I'm running XP SP2, connection to the internet is via motorola surfboard cable modem. The PC connects to the router via a wire and there's one computer (a powerbook running OSX) connecting via the wireless. I've got WPA wireless security turned on. The router is a Linksys WRT54GS. The router it replaced was a Netgear WGR614.
Ever since I got the netgear about 2 years ago it would periodically freeze up. My PC wouldn't indicate that the connection to the network was disrupted (i.e. no "this connection has limited/no connectivity" etc) but there was no connectivity to anything. Attempting to access the router's control panel at 192.168... would result in the connection timing out. The network's SSID would disappear to wireless devices at that point. Power cycling the router to reboot it would fix the problem. The frequency of these crashes was roughly one or two per day.
I chalked it up to netgear being a piece of crap and stuck it out until I was satisfied that I had gotten enough use out of it. Finally this weekend I picked up the linksys.
I sat down at my PC this evening...guess what? same problem. Had to power cycle the router.
So, I conclude that some external factor is causing these routers to go stupid on me. Either it's something my computer is doing, or something my girlfriend's powerbook is doing. I'm not certain that this is something my computer is doing because I do recall situations where my computer was powered down and the router crashed while the girlfriend was using the wireless. I've tried all different channels and none of them seem to change the frequency of crashes.
My standard procedure would be to troubleshoot by removing devices, that is, to run the router for a week without using the wireless and see if it crashes. However, this is not an option as my girlfriend isn't about to tough out a whole week without the internet and I'm sure as hell not letting her use my machine.
So I'm completely stumped. What can make a wireless router consistantly crash like this? TWO different models of router, no less.
Please forgive my "first post" status. I have an older username on here but can't for the life of me remember what it is.
Ever since I got the netgear about 2 years ago it would periodically freeze up. My PC wouldn't indicate that the connection to the network was disrupted (i.e. no "this connection has limited/no connectivity" etc) but there was no connectivity to anything. Attempting to access the router's control panel at 192.168... would result in the connection timing out. The network's SSID would disappear to wireless devices at that point. Power cycling the router to reboot it would fix the problem. The frequency of these crashes was roughly one or two per day.
I chalked it up to netgear being a piece of crap and stuck it out until I was satisfied that I had gotten enough use out of it. Finally this weekend I picked up the linksys.
I sat down at my PC this evening...guess what? same problem. Had to power cycle the router.
So, I conclude that some external factor is causing these routers to go stupid on me. Either it's something my computer is doing, or something my girlfriend's powerbook is doing. I'm not certain that this is something my computer is doing because I do recall situations where my computer was powered down and the router crashed while the girlfriend was using the wireless. I've tried all different channels and none of them seem to change the frequency of crashes.
My standard procedure would be to troubleshoot by removing devices, that is, to run the router for a week without using the wireless and see if it crashes. However, this is not an option as my girlfriend isn't about to tough out a whole week without the internet and I'm sure as hell not letting her use my machine.
So I'm completely stumped. What can make a wireless router consistantly crash like this? TWO different models of router, no less.
Please forgive my "first post" status. I have an older username on here but can't for the life of me remember what it is.
Facebook
Twitter