freesat box + router for iplayer. no ip address.

[#1]

Hi, I'm stuck trying to connect a grundig freesat box to the plusnet router. (TG585v8)
just been onto grundig tech support who said the mac address of the freesat box must be registered into the router setup, so that the router will give it an ip address.
looking in the router setup, I can;t see anywhere to enter any mac address.
I thought it would be plug and play, but seems to be pita to setup.
The router led for ethernet doesn't light up when connected to the freesat box.
any help appreciated. thanks for reading.

[#2]

Quote from: rsa99

The router led for ethernet doesn't light up when connected to the freesat box.

That suggests a cabling fault, try another cable and obviously turn the freesat box on.
Mine is Humax not Grundig but setup is pretty automatic via DHCP (check that's on in the FreeSat box network setup), no registering of MAC addresses - that's a very odd requirement.

[#3]

@rsa99, Welcome to the forums.
Is this any help ? http://www.avforums.com/forums/freesat/1230579-grundig-gufsat01hd-iplayer-update.html

[#4]

Hi, thanks for reply. I thought it should be pretty straightforward to plug in and receive an ip address.
when I plug my laptop in to router ethernet port, the led comes on before windows starts up, so I can;t understand why the freesat tech support said the led would only come on, (for a connection between router and freesat), after an ip address for the freesat box was granted.
(and this would only happen after registering the mac address of the box in the router setup).
Is it safe to say there is no menu in the router settings to add mac addresses ?
Thanks.
PS. Had a read of the other forum and I had this exact problem with the old bush freesat, so last week phoned them to get the new grundig box with updated firmware (2.0.2).
I want to send it back, under sale of goods act or whatever law to reject it as not as advertised, but just want to confirm it;'s not a problem with the plusnet router.

[#5]

Quote

Is it safe to say there is no menu in the router settings to add mac addresse

There is, quite often, a facility for Wireless connections whereby you can deny connections from 'unknown' MAC addresses. You usually have to disable the facility first, to allow a new connection, which makes the MAC address known. It's not normally necessary ( or possible ) to enter a new MAC address and I've NEVER seen it applied to wired connections.
The freesat support guy is talking rubbish, if the ethernet port is at all active then the light will come on on the router even if no ip address is allocated.
As HPSauce says, have you checked the cable ?