Solve my wireless problem and win a cookie!

[CorvusCamenarum]

Hopefully my connection will stay up long enough for me to write this. We have a MBP and an iMac both connected to a Linksys router which draws its connection from a cable modem. [Mostly] all was well up until about three days ago, at which point the router decided that it would be a good idea to start randomly stop broadcasting. Both computers will lose the connection, so I think I can rule out a computer issue. So far the only [temporary] solution seems to be resetting the router or at least a quick unplug/plug, but that lasts for an hour or so at most before the connection drops again. Help.

 

[sabor]

Change the IP of the router to something else. When that happened to me, it was because the cable modem and the router both had the same IP. When I changed the router's IP, the problem stopped. Hopefully, this will help you out.

 

[aristobrat]

If resetting the cable modem (not the router) fixes the problem, then the issue points towards the modem or cable provider, no?

Next time it locks up, while it's locked up, I'd call the cable company and see what they say. Cox Cable has always been able to run tests to tell me if the problem is at the box outside by the street, between the box and my house, my cable modem, or router.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

If resetting the cable modem (not the router) fixes the problem, then the issue points towards the modem or cable provider, no?

Next time it locks up, while it's locked up, I'd call the cable company and see what they say. Cox Cable has always been able to run tests to tell me if the problem is at the box outside by the street, between the box and my house, my cable modem, or router.

Sorry I meant to say it was resetting the router that fixes the issue. Edited in original post.

 

[netdog]

In my experience, Linksys home wireless routers have a rather short life. As mine were dying early deaths, their Sx were exactly as you describe, along with a need to reboot the router. Linksys tech support was no help at all.

For the cookie, you are going to find that you have to buy a new router or get Linksys to fix/replace it is my guess. Be sure that the next one is power-conditioned and that the modem and phone line are conditioned too.

Once you accept that your router is cooked and getting worse, PM me about where to send the cookie.

 

[colocolo]

Next time you lose connection, try doing through Terminal a ping to your cable provider's gateway (it should appear on your router's settings). If you get an answer, then the problem might be that some packets are getting lost in the way, thus making you seem "disconnected".
If the ping is answered, then try a traceroute to say, for example, http://www.macrumors.com . There you might be actually able to see where the problem is occuring (by checking the last node to answer).

There's another probable cause: DNS trouble. If, when doing the traceroute http://www.marcumors.com can't be resolved into an IP number, try doing a tracerotue (not ping, as macrumors doesn't anwser them ; or find another address to play with) directly to the ip number: 212.227.34.3 . If that works, you need to manually set your DNS on you router (or computer) to one that exists.

I've had all this problems happen to me at one point or another, and sometimes they would get fixed with resetting as is your case. It's probably a problem of packets lost between the cable modem and your provider, so I'd imagine ultimately they will just go and change it, and problem fixed.

Good luck!

EDIT: thought you said resetting the cable modem. Well, then its probably the router that must be replaced.

 

[aristobrat]

My Linksys started acting up like that, too. I got tired of rebooting it, so on a whim, I replaced it with an Airport Extreme. I've been very satisfied with the AEs performance and reliability.

 

[netdog]

My Linksys started acting up like that, too. I got tired of rebooting it, so on a whim, I replaced it with an Airport Extreme. I've been very satisfied with the AEs performance and reliability.

I did the same. Thoroughly satisfied.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

In my experience, Linksys home wireless routers have a rather short life. As mine were dying early deaths, their Sx were exactly as you describe, along with a need to reboot the router. Linksys tech support was no help at all.

For the cookie, you are going to find that you have to buy a new router or get Linksys to fix/replace it is my guess. Be sure that the next one is power-conditioned and that the modem and phone line are conditioned too.

Once you accept that your router is cooked and getting worse, PM me about where to send the cookie.

I've had the router not quite a year; it was purchased in late February/early March of last year to go along with the MBP. I'm just going to save up and get some flavor of Airport - luckily I have a birthday around the corner.

Here's your cookie:

 

[tyr2]

Have you tried changing to a different wireless frequency. Mayby someone nearby started using the same freq as you?

 

[martin1000]

Are you sure it's not the cable modem? I had the same issues as you a while back, and it turned out to be the modem, they replaced it and it has been working fine since then.

Have you tried "hard-wiring" your computer to the linksys instead of using wireless? Does the same issue occur?

Maybe I've been lucky, but my linksys router has been going strong for 5-6 years.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

Have you tried changing to a different wireless frequency. Mayby someone nearby started using the same freq as you?

I've got the only network in the area. I've tried channels 1, 6, 11, all the same problem.

Have you tried "hard-wiring" your computer to the linksys instead of using wireless? Does the same issue occur?

Yes and yes.

 

[AndrewS]

Here's an interesting suggestion...

I don't have a linksys router but - I had the same issue you are having. It started when I updated my Roku Soundbridge to a new beta firmware. I had all sorts of wireless devices dying and my first thought was the router.

It ends up that the Soundbridge firmware was causing other devices to drop from the router with great frequency. A Roku update fixed it.

The point is, I'd try unplugging all your wireless devices and plugging them in one at a time with a testing period to see if there is a particular one that causes everything to poop out.

Barring that, if it's a WRT54G or GS router, upgrade the firmware to DD-WRT or make sure you have the absolute latest Linksys firmware.

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

The Network panel of System Preferences is telling me this:

Airport is connected to the network <network>. Airport has a self-assigned IP address and may not be able to connect to the internet.

First, can someone translate that, and second, does that have any bearing on the aforementioned problem?