Linksys router frustration

M

modhatter

Full time employment: Posting here.
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Aug 8, 2005
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I have a linksys 54G router that's about 4 years old. It works fine (sort of) but I haven't updated software since I bought it.

I went on the Linksys website to see if I could find an update for the driver, and there was nothing available. But when you google Linksys driver updates you get a link for Linksys that says you can download a program FREE that will search for updated drivers. If you try and do this, they ask for your cell phone number, and then send all these adds to your cell phone.

How can you get updated drivers for Linksys. Anyone have any experience with this?

Also, I'm contemplating purchasing a newer dual g/n router.
Sure can't get any solid good reviews on these. Anyone go through this recently that has some recommendations?
D Link has an older dual roouter Dir 655 for $70 bucks with pretty good reviews but it's about 3+ years old, but get good reviews mostly. Then there's the newer Linksys E2000 that get fairly good reviews, but has issues with over heating and not lasting very long for some folks. Decisions, decisions. I hate router time.
 
Linksys

I have used Linksys for years and have never had problems with their customer support. You can call their 800 number, and they will help solve any issues. I started with B, then went to G, and now have the N router (cisco-linksys E2000). The range is improved and it works great.

I suggest calling them.
 
my 2 cents...

I tried using linksys routers in the past but now stay away from them. Perhaps the newer ones are easier to use but while working with 54G, once I spent several days getting it to work. Don't know how (the instructions in the manual weren't too helpful) but I finally got it working. Then some time passed by that needed a router reset and reinstall. Did the reset, never got it to set up again.

My solution was to cut my losses, get another router and celebrate the easier install configuration.

I've had good luck with Belkin and Trendnet routers. I'm sure there are other brands that work well too. But I avoid Linksys.
 
I have had a number of Linksys routers and I've given up on them. They only seem to work properly for six months to a year. They generally start erroring during that timespan if not fail altogether. I have since gone to a separate DSL router and wireless. I have had success with the Netgear small business commercial line. They are more robust have faster CPUs and more memory.

As far as updating the firmware on a 4 year old router...why bother when you can get new ones for less than $30. But if you insist, I would contemplate upgrading to a non-linksys firmware. The OS in these is Linux and numerous and better programs have been written for it. Do a little searching and it won't take you long to find them.
 
Are you looking for new firmware? I am not aware of any driver software that has to be installed on the computer. If you think about it, any computer can connect to the router without the routers software. The firmware on the other hand is loaded into the router. Linksys by Cisco - WRT54G Support is the site that you can find the firmware. I have an old 54g, at least 4 years. It is still working fine, and I have never updated it. It is still going strong.
 
My modem / router combo was giving me fits. I ended up replacing both off Craigslist for $20ish, each. Still working great now, a couple of years later.
 
Well, this is a Linksys, but it's a dual-band router with a discount and free shipping:
DigitalEtc.com: Cisco E2000 Advanced Dual-Band Wireless-N Router *Refurbished* E2000-RM

Use code E2000SD to bring it to $35.99.

I'm especially [-]surprised[/-] impressed that the free shipping offer is even good for Hawaii, although they sent it USPS vice UPS.

Thanks to CFB and BigMoneyJim for helping me fix my ragged ASUS router, which will soon be a backup to this dual-band router about an hour after it arrives in the mail.
 
Not sure why you would need to upgrade firmware. My 54G is more than 4 year old and I've never done anything with it except use it. Never have had a problem.
 
Just curious, is there a specific problem you are trying to address?

As has been pointed out, there are no drivers -- routers must be compliant with the different protocols and media they support without interaction with any other device controlling them. You may be referring to firmware which most manufacturers update, usually early in the life of the product.
 
I'm sorry. I meant firmware. So used to looking for drivers for computer. My brain was on hiatus. I have just read about making sure to upgrade firmware, so I thought I would try it.
Never has since it was new.

Thanks for the tip on the refurb. $36 refurb vrs. $68 new. What to do, what to do. I wonder if there is any free support on those refurbs., or you left to your own with them?

tomato router: I heard about this. Will read the article. Thank you.

What is going on now. I can not get my laptop or any wireless device to connect wirelessly to my Linksys since changing from DSL to Comcast this week. Comcast is of no help at all and just tell me to call Linksys. I can connect Ethernet cords to it and run it to computers and they will work, but not wireless. I have gone through the online setup a million times.

Since it is well past warranty, Linksys charges $49 for one episode or $75 for 6 mo. tech support. So I figure, rather than spending $49 on trying to fix my 54G, I should instead invest in a new N modem, and if I have problems connecting, as least I get 90 support with a new one.

I wonder, anyone know. Is it possible for the "wireless" function of your router to quit( stop functioning) and still be able to use it as a pass through (with your cable modem) where it works just fine?
 
I had about a 5 yr old linksys and recently switched over to the cisco valet - it was super easy to set up and is up and running very nicely.

I have a secure connection for my stuff and a "guest" connection for friends who come over. My laptops, wireless printer, our playstation, ipads etc are all connected and run well. So far it has been great...!
 
I think it's very strange that the cabled connection is working and the wireless is not. The wireless connection to the Linksys should be independent of the type of external connection. If the wireless worked with DSL then it should work with cable. I would first make sure that SSID broadcast is turned on and that you can "see" the wireless network from the PC. If you can see it then you should be able to connect to it. If you can connect to it then it seems to me that you should be able to connect to the internet since your hard wired connections can get out to the internet.

I believe there can be fundamental differences in how DSL and cable modem networks are set up having to do with how DNS and DHCP are handled. I have cable but my daughter has DSL and as I remember they were configured differently. I'd have to do some research to verify this but maybe there's some techie out there who can supply the specifics.
 
modhatter said:
I can connect Ethernet cords to it and run it to computers and they will work, but not wireless. I have gone through the online setup a million times.

I wonder, anyone know. Is it possible for the "wireless" function of your router to quit( stop functioning) and still be able to use it as a pass through (with your cable modem) where it works just fine?
Click to expand...

Sure,it is very possible. There are settings for the wireless (SSID, passwords, etc) that may need to be set to match between your wireless computer and the wireless router.

What do you mean by "on line setup"? IME, the best and easiest way to set up a router is to connect to it wired, and type its IP address in a browser window (its IP address is often on the box, or you can find it in the manual or on-line). The router will present web pages of set up info. It's pretty easy to figure out. Then you don't have to worry about what the setup program is doing, if it is compatible with your OS, if it needs to be updated, etc.

It may help to update the firmware though - even though it seems like this should be a 'if it ain't broke, don't fix i't thing - the fact is that newer computers are using newer chips and software to access that router, and they may have updated things that uncover bugs you never saw with older equipment. These bugs probably get fixed in newer releases.

-ERD50
 
When I was fiddling around with a linksys 54g, I got it to work once. Then after having to do a reset, never got it to work again. So I gave up (wasn't worth the pain in the neck). Went to Wally World, bought a Netgear router. Couldn't get that to work either. Returned the Netgear and bough a Belkin. The Belkin was very user friendly and had that working in no time. For me, cutting my losses and saving all the time and troubling with that darn linksys was well worth the price. Plus, Wally World had no probably taking my return for the Netgear.
 
modhatter said:
I wonder, anyone know. Is it possible for the "wireless" function of your router to quit( stop functioning) and still be able to use it as a pass through (with your cable modem) where it works just fine?
Click to expand...
Absolutely yes. I have an eight year old Netgear WGR614 (it's a V1, but this one is so old it doesn't have a version number on it) that is intermittently losing its wireless segment once or twice a week. Usually disabling wireless and reenabling gets it back up; sometimes power cycle. Started two or three weeks ago.

From what you have posted, the DHCP and DNS services from your ISP are working correctly.

This is a problem on the wireless segment of your local subnet.
There are two DHCP domains: on the WAN and on the LAN. The WAN is what your modem connects to at your ISP. The LAN is everything connected to your router except for the jack labeled WAN or Internet, or something like that. The WAN port is the one that connects your router to the modem.

Your router is the only DHCP client on the WAN, at least in your control. Your router requests an IP address from the WAN (actually it broadcasts a DHCP request, and any DHCP server on the WAN segment (administered by the ISP) that "wants to" offers the client an IP address. The client can accept or reject, but they usually accept. Along with the IP address, the DHCP server provides your router with a couple of DNS server addresses.

With these little consumer routers, typically, the router operates as a DHCP server for the LAN. When a device on the local subnet (or the LAN, assuming you have only one subnet, which you probably do) joins the net, it broadcasts a DHCP request requesting that a DHCP server offer it an IP address. The router is supposed to offer an IP address in response, and also passes along those DNS server addresses it got off the WAN from the ISP. The router also tells the client what IP address to use as its default gateway. The default gateway is where traffic goes out of a device that does not have a routing table entry for the destination IP address. All your wired and wireless traffic to the internet (i.e. the WAN) goes out through the devices' respective default gateway addresses, which should be the local IP address of the router, something like 192.168.0.1.

Did anything change on your LAN (wired devices, wireless devices, or the router) when you switched from DSL to cable? You should have been able to unplug the ethernet cable from the DSL modem and plug it into the cable modem. Well, you might have had to provide a userid and password for the cable service, but because you can get out through a wired device, that part is working.

Since all your wireless clients have lost connectivity at the same time the problem is likely the router. It could be security settings, or other things, but this should not be that difficult to figure out. Of course on an internet forum this is rather cumbersome.

On a wireless device at a DOS prompt type "ipconfig" without the quotes. This will tell you the device's ip address and default gateway. If the ip address starts with 169. then the wireless device is not getting an ip address from any DHCP server. I suspect this is what you will see. If the IP address starts with 192., then type "ping <insert ip address>". If that works, do another ping using the default gateway address. If that works, then your LAN is communicating. Again did anything on the LAN change? In a working network, you could completely disconnect from the internet (as in turn off the modem) and the LAN should still have connectivity. You can try "ipconfig /release" followed by "ipconfig /renew" to clear any ip address then request a new one, but that is not likely going to work until something else gets fixed.
 
modhatter said:
I wonder, anyone know. Is it possible for the "wireless" function of your router to quit( stop functioning) and still be able to use it as a pass through (with your cable modem) where it works just fine?
Click to expand...
Sure, if the transmitter circuitry is broke. It could also be a power-supply problem.

My ASUS router would boot up and then start doing strange things. It turned out that the AC adapter plug had a dying capacitor. The router would get enough current to boot up but when it tried to transmit it drew too much current and the capacitor broke down. Buying a new adapter fixed the problem.
 
Oh Boy Rustwood. You gave me a headache trying to figure out what you said in your post. I need to read it again in the morning when my brain is fresh. I type in the router 192.168.15.1 in my browser and get the Linksys Setup Screen. It is showing the same IP address as above.
However, when I go to the Command Prompt and type in
ipconfig. What I get is: Media State.......Media disconnected.


When I look at available Networks where your laptop shows you what signals it is picking up, it shows the Linksys with a strong signal, but has a yellow (sort of like explanation mark ) on top of the Linksys connection, and says unsecured Network.

You know like when you go into Devise Manager and you have a conflict with something. (but it's not exactly the same)

Any idea what's going on? I have been looking at wireless routers all day on line. I didn't want to spend of bunch of money but the more I read the more the price goes up.
Just seems to be one of those "One mans heaven is another man's hell" when it comes to routers. Some people swear by the Netgear, another by Belkin. Reviewers love the new Cisco, but many Cisco Lynksys owners (since the more reliable 54G units), think their trash when it comes to longevity issues. Every time I think I have finally decided on which one to get, I read something that makes me change my mind and I'm back to square one.

Maybe we need to go back to the days when there was no internet, and YOU JUST BOUGHT SOMETHING! Sure did have a lot more time on your hands back then.

E86s54: I have had success with the Netgear small business commercial line. They are more robust have faster CPUs and more memory.

Can you tell me what model number is considered a small business commercial line?
 
I had to download the firmware for my linksys a couple of years ago. It got corrupted somehow. I called linksys and they sold me a maintenance plan for about $30 which was good for a year. The stayed on the phone with me until the problem was resolved. I never had to call them back.

I had tried everything else prior to that and my time was worth the $$ to get it running. I really did not want to purchase a new one at the time.
 
modhatter said:
Oh Boy Rustwood. You gave me a headache trying to figure out what you said in your post. I need to read it again in the morning when my brain is fresh. I type in the router 192.168.15.1 in my browser and get the Linksys Setup Screen. It is showing the same IP address as above.
However, when I go to the Command Prompt and type in
ipconfig. What I get is: Media State.......Media disconnected.


When I look at available Networks where your laptop shows you what signals it is picking up, it shows the Linksys with a strong signal, but has a yellow (sort of like explanation mark ) on top of the Linksys connection, and says unsecured Network.

You know like when you go into Devise Manager and you have a conflict with something. (but it's not exactly the same)

Any idea what's going on? I have been looking at wireless routers all day on line. I didn't want to spend of bunch of money but the more I read the more the price goes up.
Just seems to be one of those "One mans heaven is another man's hell" when it comes to routers. Some people swear by the Netgear, another by Belkin. Reviewers love the new Cisco, but many Cisco Lynksys owners (since the more reliable 54G units), think their trash when it comes to longevity issues. Every time I think I have finally decided on which one to get, I read something that makes me change my mind and I'm back to square one.

Maybe we need to go back to the days when there was no internet, and YOU JUST BOUGHT SOMETHING! Sure did have a lot more time on your hands back then.

E86s54: I have had success with the Netgear small business commercial line. They are more robust have faster CPUs and more memory.

Can you tell me what model number is considered a small business commercial line?
Click to expand...

On a wired network you would get Media disconnected if the ethernet cable was ... disconnected, or if the device at the other end of it was powered off. On a wireless network, it just means you don't have a connection.

It sounds like your wireless adapter is seeing your access point (access point is the wireless part of the router -- it provides network access to wireless clients). This is looking more and more like a mismatch between access point settings in the router, and wireless adapter settings on the clients. Again, because all wireless are affected the problem is most likely in the single element they all have in common, which is the access point (router).

If you unsecured the router, you would have to unsecure the wireless clients in order for them to get in. That is OK for now until you get running, but not long term.

So, some things to check, and you have to check both the router and the wireless client and these have to match:

Mode: I believe the 54g was a b/g router, meaning that it will use 802.11B or 802.11G, or either. There is probably a setting for that. The "either" or "both" is probably best for now.

See if the router has something called "MAC address filtering" or access list. This is a list of MAC addresses that are allowed in. If this got turned on accidentally, then nothing would connect unless you entered its MAC address into the table.

Encryption settings have to match on both sides. Type, strength, and key or passphrase. Check those.

Can't recommend a router as I have only dealt with a couple of the home routers. I use a Netgear consumer router at home, and if this one dies (see previous post), I'll probably just replace it with a new one. BTW they don't have a lot of real routing to do. All outbound traffic takes the default route of 0.0.0.0 which is whatever the cable modem connects to. For inbound traffic they do more switching than routing. The one thing they do that is extremely useful in home networks is network address translation (NAT) which 1) allows you to connect multiple devices to the net using one public IP address, and 2) prevents anyone from outside your network getting in uninvited.
 
I gave my 54G to someone I did not like. Seriously I am much happier with the Belkin. Resets with the 54G always seemed to result in some sort of problem.
 
Windows has the wireless settings for your old connection stored. You need to go in and delete those, and have Windows re-discover the network. It is just not the SSID--but that suggests something to try. Change your SSID, and Windows will find it as a new WAP. Maybe.
 
target2019 said:
Windows has the wireless settings for your old connection stored. You need to go in and delete those, and have Windows re-discover the network. It is just not the SSID--but that suggests something to try. Change your SSID, and Windows will find it as a new WAP. Maybe.
Click to expand...

On a friend's HP laptop, I found that after moving to a new wireless connection, that even after changing the SSID and getting that set up, the darn thing was still reporting Media Disconnected. It turns out that turning on the wireless network settings wasn't sufficient. We also had to go into the device tree, find the driver for the wireless 'card' built into the laptop, open the Properties tab, and check the box to turn on the Broadcom radio chip. :nonono:

Why that device driver couldn't turn on it's radio itself when opened, I'll never know. Maybe they thought that making the radio chip power optional when using wireless networks added to that flexibility all users love?
 
Too bad hearing all these problems with the Syslink/Cisco routers.

I've had my WRT300N around 4-5 years without any hitches at all, running a home network of one direct-connect desktop/printer and two (laptop and netbook) wireless units.

It replaced a Netgear router that I had for a few years, but constantly overheated and went off-line. I guess you could say I feel about Netgear the same as those commented on Syslink :blush: ...

Just my $.02...
 
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