Router keeps cutting out - WRT54G

[maziwanka]

Hey guys, here's the setup at my parent's house:

Linksys WRT54G (the serial number starts with CDFD and it's a v.6)

Attached to the router is:

Vonage router/box
Desktop
Printer (Dell 1600n)

Wirelessly connected is my mom's MacBook.

For the wireless, I have WEP encryption and MAC address filtering enabled.

I just upgraded to the latest firmware on the router (1.02.05 or something like that).

We also have a linksys cable modem.

Now, i have NO clue why but the router sporadically cuts out and I can't even connect to it anymore (can't type 192.168.1.1 in firefox to connect to the router). I can't connect to the router through the desktop either (which is directly connected to the router).

I have to do a manual reset of the router - which then allows me to get into the router. And then I have to wait a bit for the internet to work again.

In all honesty, I don't know if it's a problem with the internet service (from comcast) or the router itself.

any help in diagnosing and/or solving this problem would be much appreciated.

+ronnie

 

[maziwanka]

oh, and to my knowledge this problem hasn't happened before

 

[maziwanka]

any help?

 

[maziwanka]

still happening. i wonder if my router is on its way to death

 

[maziwanka]

problem is still happening. any help would be appreciated

 

[xSauronx]

if its new, return it.

if its old, try some aftermarket firmware like dd-wrt or tomato.

BUT, to be sure that its the router, skip it for a while and use just the cable modem. be sure to have your antivirus, anti spyware and a firewall in place before doing this.

if the behavior continues without the router, call the ISP
if it works without the router, the router is a problem, consider the first suggestions. ive seen some linksys routers that just randomly spaz out, but usually new firmware solved the issue.

 

[johnpombrio]

Me, I would replace it. I had my Linksys router do about the same thing. I bought a cheap router (to have in case of this happening again), then I was sure it was the router. I bought another Linksys tho. Still a terrific router family.
PS might be just the power supply wal wart. Those draw a lot of power for that router.

 

[ViRGE]

The WRT54G v.5 and later are woefully underpowered routers, among other things they tend to lock up when faced with a lot of connections. I don't suppose you have BitTorrent running whenever it locks up?

 

[Griffinhart]

Originally posted by: ViRGE
The WRT54G v.5 and later are woefully underpowered routers, among other things they tend to lock up when faced with a lot of connections. I don't suppose you have BitTorrent running whenever it locks up?

That would be my guess. The WRT54G can only handle 8 connections at once so a machine running any P2P app can easily break that number and cause the router to freak out.

 

[rickeo]

Tomato or DD-WRT, im pretty sure you will be ok after that. I've bought 3 WRT54G's in the past (v2, v3.1, v6), and the first thing I did once unboxing them was install Tomato firmware. Never had a problem with any of them... ever.

 

[Texun]

I've had Linksys routers before and had the same problem with each one as you described. My current WRT54G v8 would lock up a few times each month so I flashed it with the micro version of DDWRT and have not had a problem yet. I bought the v8 not knowing it was a crippled version of the previous WRT54G's and was surprised at what DDWRT did for it. I can't remember the number of connections and it's too new to know for sure, but it seems to have resolved the stability issue.

It's very easy to do as long as you follow the steps exactly as written.

*edit* You might want to check out the DDWRT forum if you need more info or want to see what other users have experienced.

 

[The Bakery]

If you are getting kicked out of your Router, it is a router or wireless
adapter. If you can still connect to other computers on the network, but
you can't connect to the internet, it's a connection or modem problem.

Probably.

Make sure you have the latest firmware updates for your Router, and
like others have mentioned, P2P can crush you with connections. Limit
these.

Does it kick both computers off or just yours?

I spent three weeks tracking an intermittent problem like this to a
damaged install cable 3 feet behind the wall plate =(

 

[pac1085]

I had similar problems with my WRT54G v5. I had to reset it every other day. I've been running DD-WRT and it's uptime is in months, the only reason it's gone down is because of power outages from storms.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: Griffinhart

Originally posted by: ViRGE
The WRT54G v.5 and later are woefully underpowered routers, among other things they tend to lock up when faced with a lot of connections. I don't suppose you have BitTorrent running whenever it locks up?

That would be my guess. The WRT54G can only handle 8 connections at once so a machine running any P2P app can easily break that number and cause the router to freak out.

very interesting. maybe i did have BT running or something i was dl'ing through newsgroups.

i think the problem arose when i came home and i tend to use these services fairly frequently. i think there hasn't been a problem so far since i've come back to school.

 

[maziwanka]

and, thanks for everyone's responses so far. i definitely looked into dd-wrt but read it wasn't compatible with my version of the wrt54g. instead i just installed the latest firmware, but the problems still arose.

i'm thinking it had to do with my use of BT and newsgroups - im sure i must've overloaded the connections or something. this especially seems to be the case since this problem never arose before i came home (my parents do not use those programs) and since i've left, i haven't heard of the router cutting in and out.

thanks again!

 

[hnzw rui]

Might be worth noting that you *can* install DD-WRT on new versions of the WRT54G. It's a long and painful process, but it does exist.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: maziwanka
and, thanks for everyone's responses so far. i definitely looked into dd-wrt but read it wasn't compatible with my version of the wrt54g. instead i just installed the latest firmware, but the problems still arose.

i'm thinking it had to do with my use of BT and newsgroups - im sure i must've overloaded the connections or something. this especially seems to be the case since this problem never arose before i came home (my parents do not use those programs) and since i've left, i haven't heard of the router cutting in and out.

thanks again!

Either you don't have a v6 like you mentioned earlier, or you are reading the wrong information. Just last night following Texun's advice I installed DD-WRT Micro on my v6, it took about 5 minutes and has been running absolutely great so far.

 

[maziwanka]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: maziwanka
and, thanks for everyone's responses so far. i definitely looked into dd-wrt but read it wasn't compatible with my version of the wrt54g. instead i just installed the latest firmware, but the problems still arose.

i'm thinking it had to do with my use of BT and newsgroups - im sure i must've overloaded the connections or something. this especially seems to be the case since this problem never arose before i came home (my parents do not use those programs) and since i've left, i haven't heard of the router cutting in and out.

thanks again!

Either you don't have a v6 like you mentioned earlier, or you are reading the wrong information. Just last night following Texun's advice I installed DD-WRT Micro on my v6, it took about 5 minutes and has been running absolutely great so far.

i actually didn't attempt installing, but DID read that it didn't work for the v6.

good to see it is possible, but like another post said, im not in the mood for a long and painful process if it seems to work fine for my parents' internet uses. i guess it was just problematic while i was home.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: hnzw rui
Might be worth noting that you *can* install DD-WRT on new versions of the WRT54G. It's a long and painful process, but it does exist.

It's not painful at all. I flashed two WRT54G v8 routers with no problem.

1. I followed these steps to get my routers up to DD-WRT v24 RC5.
2. I flashed the CFE updater for DD-WRT v24 RC 6.2.
3. I flashed the micro version of DD-WRT v24 RC 6.2.

They've been totally stable as client bridges for the past few months.