wireless router

[FJRay]

For years my router has been rock solid. In the last week It keeps losing its way and I have to unplug it and wait a bit and plug it in again. It will be OK for an hour or a day then it takes a **** again.

So the question is ,Do these things wear out and require replacement or is it a softwear thing???. I have no skills in this area unless I can fix it with a wrench or a welder.

 

[wfooshee]

Yeah, like any electronic device, components will age and connections will die. Resistors change values, solder joints deteriorate, whatever. Entropy at work.

 

[FJR Flyer]

Funny, our router just took a dump the other night. No lights, no connection. Power supply checked good. Took it appart, found a buttom inside behind the cisci logo, pushed it and it powered up. Had to hit the reset button to get the wireless to hook up. See how long it lasts.

 

[ionbeam]

Yeah, like any electronic device, components will age and connections will die. Resistors change values, solder joints deteriorate, whatever. Entropy at work.

And sensitivity to heat is often the first symptom. Have you moved the device recently or altered the air flow? If it is flaky you can try putting a small fan on it to keep it up and running while you seek the final solution -- a replacement unit.

 

[yamafitter]

Electronics is all smoke & mirrors. Once you let the smoke out, it's done.

 

[Ignacio]

I've had two different LinkSys wireless routers **** the bed over the years...one just the WiFi part and the other overall. Both tended to get worse in that a power cycle would fix for a while...eventually it was less frustrating to buy a new unit (and faster). Their price point makes them still attractive though.

 

[HaulinAshe]

I've had two different LinkSys wireless routers **** the bed over the years...one just the WiFi part and the other overall. Both tended to get worse in that a power cycle would fix for a while...eventually it was less frustrating to buy a new unit (and faster). Their price point makes them still attractive though.

+1

This one is on sale right now at Best Buy.

 

[FJRay]

I've had two different LinkSys wireless routers **** the bed over the years...one just the WiFi part and the other overall. Both tended to get worse in that a power cycle would fix for a while...eventually it was less frustrating to buy a new unit (and faster). Their price point makes them still attractive though.

+1

This one is on sale right now at Best Buy.

Any idea of the range on this one ??? It doesn't say in the add

My router is in my shop and the other three computers are in my house about 75 feet away

 

[johnny80s]

This might help too.

reviews

 

[Donal]

I had a similar problem with a Netgear Router, it needed frequent resets to keep it operating. Finally went to the Netgear site, downloaded the latest version of the firmware and it's been rock solid ever since!

Don

 

[03HiYoSilver]

I've had two different LinkSys wireless routers **** the bed over the years...one just the WiFi part and the other overall. Both tended to get worse in that a power cycle would fix for a while...eventually it was less frustrating to buy a new unit (and faster). Their price point makes them still attractive though.

+1

This one is on sale right now at Best Buy.

Any idea of the range on this one ??? It doesn't say in the add

My router is in my shop and the other three computers are in my house about 75 feet away

FJRay,

It could be your Bios Battery in your current unit is Dead and Not Keeping its Firmware info just like the Desktop/Laptop computers. Your Battery Replacement, if it has one, should get working Normal again.

If you get another Wireless Unit, do Check your Frequencies of your Router/Modems against your Wireless Phones in your house... they Can and Do interfere with each other.

 

[bikerskier]

I've had two different LinkSys wireless routers **** the bed over the years...one just the WiFi part and the other overall. Both tended to get worse in that a power cycle would fix for a while...eventually it was less frustrating to buy a new unit (and faster). Their price point makes them still attractive though.

+1

This one is on sale right now at Best Buy.

Any idea of the range on this one ??? It doesn't say in the add

My router is in my shop and the other three computers are in my house about 75 feet away

I just tossed my 2nd Linksys router and replaced it with a Motorola SURFboard, eXtreme Wireless Cable Modem Gateway... How's that for a crap load of description. Both modem and router combined in one unit. Around $140 at Best Buy. So far so good.

 

[Patriot]

my two soup cans are looking like they'll last forever

the kite string eventually wore out over the years, but longevity is greatly improved with the current monofilament line; lightest test has highest clarity

 

[FJRay]

my two soup cans are looking like they'll last forever

the kite string eventually wore out over the years, but longevity is greatly improved with the current monofilament line; lightest test has highest clarity

This from the guy with the brain of a Basset Hound. I have tried to get my Basset to help on this but she has better things to do.

 

[Tree Doc]

I've had Linksys AND Netgear's cook off over the last few years. Maybe 2 of each now. Just replaced a Linksys last week with a new Netgear. I don't think ANY of them are designed to last that long. Fortunately, they're relatively inexpensive.

 

[wfooshee]

Range is not going to be significantly different from one brand to another. FCC's got a pretty tight lid on what radiates from those things.

 

[allrider]

I bought a lynksys E3000 wireless router a month ago. The guy said they only last two years or so before they start to lose their range and then go belly up. I was surprised because i have ones that lasted much longer.

 

[Bounce]

you can do a few things like keep it cool and run it off your UPS like your PC should be hooked to. Keeping the power clean, the physical unit clean, and keeping it cool is about the best you can do to help it last as long as possible. My new Cyberpower UPS came in right after the rolling blackouts that DFW initiated to make sure the jackasses over at the Superbowl wouldn't be inconvenienced. The change from my old UPS (that went tango uniform after many years) is that there's an LCD display that show various statistics. Seems the normal power isn't too "normal" with lots of sags and micro-outages as well as commercial power swinging off the 120v norm (115 to 125). None of these variations help the life of electronics.

[btw: after that little eye opener, i got a "pure sine wave output" UPS for the home theater system since all that crap is nothing more than a collection of specialty computers these days. the "pure sine wave output" is a deal that audio/video equipment prefer that isn't as critical for PCs.]

 

[Geezer]

I use a D-Link (model DI524) 802.11g wireless router that I bought for my kid when she went to school 10 years ago. It cost me $10 at Best Buy on clearance. It's been working fine all that time and gets plenty of use every day. We have 4 computers and a printer all using that $10 router at the same time.

I wonder if the newer technologies generate more heat and burn themselves out faster.