Need help in resetting Router to factory default

[omni550]

I have a Linksys WRT54-G wireless router. Everything was working just fine, but I wanted to change the channel, as I've been getting extremely slow internet speeds (which I think are due to interference from neighbors on the same channel). (There's a thread on that from Nov. 2014.)

I spent the winter snowbirding in Florida (and didn't have the time to dedicate to this before departing) and am now back home and am trying to get this sorted out. Today I finally had some free time to fiddle with it.

To get to the screen where I can change the channel, I need to access the Linksys web-based setup page. I can't recall what the router password is (or even if I reset it) so I am trying to reset it to factory defaults. Linksys Official Support - Changing the Linksys router's administrator password

I have power-cycled it.
I have disconnected it from the internet and pushed the reset button.

These actions should have reset the router to factory defaults...but when I go to 192.168.1.1(the IPv4 Default Gateway) and at the prompt, enter "admin" and no password (as specified on the Linksys support articles for a unit that has been set to factory default), all I get is a "401 Unauthorized" error.

What am I missing?

omni

[sdtech]

You have to hold the reset button in for quite a while - see below


Re: Resetting WRT54G to Factory Defaults




Options









‎06-24-2008 06:52 PM
In such case you need to reset the router ...
1. Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds.
2. Then, unplug the power keep holding down the reset button for
another 30 Seconds.
3. Plug back the power back in, and keep holding down the reset button
for 30 Seconds.
4. Release the reset button.

[omni550]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdtech You have to hold the reset button in for quite a while - see below Re: Resetting WRT54G to Factory Defaults Options ‎06-24-2008 06:52 PM In such case you need to reset the router ... 1. Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds. 2. Then, unplug the power keep holding down the reset button for another 30 Seconds. 3. Plug back the power back in, and keep holding down the reset button for 30 Seconds. 4. Release the reset button.

Thanks...I will give that a try!

omni

[omni550]

sdtech (and anyone else),

I unplugged the internet cable and then proceeded to hold down the reset button for at least 30 sec. in each step thruout the entire 3-step reset process (powered, unpowered, and repowered), and then I plugged in the internet cable...and I still get the same "401 Unauthorized" message.

Should I try leaving the router connected to the internet thru this whole 3-step reset process? Or is there something else I should be doing?

(In perusing various sites, it appears as though sometimes people are updating firmware, etc. I have never done this....but I'm thinking I need to get past the router sign-in screen before I can do anything (update firmware, change channels, etc.)



omni

[jimbee]

Omni550,

I've seen a number of pages state the default userid is blank, and the default password is admin, the opposite of what you tried. Try entering no userid, and admin for the password.

[RunningBum]

I think you have it backwards. From google I see that the default user name is blank (as in, nothing, not the word blank) and the default password is 'admin' (without the quotes).

If that doesn't work try 'admin' for both. That is a standard for a lot of devices.

Be sure to change your password again after you've reset it.

<same as what jimbee said, he beat me to it>

[omni550]

jimbee,

THAT DID IT!!!!!

Thank you!

(I just love the helpful and knowledgeable folks on this forum.)

omni

[rbmrtn]

Just to make sure, You are getting a login prompt from the router ?

It may depend which version of the WRT54G you have. On most of these the user name is blank and the password is "admin", opposite of what you said you tried.

Linksys Router Passwords

[omni550]

I'm of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it camp".

But should I be thinking about updating firmware on the router (even though it has been working just fine)?

omni

[rbmrtn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omni550 I'm of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it camp". But should I be thinking about updating firmware on the router (even though it has been working just fine)? omni

I agree with "if it ain't broke, don't fix it camp", unless you have some specific issue the update would fix.

Also the WRT54G comes in several hardware versions, make sure you get the correct firmware for the hardware, sometime you can make brick instead of getting an update. The hardware version is typically on the bottom label next to the model number,

[omni550]

As everything seems to be working OK, I will skip any firmware updates at this time.

Thanks, rbmrtn!

omni

[RunningBum]

I probably wouldn't if it was working fine, but you did report extremely slow speeds. If changing the channel doesn't work, and you're sure it's not your laptop/PC/Mac/whatever, you may want to give it a try. If you have two devices such as a laptop and a smart phone wifi connected, you could see if a speed test gives pretty much the same results. If one is fine and the other is slow, the problem probably isn't the router.

[omni550]

With y'all's help, I've mastered switching channels on the router.

I can't say that I've seen any significant speed improvements. I tried channel 8 first (and after reading about the negatives of adjacency, I switched to channel 11.)

I use wireless 100% of the time on my PC, laptop, and tablet...but while I was upstairs futzing with the router, I connected the laptop by wire to the router and didn't see any significant speed improvement (Wired: 2.04 Mbps upload/ 1.09 download and Wireless 1.99 upload/ 1.09 download).

At busier times (when my neighbors must be on the 'net also)....I've seen 0.62 to 1.10 download speeds and 0.56 to 0.82 upload speeds.

Running the speed test (wirelessly) on the PC and laptop yielded similar results....so I don't think the issue is with my computers.

I'm paying for 15 Mbps but am receiving nothing even close to that.

I'm not a gamer, so I don't want to pay for need uber-high speed internet, but it would be nice to have pages load quickly and to be able to watch short videos (3-4 min. max.) without having them stutter-stopping every few seconds.

A couple of questions:

Is the channel adjacency issue a real concern?...and I should stick to 1,6, and 11? (If so, I can see that a few neighbors are unaware and are using some of the in-between channels.)

What are my next steps? Would a router firmware update help speed things up?

At the moment, I'd prefer not buying a new router with the hope of a better experience on the 5Ghz band, as I'm unsure as to whether my PC (which I use 90% of the time when I'm home) will accommodate the 5Ghz band.

omni

[omni550]

FYI, I've got a cable/internet tech coming out tomorrow, as they tried updating the modem remotely and nothing changed.

(Hey, as a side benefit to this, I've learned a bit about changing channels on my router. .)

omni

[imoldernu]

Linksys Official Support - Wireless-G BroadBand Router

[rbmrtn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omni550 I use wireless 100% of the time on my PC, laptop, and tablet...but while I was upstairs futzing with the router, I connected the laptop by wire to the router and didn't see any significant speed improvement (Wired: 2.04 Mbps upload/ 1.09 download and Wireless 1.99 upload/ 1.09 download).

If that is the case then, the problem is not your computers and most likely not the router itself but the service provider. This is typically the bottleneck for most home users. Test your lan speed with something like this, LAN Speed Test (Lite)

It checks transfer speeds between computers on your lan, see how the internal speeds look.

Also, remove the router from the picture, plug a computer directly into cable/DSL modem from the provider, then measure with speedtest. If you still get slow speeds then then it is probably their equipment/service.

[target2019]

This sounds familiar.

Your cable service is the problem, or
Older, default bios in router is not talking correctly with newer cable modem. One cure might be updating the bios in your router.

Getting ISP tech in to check your service is a good idea. You can check the service in your modem yourself, but why bother if ISP will do it for you.

You didn't identify the specific router version, so hard to say much else. It does happen that older routers have problems with higher Internet speed and such.

[imoldernu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by target2019 Getting ISP tech in to check your service is a good idea. You can check the service in your modem yourself, but why bother if ISP will do it for you.

How I wish I had your ISP... I have Comcast and it costs $95 to cross my threshold. The standard Comcast reply to speed, is that while you may pay for 15Mbps, the contract says that the speed you pay for is not guaranteed.

Been there done that.

[omni550]

Thanks everyone for the wonderful input!

The tech just left after installing a new modem. Now I'm surfing along at 14.28 Mbps wireless download speed (as compared to the intolerable 0.42, 0.65 and 0.85 speeds I was getting this morning).

I'm sure this will drop a bit as my working neighbors and school children get online this evening, but what an improvement.

imoldernu: My provider (wowway.com) doesn't guarantee the speed other than wired at their modem. However, I was paying for 15 Mbps service...and getting 5 to 10% of what I was promised.

omni

[target2019]

Quote:

Originally Posted by imoldernu How I wish I had your ISP... I have Comcast and it costs $95 to cross my threshold. The standard Comcast reply to speed, is that while you may pay for 15Mbps, the contract says that the speed you pay for is not guaranteed. Been there done that.

See the OP resolution. If the problem is the ISP modem, then they send a tech and they replace the modem. No charge. In this scenario you're taking a chance that the problem could be you, your equipment, and so on. After going through a Q&A here, it becomes more obvious what the problem PROBABLY could be.

I've never been charged for a tech, probably because I do a lot of troubleshooting and determine it is them, not me. I can recall tech being here less than a half dozen times in 15 years. Come to think of it, I'm having problems with streaming video this weekend. I would not waste 5 minutes calling Comcast. I'll eliminate some possibilities, and then look at things closer.

If I do need Comcast, I go to Twitter and see what's up. They have been pretty good in answering specific questions, like, "is there an outage or quality problem in my neighborhood."