Going (@&*#$*(in' CRAZY

[Kristofer]

Alright. I had problems getting my stupid ass macbook to maintain a stable connection with my router. I was assisted and directed to download some newer firmware, so I did. Low and behold, my macbook worked! Stability! I was always able to contact my shared folders without resetting first! I was always online before I could blink an eye.
My connection problems were over!
Until now.
Now, even though my router seems to indicate no problems and my modem's online light is on, my PC loses connection, my Macbook loses connection, and my father's wireless laptop loses connection. So in spite of solving one problem, I'm still having to unplug/hit reset/kick this router's ass to make it work!!!!! And instead of effecting ONLY my laptop, now it effects every god damn connection in the house!!!
What am I supposed to do? Should I go buy a new router or will that not solve anything? What is problem here? This is getting so rediculous.

 

[numediaman]

You might start by providing a little more information: what kind of router do you have? etc.

Since all your computers are losing the connection its not your MacBook.

Are you rebooting your router? (unplugging the router, then unplug the modem. Wait 30 seconds. Plug in the power for the modem, wait a couple of seconds, then plug in the power for the router). Unfortunately, I have to do this ocassionally for my Netgear router -- total pain in the ass -- but it appears to be a common problem.

 

[Kristofer]

You might start by providing a little more information: what kind of router do you have? etc.

Since all your computers are losing the connection its not your MacBook.

Are you rebooting your router? (unplugging the router, then unplug the modem. Wait 30 seconds. Plug in the power for the modem, wait a couple of seconds, then plug in the power for the router). Unfortunately, I have to do this ocassionally for my Netgear router -- total pain in the ass -- but it appears to be a common problem.

- It's a Linksys router, WRT54G Version 6.
- I know it's not the macbook. The macbook's connection problems seemed to be fixed, but now all the computers/connections are disappearing the way my Macbook used to do.
- I usually unplug the router and plug it right back in, and it begins to work immediately. The last time it happened (about a half hour ago) I clicked "reset", which also did the trick.
- If I had to reboot my router occasionally, it wouldn't be so bad. But last night I had to reboot it 4 times in 2 hours.
- I'm thinking maybe the firmware I downloaded is causing these new and exciting problems...

 

[jeremy.king]

There is something wrong with Linksys' DHCP implementation. I have the WRT54GP2, which I still use for vonage and DHCP only - wireless is actually handled by my AEBS (N). After a while my wireless clients will get a self assigned IP address. My only consistent fix is reseting the router (um...more than daily now).

That said, I have had some limited success login into the router UI (if it responds) and deleting the DHCP client table...You could try this hack to see if it works. Only catch is you need a wired client to do it.

In any case, Linksys has fallen out of favor for me...They are great routers when running the alternative firmware, but if you are stuck with Linksys firmware...well, it just sucks.

 

[Kristofer]

There is something wrong with Linksys' DHCP implementation.

DHCP implementation?

AEBS (N).

??

That said, I have had some limited success login into the router UI (if it responds) and deleting the DHCP client table...

Would this be done by going to http://192.168.1.1 ? Sadly everything is set up in Danish or something when I go there, so I would have no idea what to click to get to the DHCP client table...

I guess ultimately I should get a new router, then...

 

[iSaint]

I had a similar problem. I bought a new Linksys cable modem, and now I've been running uninterrupted for over two years. My wireless router is the Airport Express.

 

[Kristofer]

I had a similar problem. I bought a new Linksys cable modem, and now I've been running uninterrupted for over two years. My wireless router is the Airport Express.

Were you ever using a linksys router?
are you saying the problem could be with my modem?

 

[jeremy.king]

DHCP implementation?

This is how the router gives out local IP addresses when sharing a public IP. I think there is a flaw when a wireless machine connects/disconnects repeatedly that it gets confused and stops giving out an IP address to that client.

??

Airport Extreme Base Station - Wireless N version (AEBS)

Would this be done by going to http://192.168.1.1 ? Sadly everything is set up in Danish or something when I go there, so I would have no idea what to click to get to the DHCP client table...

Yes, if there is no special configuration that might change the IP of the router. I don't speak Danish, but I can tell you that its under Status > Local Network > DHCP Client Table

I guess ultimately I should get a new router, then...

I can't speak any more highly of the AEBS. So far for me, and many many others...it just works. Macs, PCs, Wiis, Tivos, etc...no problems yet.

 

[iSaint]

Were you ever using a linksys router?
are you saying the problem could be with my modem?

I was using a Netgear cable modem, with the Airport Express wireless router the first time I went wireless. It was horribly slow, and lost the connection all the time. I finally bought a Linksys Cable Modem and things have been 100% better since then. So, yes, the problem could be with your modem. Go buy a new modem, try it out, and take it back if that's not the issue.

 

[jtown]

Why is your router set to Danish if you don't speak it? Follow the instructions for doing a factory reset and start from scratch.

Go though your house and gather every 2.4ghz cordless phone. Put them in the closet (or trash). Get 5.8ghz phones to replace them. (If you ever switch from G to N, you'll want to reverse this step.) Better yet, try and find decent 900Mhz phones. Those won't interfere with any of your current or future computer setups.

Cordless phones are a PITA because they'll switch channels. The channel that's clear this week may be useless next week when the phone changes to a different channel. It's a Really Bad Idea to have cordless phones operating on the same frequency as your wireless network. And, yes, a neighbor's phone can have the same effect. Nothing you can do about that short of buying them a new one.

Once you can configure your router (see reset note above), run this. Make a note of the channels being used by nearby wireless networks. Make sure your wireless router is not using one of those channels. There may be people using other channels with the SSID turned off. You won't see those listed. This will just give you a list of channels that are definitely taken. Keep trying until you find an unused channel that gives you a strong, reliable signal.

If you're unable to get a reliable connection after all that, I might begin to suspect a hardware problem. Maybe. However, it is very unlikely.

 

[hob]

I used to have a Linksys Wireless Router... one of the first ones they ever came out with.

I seem to recall having to reset that daily... but this way several years ago now.

Have had Airport since it died, never looked back!

How old is your wireless router? If I were you I'd try maybe getting it swapped out or talking to people over at Linksys...

 

[Kristofer]

I used to have a Linksys Wireless Router... one of the first ones they ever came out with.

I seem to recall having to reset that daily... but this way several years ago now.

Have had Airport since it died, never looked back!

How old is your wireless router? If I were you I'd try maybe getting it swapped out or talking to people over at Linksys...

It's not old, we only got it a few months ago.

jtown - i have no idea why the router is set to a language i don't speak. the guy at linksys said we must have bought an international router. -shrug-
I'll follow your instructions. thank you!

 

[OttawaGuy]

Perhaps you got one that was re-boxed ?

 

[Kristofer]

Is a factory reset for the router the same thing as a hard reset? I can find directions to do a hard reset only...

 

[jeremy.king]

Is a factory reset for the router the same thing as a hard reset? I can find directions to do a hard reset only...

Its got a small hole on the back, use a paper clip and press and hold (10 secs) the little button in it. ALL SETTINGS WILL BE LOST.

 

[Kristofer]

Its got a small hole on the back, use a paper clip and press and hold (10 secs) the little button in it. ALL SETTINGS WILL BE LOST.

Ok. But what settings exactly? I'll have to re-establish my shared folders, but everything will be automatically detected, won't it?

 

[jeremy.king]

Ok. But what settings exactly? I'll have to re-establish my shared folders, but everything will be automatically detected, won't it?

Network Name, Router password, Port Forwarding, etc...All the router settings will be lost

Sounds like you didn't set any of these anyway...I'm guessing your network name is linksys, and your password is admin (no username)?

 

[Kristofer]

Network Name, Router password, Port Forwarding, etc...All the router settings will be lost

Sounds like you didn't set any of these anyway...I'm guessing your network name is linksys, and your password is admin (no username)?

Yeah, as far as I can recall we just plugged it in and went online...

 

[MikeTheC]

Oh man, where to begin with this.

First off, let me try and explain something. Cisco owns Linksys, and (whether it has anything to do with Cisco or not is not really proovable by me) it seems ever since Cisco bought Linksys, the quality of their routers has gone right in the crapper. They have continually produced newer and newer iterations of the WRT-54G series with less RAM, faster processors, and who-knows-what for 802.11x tranceiver radios.

The sum total is that it's entirely within the realm of possibility the thing may be overheating, or you may have some failing components. I'm not saying that this is for certain what is happening, but you need to be aware it's not quite as unlikely as you might think (hope?).

Here's what I'd do if it were me (well, apart from ditch the Linksys and buy a different brand of router):

"Fixing" The Router:

1. Do a hard reset of the router. This is achieved as mentioned above by pressing for several seconds (I recommend 30) on the reset button on the rear of the unit with a ball-point pen.

2. Power off the router and leave it unplugged for several minutes.

3. During this time, power off your cable modem. You won't really need it up and running until right before you bring everything back up, and sometimes the cable modem will be stuck in a "talking to a particular network device" mode and may appear not to let you have an Internet connection. Powering down for at least 1 minute should solve any such issue.

4. Power up your cable modem FIRST. Make sure it's 100% up and running.

5. Power up your Linksys router SECOND. Make sure it's plugged into your cable modem via the WAN port before you power it on.

6. Via a WIRED connection, connect to your router with your Mac. Open Safari (or your favorite web browser) and go to the setup page (192.168.1.1).

7. In another tab, or in another window, go back to the Linksys tech support site and re-acquire a new, fresh copy of the firmware you got earlier. Make double, tripple and quadruply (sp?) darn sure it's exactly the right one. I don't question your intelligence; rather, the super-abundance of nearly identical model names and revisions makes it tricky.

8. Save and decompress (if appropriate) the firmware.

9. Switch back to the router setup page. Navigate to the firmware update section and re-update. Reboot the router again.

10. Function "normally" with the router to give it time in which to either prove or hang itself. If it keeps doing the same thing, pursue a warrantied replacement. And this time, make sure you get the correct U.S. edition of the thing.

------

"Securing" Your Router

1. Do a hard reset of the router. This is achieved as mentioned above by pressing for several seconds (I recommend 30) on the reset button on the rear of the unit with a ball-point pen.

2. Power off the router and leave it unplugged for several minutes.

3. During this time, power off your cable modem. You won't really need it up and running until right before you bring everything back up, and sometimes the cable modem will be stuck in a "talking to a particular network device" mode and may appear not to let you have an Internet connection. Powering down for at least 1 minute should solve any such issue.

4. Power up your cable modem FIRST. Make sure it's 100% up and running.

5. Power up your Linksys router SECOND. Make sure it's plugged into your cable modem via the WAN port before you power it on.

6. Via a WIRED connection, connect to your router with your Mac. Open Safari (or your favorite web browser) and go to the setup page (192.168.1.1).

7. Authenticate (log-in) as "" for the user name and "admin" for the password.

8. Immediately go to the administration section and into the router admin password setup area. Change the password to something unguessable by anyone else but meaningful to you. Apply changes. You'll have to re-authenticate by entering the new password into the password field. The username will still be blank.

9. Change the SSID to something other than the default of "linksys". Make it meaningful to you.

10. Consider turning OFF the SSID broadcast. This won't keep people who know what they're doing from finding your router, but it'll keep casual users from finding it.

11. Round up the MAC addresses of every wireless network device that you're going to connect to this device.

12. Go into the section to control access via MAC address. Create a list of all the MAC addresses you accumulated in Step 11. Once you do this, apply changes.

13. Enable WPA, configure it, and then re-establish a wireless connection on each and every one of the wireless devices with this new password.

NOTE: Steps 12 and 13 will effectively prevent anyone else from gaining access to your wireless network, and will encrypt the network traffic so they cannot perceive the data you're sending on it.

Good luck!

 

[MikeTheC]

So, what if you decide to get a different router? What then? I'll give you a couple cases in point.

A little background:

There are what have become two distinct groups working on open-source (think Linux) replacement firmware for routers. Since they got their start by producing replacent firmware for the Linksys WRT series of routers, the project adopted the initials into their name. They split up and now there are two groups; one is the Open WRT project, and the other is the DD-WRT Project. As time has passed, they have been working on supporting a great number of different brands, models and revisions of wireless router.

The reason you should consider going with a replacement firmware instead of the one the manufacturer gives you is the same basic reason that a UNIX/Linux-based OS is a good thing: many, many eyeballs working around the world to develop and improve it instead of just a limited handful of programmers at any one given company.

My own choice of the two is the DD-WRT project, and I have quite successfully been using their replacement firmware on my Linksys WRT-54G v5 router. Unfortunately, a part of it has died, thus causing me to have to go and buy a new router. Which serves as a good segue into...

Buying a Router:

I'm not even going to attempt to list the various brands of wireless router here. Between the brands, models and revisions, it will definitely make your head spin. I will tell you, however, that two reasonably well-respected contenders are Asustek and Buffalo. I am going with the WHR-HP-G54 on the basis of numerous good reviews and comments, as well as the advice of a friend who is knowledgable in such matters and has owned one for the last six months without incident.

The WHR-HP-G54 has more RAM than the WRT-54G v5, seems to be very well supported by the DD-WRT project, and has some really insane range for a single antenna unit.

Obviously, do what you feel is best. Me, I'm done with Linksys. Stick a fork in it.

Anyone here want to buy a partially dead Linksys router?

EDIT: Here's a list of DD-WRT supported routers. It's most enlightning even if all you do is use it to look at the tech specs of the various routers. Gives you a good indicator of which ones are good, mediocre, and utter crap.

 

[Nosebleed]

MikeTheC:
Much Karma Credits to you!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts...i have no idea what it all means but I enjoyed it nontheless
So if you don't mind I'm just follow you around and bask in your glow as you solve these riddles

Seriously tho, great reads.

 

[MikeTheC]

MikeTheC:
Much Karma Credits to you!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your posts...i have no idea what it all means but I enjoyed it nontheless
So if you don't mind I'm just follow you around and bask in your glow as you solve these riddles

Seriously tho, great reads.

LOL...

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you got some enjoyment out of them at least. And basking in my glow? Well, um... sure, why not.

 

[Kristofer]

Oh man, where to begin with this.

First off, let me try and explain something. Cisco owns Linksys, and (whether it has anything to do with Cisco or not is not really proovable by me) it seems ever since Cisco bought Linksys, the quality of their routers has gone right in the crapper. They have continually produced newer and newer iterations of the WRT-54G series with less RAM, faster processors, and who-knows-what for 802.11x tranceiver radios.

The sum total is that it's entirely within the realm of possibility the thing may be overheating, or you may have some failing components. I'm not saying that this is for certain what is happening, but you need to be aware it's not quite as unlikely as you might think (hope?).

Here's what I'd do if it were me (well, apart from ditch the Linksys and buy a different brand of router):

"Fixing" The Router:

1. Do a hard reset of the router. This is achieved as mentioned above by pressing for several seconds (I recommend 30) on the reset button on the rear of the unit with a ball-point pen.

2. Power off the router and leave it unplugged for several minutes.

3. During this time, power off your cable modem. You won't really need it up and running until right before you bring everything back up, and sometimes the cable modem will be stuck in a "talking to a particular network device" mode and may appear not to let you have an Internet connection. Powering down for at least 1 minute should solve any such issue.

4. Power up your cable modem FIRST. Make sure it's 100% up and running.

5. Power up your Linksys router SECOND. Make sure it's plugged into your cable modem via the WAN port before you power it on.

6. Via a WIRED connection, connect to your router with your Mac. Open Safari (or your favorite web browser) and go to the setup page (192.168.1.1).

7. In another tab, or in another window, go back to the Linksys tech support site and re-acquire a new, fresh copy of the firmware you got earlier. Make double, tripple and quadruply (sp?) darn sure it's exactly the right one. I don't question your intelligence; rather, the super-abundance of nearly identical model names and revisions makes it tricky.

8. Save and decompress (if appropriate) the firmware.

9. Switch back to the router setup page. Navigate to the firmware update section and re-update. Reboot the router again.

10. Function "normally" with the router to give it time in which to either prove or hang itself. If it keeps doing the same thing, pursue a warrantied replacement. And this time, make sure you get the correct U.S. edition of the thing.

------

"Securing" Your Router

1. Do a hard reset of the router. This is achieved as mentioned above by pressing for several seconds (I recommend 30) on the reset button on the rear of the unit with a ball-point pen.

2. Power off the router and leave it unplugged for several minutes.

3. During this time, power off your cable modem. You won't really need it up and running until right before you bring everything back up, and sometimes the cable modem will be stuck in a "talking to a particular network device" mode and may appear not to let you have an Internet connection. Powering down for at least 1 minute should solve any such issue.

4. Power up your cable modem FIRST. Make sure it's 100% up and running.

5. Power up your Linksys router SECOND. Make sure it's plugged into your cable modem via the WAN port before you power it on.

6. Via a WIRED connection, connect to your router with your Mac. Open Safari (or your favorite web browser) and go to the setup page (192.168.1.1).

7. Authenticate (log-in) as "" for the user name and "admin" for the password.

8. Immediately go to the administration section and into the router admin password setup area. Change the password to something unguessable by anyone else but meaningful to you. Apply changes. You'll have to re-authenticate by entering the new password into the password field. The username will still be blank.

9. Change the SSID to something other than the default of "linksys". Make it meaningful to you.

10. Consider turning OFF the SSID broadcast. This won't keep people who know what they're doing from finding your router, but it'll keep casual users from finding it.

11. Round up the MAC addresses of every wireless network device that you're going to connect to this device.

12. Go into the section to control access via MAC address. Create a list of all the MAC addresses you accumulated in Step 11. Once you do this, apply changes.

13. Enable WPA, configure it, and then re-establish a wireless connection on each and every one of the wireless devices with this new password.

NOTE: Steps 12 and 13 will effectively prevent anyone else from gaining access to your wireless network, and will encrypt the network traffic so they cannot perceive the data you're sending on it.

Good luck!

Trying to follow the guide - thanks. But number 6 makes no sense to me. Via a wired connection with my mac?? Unplug the wires from the back of my pc and put them in my Mac then? How do I make it connect, because as of now it's not online, though airport sees my router and says I'm connected... (Am I supposed to download firmware via a connection wire with my Mac? I thought firmware could only be downloaded with the base PC......)

 

[Kristofer]

Figure this out........ I just went to the link that the Linksys guy gave me for my router firmware, and I get directed to some error page Linksys made thats a bunch of words that makes sense... Yet if I click that SAME link on my PC I go right to the firmware. WHAT THE HELL?????????????????? I even forwarded the entire email from my PC to my Mac so I could just as easily click the link, but it won't show up.
UHG

 

[MikeTheC]

Ok, so let's review this and try to figure it out.

MikeTheC
6. Via a WIRED connection, connect to your router with your Mac. Open Safari (or your favorite web browser) and go to the setup page (192.168.1.1)

First off, the reason you want to do this is that a wired connection is less likely to result in corrupted data being passed back and forth, and when it comes to transferring firmware onto the router, it's CRITICAL that there be no disruption, as you get ONE SHOT and good, bad or indifferent that's the data it encodes into your router. Screw it up, and you've just bricked the thing.

The default address for the router's setup pages is the IP address of the router itself. On Linksys brand routers (as well as others, by the way) the default IP address is 192.168.1.1. From your point of view as the owner/user of this thing, this might seem like an arbitrary address to know, however the thing to understand is that there are several "private IP" address ranges as defined by the standards which control network and Internet addressing schemes, and the 192.168.x.x range is one of those. It's probably the most common of them, especially in the consumer product space.

Anyhow, don't mean to go off on a tangent, but I thought you might benefit from understanding that. And in any event, the default address that Linksys uses is ".1.1", so therefore logically since they use the "192.168" range, the address for the router has to be 192.168.1.1. Now, it happens to be true that this is changeable by you; however that's a subject for a whole different discussion and really isn't germain to this one here.

So, getting back on track... You connect one of the ports (not the WAN port, of course!) up to whichever computer you want to use. This is a Mac message board, and you have said you own a Mac, so I assumed you'd want to do this on your Mac. However, if you would rather do this on a Windows PC, that's fine, too. For our purposes, whatever platform and browser you use is immaterial. Just accomplish getting this router hooked up via a wired connection to some one computer for purposes of following my earlier directions.

Also, and I should probably have mentioned this before, but make sure nobody else is trying to use this router while you're doing this work, otherwise you risk causing all sorts of problems, nonetheleast of which is bricking the router. That's bad; don't do that.

As for not being able to get to where you want on the Mac but being able to do so on your PC, that is strange. And no, I have no idea why it would do that. As I said earlier, do this via your PC if you need to.

I hope this is of some help. Don't hesitate to ask further questions -- you won't continue to learn and grow if you stop asking.