Linksys Wireless Router crap - need a new router

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bigbyte

bigbyte

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Oct 22, 2006
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Colorado
Last year shortly before Christmas my Linksys WRT54G router died and I bought another one of the same kind. Guess what - we're close to Christmas and the new(er) Linksys router starts doing exactly the same thing. Piece of crap.

So, I am need of replacing it, but I do not want to spend money again on this junk hardware. What is everyone else using? What can you recommend?

Thanks.

Chris
 


I don't know where you're from but have you tried stores like Radio Shack/Circuit City, Future Shop, Best Buy? They know their stuff and don't usually push a particular brand at you.
 
I am from Colorado.

I know most of the brands out there - just don't know what has been shown to be very reliable and good.

Chris
 
I love the WRT54G. Especially the earlier versions with linux on it. So! I will start to blame christmas as the cause of your routers problems. Did you just plug in your christmas lights? Christmas tree? Something that you plug in around christmas into the same breaker as your router? Perhaps you should turn on all the lights the tv and everything in your home. Then turn off the 1 breaker that your router was plugged into. See what areas of the home the outlet is attached to. Then, I would measure how many amps/volts everything is using to make sure its not something else causing your problems. Perhaps your christmas toaster oven is causing problems on your circuit and blowing our your router. Well, If this post wasn't useless. I don't know what is. Go buy another WRT54G they're cheap for a reason.


OH! speaking of christmas destroying things. I found out my christmas lights from the tree. Effects my WII mote(they're bluetooth not wifi altho)
 
you've had some bad luck with Linksys, sorry to hear that.
other than D-Link, that's about all i will use!
(they both use Cisco internals)

anyhoo, newegg has a decent D-Link wifi kit (router & usb adapter) for about $60 shipped ($25 after rebate) here.
 
After watching my dad's D-Link router randomly reboot ever few minutes for no reason, and then reading online about all the people having the same problem, I'm a bit wary of D-Link. I've also had problems with Linksys, and beware if you're running a Mac, a lot of Mac people have problems connecting wirelessly to Linksys. Right now I'm running a NetGear router which seems ok.

If I were to get a new one right now, I would probably look at the LinkSys WRT54G, simply because it's so popular, there are a lot of mods out for it, and a lot of people on discussion boards to help with any probs.
 
I've been using the WRT54G for over a year now (I think it's the same model). And haven't had any problems with it. My router is upstairs and I usually work downstairs. This is my first router, so nothing to compare to.
 
Besides the problems, I just ordered a Linksys WRT54GL. This model is Linux ready and I am probably going to throw a Linux Firmware (3rd Party) on it. From what I found these seems to be the best option for me. I have already a Netgear router and a Netgear bridge to get the Internet connection across the street (my neighbor and I share Highspeed Cable/cost this way). The Netgear equipment needs a reboot once a month and Linksys has been more stable (until the unit decided to say bye-bye).

I do not think it is the Christmas lights though. ;) I only put up 8000 lights this year - that's 3000 less than last year. But maybe it is the new Reindeer landing strip up on the roof? I did not have that last year ..... ;)

Chris
 
esnagel said:
I've heard Buffalo Technology to have good products (http://www.buffalotech.com/products/wireless.php). I just bought a NAS drive from them, so far so good.

I personally have a Linksys WRT54GP2 (with 2 Vonage lines) and I have problems with it every once & a while, especially with DHCP. I'm slowly switching to static IPs as the machines on my network can't get an IP from the DHCP server.
Click to expand...

Buffalo Technology is the worst company to deal with. Dealer and them refused to take back a faulty device. Had to use American Express Purchase Protection to get my money back.

Chris
 
I've had mine for about 3 years with no problems.

Here's what to do. Go to Wal Mart and buy a new one. Photocopy the receipt because the ones they print will fade out. Keep receipt and in a year or two when it dies take it back for a new one. They will take just about anything back for at least two years and sometimes much, much longer. Even after the waranty is up.

BTW, here is a link to firmware you might be interested in for the Linksys routers News

I don't know why this says news.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php
 
You are having problems because it's a version 5, I'll bet. Linksys changed the internals from V4 to V5. It's a complicated mess, really. The V5s don't accept 3rd party firmware. Look on the bottom of your router to see what version it is. If it's a V5, take it back. Wal-Mart will take anything back. IF you don't have the reciept sell it on ebay or something.

Then BUY a V4 or V3 on ebay. After you do that, install a third party firmware. I use HyperWRT 2.1b1 +tofu12. My Linksys has been sitting for almost a year without so much as a reset. It's awesome. That firmware also lets you boost the output the WRT54G puts out so you can get great signal farther away. Just be careful not to boost it TOO much or it may overheat.

You can get all the info you need right here:

Linksysinfo

THey have all the firmware listed and a good support forum with plenty of geeks...er, helpful guys that will answer your questions.
 
You are right - I do have a version 5 router. I have to check where I bought it. I know it was local somewhere because it was like December 23 or so and I did not wanted to get stuck over Christmas with dying hardware.

Thanks

Chris
 
Linksys has gone downhill. Their products used to be great, about 5 years ago or so... but it seems like everything I've bought from them over the last 2-3 years has only had a lifespan of about 6mo-1yr. I buy netgear products now, and they haven't been giving me any problems.
 
I am also using Linksys and have no problems so far! Though sometimes I am losing my connection when I work on my labtop downstairs in the livingroom. Here in Israel Linksys has a good reputation I think... :)

What about Netgear, they also suppose to be good!?
 
bigbyte said:
You are right - I do have a version 5 router. I have to check where I bought it. I know it was local somewhere because it was like December 23 or so and I did not wanted to get stuck over Christmas with dying hardware.

Thanks

Chris
Click to expand...

no prob. you can take back the WRT54G V5 and buy a V3 or V4 on ebay, or you can just get the WRT54GL, which is basically the same as the old WRT54G until Linksys got greedy. You'll pay a few extra bucks for it, but it's worth it. Here is a run down of all the serial numbers, since they don't list the versions on the box. You have to look at the numbers.

Known serial numbers (first 4 characters) vs versions / Chipsets:

CDF0 = WRT54G v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF1 = WRT54G v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF2 = WRT54G v1.1 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF3 = WRT54G v1.1 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 125Mhz
CDF5 = WRT54G v2.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDF7 = WRT54G v2.2 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDF8 = WRT54G v3.0 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDF9 = WRT54G v3.1 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDFA = WRT54G v4.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz

The Above routers are fine.

CDFB = WRT54G v5.0 / BCM5352EKPB Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDFC = WRT54G v5.1 / BCM5352EKPB Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDFD = WRT54G v6.0 / BCM5352EKBG Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CDFE = WRT54G v7.0

The above v5.x v6 v7 are the ones to stay away from.

WRT54GS
CGN0 = WRT54GS v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN1 = WRT54GS v1.0 / ADM6996L Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN2 = WRT54GS v1.1 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN3 = WRT54GS v2.0 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN4 = WRT54GS v2.1 / BCM5325EKQM Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN5 = WRT54GS v3.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CGN6 = WRT54GS v4.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz


CGN7 = WRT54GS v5.0 / BCM5352EKPB Chipset
CGN8 = WRT54GS v5.1 / BCM5352EKPBG Chipset

The above v5.x are the ones to stay away from.

CL7A = WRT54GL v1.0 / BCM5352E Chipset / CPU 200Mhz
CL7B = WRT54GL v1.1 / BCM5352EKPBG Chipset / CPU 200Mhz

These two GL units are infact the WRT54G v4 but renamed.

recommendations:

WRT54G v2.0-v4.0

WRT54GS v1.0-v4.0

WRT54GL v1.x

Linksysinfo - WRT54G and WRT54GS v5.X WARNING
 
best routers for the money IMO are SMC barracades. Although they have problems with xbox live for some reason. That aside they are awesome. The average dlink or belkin (604+ standard models) handle 30 concurent connections. SMC Barracades handle 40,000. Big difference. in your downloads.
 
i use d-link di-524, the non wireless one has been with me for 3 years...i've had the wireless for a year without problems whatsoever. :) they're cheap too
 
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