Router Trouble

Hi all,
I've been having troubles with my router for quite a while.
I have an older Linksys (maybe 3 years old) and I think it might be causing connection problems.

The router and connections are fine when downloading files, i.e. photos, movies, files, updates. But as soon as I need to upload something (small files to email, large files to flickr) the connection is lost and I need to reset the router.

I figure its the router as its the part I need to keep resetting. If the problem is the router is there a way to fix it? Do I need to upgrade? If so what should I be looking for? Is there a buffer of some sort that I should be looking at?

Hopefully someone can help.

Added info: I run mainly on a Macbook Pro, but I also have Dell laptop and a home built PC all of which have current software and firmware updates, and are all pretty powerful so they should be able to do these tasks without a problem.

Thanks in advance.

Routers are dirt cheap, especially if you stay with Linksys. They have also advanced so you would get a better router. I cannot see how it would be effective to try to fix it.

Routers are a throw away item. I just replaced a 2 year old D-Link with a Linksys 160N. Reception has really improved, and no more resetting.

BTW, I'm also on a Mac, a Mac Pro and my wife is on an iMac.

Lou

I'd just replace it with a WRT54GL and put Tomato firmware on that...
I had that running perfect for two years with a big ass antenna on the wall, then a power surge killed it and I'm now going to N with a smoothwall router and UltraWAP-N with two big antennas on the wall SInce I couldn't find a N router that matched the WRT54GL (WITH third party firmware, it is pretty crap stock) short of doing what I am doing....

Johnsoir wrote in post #8264702
Hi all,
I've been having troubles with my router for quite a while.
I have an older Linksys (maybe 3 years old) and I think it might be causing connection problems.

The router and connections are fine when downloading files, i.e. photos, movies, files, updates. But as soon as I need to upload something (small files to email, large files to flickr) the connection is lost and I need to reset the router.

I figure its the router as its the part I need to keep resetting. If the problem is the router is there a way to fix it? Do I need to upgrade? If so what should I be looking for? Is there a buffer of some sort that I should be looking at?

Hopefully someone can help.

Added info: I run mainly on a Macbook Pro, but I also have Dell laptop and a home built PC all of which have current software and firmware updates, and are all pretty powerful so they should be able to do these tasks without a problem.

Thanks in advance.

Take the router out of the loop. Connect directly to the modem with your computer and see if everything works. If it doesn't call your provider. If it does, start by clearing the router to factory defaults then updating your routers firmware.

Thanks for this info all.

I took the router out of the chain, and I couldn't even connect to the internet anymore. Is this normal, in the Safari diagnostic it states that it can't find an ISP.

Johnsoir wrote in post #8264702
Hi all,
I've been having troubles with my router for quite a while.
I have an older Linksys (maybe 3 years old) and I think it might be causing connection problems.

The router and connections are fine when downloading files, i.e. photos, movies, files, updates. But as soon as I need to upload something (small files to email, large files to flickr) the connection is lost and I need to reset the router.

I figure its the router as its the part I need to keep resetting. If the problem is the router is there a way to fix it? Do I need to upgrade? If so what should I be looking for? Is there a buffer of some sort that I should be looking at?

Hopefully someone can help.

Added info: I run mainly on a Macbook Pro, but I also have Dell laptop and a home built PC all of which have current software and firmware updates, and are all pretty powerful so they should be able to do these tasks without a problem.

Thanks in advance.

What sort of ISP are you hooked up to, cable or DSL?

Some systems don't like routers all that much. I had some initial problems with my Linksys router and Comcast until I cloned the MAC address of my network server to the router. Not sure when Linksys incorporated it into the firmware but my router has a page that says "MAC Address clone" and will automatically read the MAC address of the machine you're accessing it from and clone it to the router. That way the cable or DSL modem thinks it's connected directly to your computer and not a router.
If your Linky is older and doesn't have that automatic feature you'll have to find the MAC address of your computer by running IPCONFIG /ALL from the DOS command line and manually entering it into the router.

That solved my connection problems. 3 years old isn't that bad for a router, its age should not be causing you any problems.

My router hangs if I try to use ftp over Airport. So I just connect a cable the few times I need to ftp from my laptop...

Buy a Buffalo.

I have not rest my latest one since June 28, 2008 when I installed it (my last one got fried by lightning).

The one before that ran for a few years without ever needing to be reset. Not once. And the one before that was never reset but was replaced by a "turbo" model and is (still) being used as a bridge.

Out of all the technology in my house, my Buffalo routers have always been the most stable.

DLink/Linksys have the name, but Buffalo has the game. Everyone should own a Buffalo (G) router. I can't speak for the N.

Johnsoir wrote in post #8271850
Thanks for this info all.

I took the router out of the chain, and I couldn't even connect to the internet anymore. Is this normal, in the Safari diagnostic it states that it can't find an ISP.

Yea, your cable/DSL modem must be reset (just turn it off for a minute) and your IP address needs to be refreshed on your computer. It should work if you just turn both off, turn on your modem first and when it's completely booted then turn on your computer and let it see the new connection.