router kinda crapped out

[Mister Bushice]

I upgraded to FF 3.x and... my router would no longer access the internet. It still lights up but it won't access the internet from any computer I have.

I don't know it it was a co-inkydink or if the router just went splat. I called linksys, but since it is a router out of warranty I have to pay for them to do upgrades, and there was no word on if that was a solution to the problem but they sure would get my money.

I was looking into using DD-WRT, a free open source firmware upgrade for routers but I don't know if it is worth it.

I reset the router, still nada. Seems to be a normal active network, but there's no internet access.

Anyone ever do this upgrade?

The router is a linksys WRT55AG wireless A and G broadband

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Can you ping the router?

[ElTaco]

I'm about to flash my XV6700 phone to upgrade from MS PPC 5.x to 6.1 cause I don't want to pay for a stupid new phone yet since I may wait and see about the BB Storm or if I want to switch to apple.

Anyway, I"d say go for it and do the flash. I've read lots of good stuff on WRT, although I can't say I've used it. In terms of power, it is much more powerful and capable then any soho router that is out there. You get lots of Linux/Cisco firewall functionality but able to run at fast speeds on the crappy little router boxes.

I have had a Linksys router act very similar fashion. I tried to update the flash and a variety of other tricks but never could get the machines to connect. I ended up giving another wifi router to the owner.

The problem is that using WRT may not entirely fix the issue if the problem is hardware based but worth a try. Of course when you consider that a faster 802.11n router could be had for $50, I'd say doing WRT is a no brainer. If it works, no worries, if it doesn't you run to BestBuy and drop $50 on a new router.

[Dinsdale]

Used wireless routers go for about $5. Top of the line N stuff goes for $50-60 and up... but at this point in the game, your real-life DL speeds won't benefit from multiple channels (better security, though).


But, Bushleague didn't ask how much routers went for, he asked for troubleshooting help.


First, are you trying strictly wireless access, or have you tried the ethernet ports? Try it with a cable.

Are you able to get to http://192.168.1.1? If you reset to factory Linksys defualts, the UN is "admin" password is "admin".

If you can't see the web interface through a cabled connection, you're router is likely toast (or not worth the aggrivation dealing with it).

If you get to the interface with the cable, is it configured to DHCP, with NAT enabled?

Did you reboot your modem? (shouldn't matter, but some shitty old modems can be touchy... SUP, WESTELL? Did you try going directly from modem to PC to see if the modem and ISP stuff is working?

Can you see your default wireless network in your wireless utility (I believe Linksys defaults to "Linksys" on the network name)?


Always hit up the basics first. Naturally, you need to get into higher layers before you can completely diagnose the physical layer (good old OSI Model), but always start any diagnostic procedure at the physical layer (devices, cabling, etc), which becomes a little more tricky with WiFi involved.


I'd be leery of generic firmware upgrades, since traditionally, just within different versions of the same Linksys models can be... touchy. I wouldn't rule out at least giving a firmware update a shot, but make absolutely certain you know which version/release of the particular Linksys product you have, and use only the recommended one (for now). I think Linksys has made this a little less stupid over the years, but with their track record, I'd save any experimental firmware upgrades until you've verified the proper working of your physical layer.

[Mister Bushice]

I'm about to flash my XV6700 phone to upgrade from MS PPC 5.x to 6.1 cause I don't want to pay for a stupid new phone yet since I may wait and see about the BB Storm or if I want to switch to apple.

Anyway, I"d say go for it and do the flash. I've read lots of good stuff on WRT, although I can't say I've used it. In terms of power, it is much more powerful and capable then any soho router that is out there. You get lots of Linux/Cisco firewall functionality but able to run at fast speeds on the crappy little router boxes.

I have had a Linksys router act very similar fashion. I tried to update the flash and a variety of other tricks but never could get the machines to connect. I ended up giving another wifi router to the owner.

The problem is that using WRT may not entirely fix the issue if the problem is hardware based but worth a try. Of course when you consider that a faster 802.11n router could be had for $50, I'd say doing WRT is a no brainer. If it works, no worries, if it doesn't you run to BestBuy and drop $50 on a new router.

That is pretty much what I figured on doing. I'd give it a try, but I'll just go buy a newer model if it failed. I've had this router for probably 4 years now, so it's had a deece run. It was rather odd that it stopped accessing the internet right after the FF upgrade,tho.

The WRT seems to be worth a try, as the guy who developed it has had several upgrades over time and has addressed some bugs, although the geek talk on the forum is really geared towards business networks, not little home ones like mine so things like using Putty would not apply for me.

Marty,

I was able to ping the router, and the modem also works fine when plugged direct. I cannot ping any internet sites through the router, though.

The asian linksys phone tech chick seemed sure it just needed the firmware upgrade, but based on the service plan price I can get a new one for only a few bucks more.

[Dinsdale]

I cannot ping any internet sites through the router, though.

Both with wireless and wired connections?

All wireless clients can at least log on?

Ping the addies of other LAN clients?


Also, in your web interface, make sure that the local IP for the router (on Linksys, is 192.168.1.1) is the same subnet as the dynamic addies being DHCP'd (192.168.1.xxx)... a bad keystroke or corrupt firmware could fuck that all up. Corrupt firmware could also screw the NAT to hell (which is the primary function of a broadband router), which would pretty much render it a fancy switch.


But unless ET says otherwise, I'd strongly suggest sticking with Linksys' firmware, at least to start.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

I was able to ping the router, and the modem also works fine when plugged direct. I cannot ping any internet sites through the router, though.

Reboot the modem (it will renew the MAC address of the router) and then go into your router setup page and check that any ports/addresses/programs/devices are not being blocked.

Having said that, if you're feeling adventurous, you can take apart your router and check for bulging or leaking capacitors.
There have been cases of over-heating damage done to Linksys units. I discovered the same problem with a friend's SMC brand router.

[Dinsdale]

Reboot the modem (it will renew the MAC address of the router)

No, it won't... but I know what you meant.

And if it's a Westell modem, it could quite possibly require a call to the ISP to clear their MAC bindings (no idea why Westell has such a problem with this).


Also, on a Linksys, make sure NAT is enabled on the advanced admin page.


Could also try cloning the MAC of the known-working NIC, but that's getting pretty complicated.

[Mister Bushice]

I was able to ping the router, and the modem also works fine when plugged direct. I cannot ping any internet sites through the router, though.

Reboot the modem (it will renew the MAC address of the router) and then go into your router setup page and check that any ports/addresses/programs/devices are not being blocked.

Having said that, if you're feeling adventurous, you can take apart your router and check for bulging or leaking capacitors.

Not feeling that adventurous. :)

I called the ISP when it initially happened, and they checked the modem from their end and found it to be good. I reset both pieces of equipment and still nothing, the tech geek then went thru his checklist and found nothing out of order, so I then removed the router from the chain and hard connected the computer direct to the modem on my end and had no internet access problems at all.

The issue is clearly with the router. I reset the router and checked all of the settings, and didn't see anything odd. Still no internet access on any computer on the network, wired or wireless.

Next stop is to upgrade the firmware with the Open source version and see what happens. If it bricks, I'm off to the store.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Reboot the modem (it will renew the MAC address of the router)

No, it won't... but I know what you meant.

Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean you'd get a new MAC address...

[Dinsdale]

Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean you'd get a new MAC address...

Just poking you with a pointy stick... knew full well what you meant.

Although I was fully prepared to ask if it changes the MAC that's printed on the bottom of the device.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Now this is what I'm talkin' about.

[ElTaco]

Well I'm sure by now you either had luck with WRT or you went out and got a replacement system.

When I ran into this issue, I didn't bother much with the ISP testing, which is sometimes confusing. Remember a router is just a box that connects two (or more) different networks and uses routing protocols (vs routed protocols) to move routed protocols. So for real testing, if you want to make sure that your ISP isn't causing an issue, take the router out of the network and stick it in between two computers on a wired network. If you can ping from the inside/protected/secure network to the 'outside'/internet/external/unsecured network, your router is working.

Now with that said, when I had the problem, I reset the router to the factory default, flashed it with the latest version, did variety of tests and it just wouldn't pass the data between one network and the other. My guess is a hardware issue especially if you can ping from the router out. In other words if the router was responding to the ISP, it was grabbing an IP and all that, obviously the outside port is working and if you can ping the router from inside and it is working then obviously the inside port is working, however if the data itself is not traversing from the inside port to the outside then either your routes are screwed up or there is a problem linking the two ports. If it is a problem with the routes/setup, resetting and re-flashing and a quick review should solve the problem. Certainly most router software will automatically, by default pass traffic from the more secure to the less secure network without needing any special setup.

Anyway, I'd say playing with WRT at least will make it fun even though I kind of doubt it will make it work.

As far as the modification goes, I think it is kind of stupid. Making the radio more powerful isn't really going to make your router more powerful, for that you need:

A bigger CPU, more Memory and possibly better software. WRT will at the very least give you a dedicated routing system with lots of high end features. I'd say the more impressive thing would be to upgrade the CPU and memory to something similar (or even more powerful) then a cisco router. Then you would get some serious power. Of course at some point this becomes futile because you can just go out and purchase a Cisco 501 SOHO router for around $100, depending on features/licensing, probably even cheaper if you shop around or a higher end Pix for a bit more. The nice thing is PIX firewalls are being replaced by the ASA line so as time goes on, they will be cheaper and cheaper. Of course this gives you a lot more power then you actually need, but you won't have to worry about your traffic slowing down for games because of a crappy router. The other drawback is the lack of WIFI, which is actually a bonus if you want to implement a really secure wifi, because you can use an external AP and use VLANs to separate traffic. Do you need all this? Absolutely not, but it would be the Ferrari of home networking and really the only problem with that analogy is that instead of hot/expensive women checking you out, it will be geeks.