problems with home router

[imported_shader]

i have a linksys WRT54G router that i just installed a few days ago. and the problem is that i keep getting a dropped connection every 10-20 minutes for about a minute and then it just starts working again (i don't do anything).

let me give some background:
my connection is 20mbps fiber
we used to have another router SMC barricade which worked flawlessly (one of my roommates who moved out took this router with him which is why we had to replace it).
this problem has been experienced on multiple machines in my house (both using wired connections and wireless connections).
my isp only lets us have one MAC connected (that is if you try using our connection with a different MAC you will not be able to reach the internet), that MAC used to be the address of the old (SMC) router.
also i intended to perform tests using my own computer so i gave them the MAC of my computer rather than the one on the router (and following their suggestions i cloned the MAC in the router to the MAC of my pc).

some searching on the internet shows that several people have had this problem but only with the wireless connections (that is not my problem, i have the same thing with both wireless and wired connections). the only information that i found that was similar to mine suggests that the DHCP server on the router is to blame, and that i should static IP addressing to resolve the issue.

what i plan to do:
1. run tests w/o the router plugged in. if i get the same connection dropping on my computer then something happend to my service and i will have to contact them (i really doubt this is the case).
2. try the static addressing scheme
3. call my isp and change the MAC registered on my account to the actual MAC of the router (that is no longer clone the MAC of my pc)

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you

 

[jamjelly]

First question are use using Windows XP or Vista? If you are using one of them go to linksys.com >Support >Technical Support >Easy Link Networking Tools. Hope this is of some help to you.

 

[imported_shader]

Originally posted by: jamjelly
First question are use using Windows XP or Vista? If you are using one of them go to linksys.com >Support >Technical Support >Easy Link Networking Tools. Hope this is of some help to you.

my pc is using xp 64 bit. the other computers that have experienced the same problems with the router are both win xp 32 bit.

also it should be noted that the router i have is ver 2.2 (i have noted some other posts with people having these problems with different version numbers going up to 5). and i have upgraded it to the newest firmware from linksys already (version 4.1 or 4.2 something like that).

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Do you use torrents? The WRT54G is NOT a good router for handling the hundreds of simultaneous connections that torrents generate. Torrents WILL make your connection "drop" when using the WRT54G.

 

[JackMDS]

If the wired connection works well than it is nothing to do with ISP or MAC address.
If the few wires computer work than the DHCP works well and the only thing to check is if it has enough range to give as many IPs that are needed.

Therefore, it all boils down to the Wireless part of the Router.

Start with few Wireless connection and computers thta sre close to the Router doing "Honest" Internet surfing.

If iy does not work OK then you might need a New Router.