Cannot setup WRE54G ver. 3 expander to network

Question

I had to reset my network this morning due to some weird glitch that caused my whole network to disappear. My router is a WRT310N. I have an SSID (broadcasting) and a password on my router. The problem is I cannot get my expander to connect to the network and it is desperately needed as our signal does not carry through the whole house.
We no longer have the CD for it - not that it worked in the first place. I had to call Linksys to get it setup properly. Can no longer call them as the warrenty is expired and we cannot afford to pay them for tech support.
Resetting the expander has not helped. Pressing the autoconfig button while the network is unsecured and the expander is right under the router gave no results (expander's link light continued to flash red/blue for several minutes and did nothing else). Hooking the expander straight to my computer and then attempting to access the expander's setup page (192.168.1.240) did nothing. Every time I try, it kicks me to a Google search. Again, resetting the expander has not helped this. I know it reset because the lights both turned blue, then the link button turned red. After several reset attempts, I still was unable to access the expander's page.
I am also extremely uneasy setting everything to a static IP. We have 4 computers and 3 - 4 XBox 360s in the house that need the internet at any given moment and from what I know of static IPs, if I do that it will only work on the system I set it up on (someone please correct me if this is wrong) and we have one kid in the house that if he cannot play his games online (God forbid) he'll throw a titanic fit and make the rest of the house miserable.
Can someone please help me? And talk me through this?

Answer 1

Follow the steps below to configure all the settings on WRE54G.
Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds...Release the reset button...Unplug the power cable from your Expander, wait for 30 seconds and re-connect the power cable...
1. Connect your Expander to a computer, click on the Start button >>> Settings >>> Control Panel >>> Network Connections - Right click on the icon for Local area connection and go to properties- On the 'General' tab select 'Internet Protocol TCP/IP' and click on the Properties button- Select 'Use the following IP address'- Provide IP Address - 192.168.1.5, Subnet Mask - 255.255.255.0...Click on Ok button to Save and Click on "Close" on main Properties window...
2. Now open an Internet Explorer browser page on your wired computer(desktop).In the address bar type - 192.168.1.240. Leave the Username blank & in Password use admin in lower case...It should open your Expander set-up...
3. Once you get to the set-up page you can follow this link to change the Expander Settings...
NOTE : The link also explains to check the Wireless Settings on your Router...
4. While changing the Expander settings you have to make sure that the Wireless Settings(SSID/Network Name and WEP/WPA Key) are identical on both the devices(Router and Expander)...Also make sure to change the Expander's default IP to match your network and Gateway Address should be your Router's address...ex.Expander's IP Address : 192.168.1.240(assuming your router's default IP Address is 192.168.1.1),Subnet Mask : 255.255.255.0, Default Gateway : 192.168.1.1...
5. After configuring the Expander you should disconnect it from the Computer and go into Local Area Connection TCP/IP Properties and set it back to Obtain IP Address Automatically...Disconnect the Expander from the computer and power cycle both the devices(Expander and Router) ...Your Expander should be configured...
In case if you don't get the Expander set-up just leave it connected to your computer and reset it for 30 seconds and follow Step 2, Step 3, Step 4 & Step 5...
Hope this helps.