168.0.1, but it interfered so often with cable or DSL modems set to the same address, that router manufacturers started using 192.168.1.1 as the default so the devices wouldn't conflict right out of the box.

The first thing you want to do is not have the modem plugged directly into the Mac. While your modem does have a built in firewall (as does my DSL modem), they usually aren't that good. Much better to be behind the router, which has a far superior firewall of its own.

Connect your hardware in this order.

1) Incoming coaxial cable to the back of the modem.

2) Plug an Ethernet cable into the port on the back of the modem.

I purposely left in some of the text from the manual to make sure you see the note to never have an Ethernet and USB connection to the computer at the same time. If you have a USB cable connected, remove it. You won't be needing it.

3) Connect the other end of the Ethernet cable from the modem to the WAN port of the router. Which is marked as Internet.

4. Run another Ethernet cable from any of the four LAN ports to the Ethernet port on your Mac. It doesn't matter which one of the four you use.

This puts the router between your Mac and the outside world. The router's firewall will make it virtually impossible for anyone to see, or hack into your computer from the outside as the router will not allow anyone to see any devices connected to it.

5. Make sure your Mac is set to connect with DHCP on automatic. Do that by entering the System Preferences and clicking on the Network icon. Select the active Ethernet port at the left (it will have green dot next to it). Where the menu at the right says, Configure iPv4, make sure the drop down menu is set to Using DHCP. If you needed to make any changes, click the Apply button. No need to restart, these changes take effect immediately.

Your router uses WPA/WPA2 by default, which is currently the best wireless security. Nothing to change there. The router also supposedly sets up a difficult to crack password for your wireless signal. That's nice, but the Achille's heel is that anyone can see what it is with very little difficulty. Which means anyone close enough to see your wireless signal can ride on your bandwidth without your knowledge.

This is possible because the default admin setting passwords are extremely simple. Those who want to steal bandwidth know all of the ones to try. Once in your router's settings, they can see your wireless password and login. In your case, once you go into your web browser and type in 192.168.1.1, a small sheet will appear asking for your user name and password. The default is no user name, and the password is admin. That's all anyone needs to do to get into your router's settings. So you want to change that.

Enter the router's settings via the browser with the IP address 192.168.1.1 and enter admin as the password. Then go to the correct configuration page to enter a much stronger password. From the manual:

Make sure to write your password down as you will need it to access the router's settings in the future. In case of a lost or forgotten password, the router has a reset button on the bottom which will return it to the factory default settings.

6) Go through the startup motions again. Turn everything off. Turn the modem on and wait for its ready state. Then the router, and lastly the Mac.