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WRT45G + BEFW11S4 = slow?

Jeff7181

Jeff7181

Lifer
Try to stay with me... my setup is slightly convoluted...

Basically I have a WRT45G connected to my cable modem. Connected to the WRT45G is my family's main desktop and spare desktop, and sometimes a 3rd computer when I'm working on someone else's. It plays host to a single wireless computer, sometimes two if I have someone else over.

Then I have another port as sort of an "uplink" port with the BEFW11S4 connected to it. Then connected to the BEFW11S4 I have an Xbox 360, HD-DVD player, and printer.

The BEFW11S4 has the wireless disabled and is basically functioning as a switch. I have it's "working mode" set to router with DHCP disabled.

Since I connected the BEFW11S4 I've noticed periodic slowdowns that seem to occurr whenever a DNS lookup is required. Power cycled the WRT45G seems to remedy that problem for about a week and it returns.

So that leads to two questions...
Do I have something configured incorrectly for how I have everything hooked up?
Would DD-WRT make things easier for me?
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Try to stay with me... my setup is slightly convoluted...

Basically I have a WRT45G connected to my cable modem. Connected to the WRT45G is my family's main desktop and spare desktop, and sometimes a 3rd computer when I'm working on someone else's. It plays host to a single wireless computer, sometimes two if I have someone else over.

Then I have another port as sort of an "uplink" port with the BEFW11S4 connected to it. Then connected to the BEFW11S4 I have an Xbox 360, HD-DVD player, and printer.

The BEFW11S4 has the wireless disabled and is basically functioning as a switch. I have it's "working mode" set to router with DHCP disabled.

Since I connected the BEFW11S4 I've noticed periodic slowdowns that seem to occurr whenever a DNS lookup is required. Power cycled the WRT45G seems to remedy that problem for about a week and it returns.

So that leads to two questions...
Do I have something configured incorrectly for how I have everything hooked up?
Would DD-WRT make things easier for me?
Click to expand...

At a guess you are trying to connect it in the wrong way. If you are running a patch cable from one of your LAN ports on the WRT54G and plugging into the WAN port on the BEF11S4 you are going to have all sorts of issues.

On your BEFW11S4, first change it's IP address to something other than default. If your WRT54G is 192.168.1.1 on your private network, make it 192.168.1.2

Next, get an uplink/cross over cable. Not a standard patch cable.
http://www.amazon.com/Cat5e-Cr...&qid=1202456953&sr=1-1
(you can get one at your local radio shack as well)

Plug it into one of your WRT54G's LAN ports. then plug the other end into one of the BEFW11S4 LAN ports. You will have nothing plugged into the BEFW11S4's WAN port. Any devices you now connect to either router will get its IP address from the WRT54G.

Another option is to buy a switch like:
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-...&qid=1202457258&sr=8-1

You can use a standard patch cable with it and just use the uplink port/switch, but it's cheaper and easier just to get the uplink cable.
 
Yep, I have everything configured/connected just like you said. Port 4 on the WRT is connected to port 4 on the BEF with a crossover cable. WRT is 192.168.1.1 and BEF is 192.168.1.2.
Everything works and can communicate with each other... just seems to require a reboot of the WRT every 2-4 weeks or there's hesitation when browsing the web. The WRT should be able to handle traffic from 7 or 8 devices with no problem, shouldn't it?
 
It should. You could try the new firmware, but it might not make much of a difference.

Looking at the WRT45G's info on Smallnetbuilder.com it can have a max 8 concurrent connections to/from the internet. It is possible that you are hitting that. That particular router tends to need a restart when it hits that limit.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com.../Itemid,189/chart,124/

Looks like the WRT54G is second from the botton on that list. :/

If it were me I'd try using 3rd party firmware and seeing if things improve. If they didn't I would likely invest in a new router.

 
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