Linksys BEFW11S4 Weak Wireless

imported_ChaoticGeek

Junior Member
Sep 30, 2004
12
0
0
A while back I bought a Linksys BEFW11S4 (ver. 2) for the house I was renting. I put a wireless card in my roommate's computer in the next room and he had no problem getting a good strong connection. A year later, I'm living by myself in a new house and I just got a laptop with built-in wireless G.

The problem is that I barely get a signal when the laptop is right next to the router. What's weird is that it fluctuates...if I watch the signal strength in the connection properties, all the bars will be full, then it will drop to 1 or 2, stay there for a bit, jump up to full for a few seconds, drop back down, and so on. If I try to access it from the next room I get nothing at all. I know that the laptop is fine, as I've been able to get on other people's wireless networks in apartment complexes and whatnot, and a friend who came over recently couldn't connect with his laptop either.

On top of that, 2 of the 4 ports on the back don't work anymore. If I plug a cable in, I get nothing, no LEDs or anything. I'm guessing that maybe lightning zapped them, as they were the two ports I was using primarily, and they both went out at the same time.

Firmware is the latest version for the ver.2, which is 1.45.10. After updating the firmware, I did the long reset, everything is configured correctly in the router setup, and I've tried using different channels, all to no avail. I don't have any telephones or other devices that could interfere with the wireless signal, and my house is fairly isolated, so I don't think interference is the issue. Is it just time for a new router? It seems a shame that I didn't really get to use the wireless capabilities of this router that much before it crapped out on me. Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 

Rottie

Diamond Member
Feb 10, 2002
4,795
2
81
I use firmware 1.50.14 which is very stable but not sure if it will work on version 2. Mine is version 4.
 

Fardringle

Diamond Member
Oct 23, 2000
9,200
765
126
If the wireless is not broadcasting strong enough to get a stable signal right next to the router, and the physical LAN ports on the router aren't working, that sure sounds like a dead router to me...

When did you buy the router, and did you buy it new? If it was less than a year ago, it will still be under warranty and you can get it replaced by Linksys.