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l008com · May 14, 2003, 10:46 PM

I just installed a brand new linksys wireless B router, 5 ethernet ports and wireless. Before that i was (and am now) using my server to route, and a regular 10/100 switch. Thing router was nothing but a pain in the ass since i plugged it in. I kept loosing my connection, I couldn't get my machine on the net, or see each other.... I noticed that if any machine on my network would reboot, the router would stop working, and I'd have to unplug it to get it back, the reset button did nothing. Tech support told me to hold reset for 30 seconds, then unplug it while still holding reset. After that I couldn't get anything to work, no internet, couldn't even log on to the router through my browser. The lights all flashed like it was working fine, but it was dead. Then I got so pissed i unplugged everything, threw it across the room, and hooked all my old **** back up. And you can read this, so that old **** must be working pretty good. If only someone made a decent software router for 10.2. Something easy and powerful as IPNetRouter was for classic.

ghporter · May 15, 2003, 12:19 PM

It sounds like you got a bad box from Linksys. If it isn't too banged up, you should at least get your money back for it.

In general, Linksys routers work fine. Sometimes they need to be tweaked a bit for the specific user's situation, but that's usually fairly easy to do.

If having a machine (I assume a wired machine) reboot caused the switch part of the router, or even the whole router to lock up, that's pretty plain proof that the box was bad. Not being able to get it to reset (the long reset with the power off/on added causes a working router to reset to the factory defaults for the firmware), that's another definitative proof that it was faulty.

Scotttheking · May 15, 2003, 03:34 PM

So you bought a cheap little device, it was DOA, and you threw a fit.

You get what you pay for.
If you want a high quality reliable router, get something from Cisco. They cost a little more, but you get what you pay for.
Personally, I have my internet connection coming into a low end cisco router, which then goes into my server which also does the routing, which has 2 NICs, 1 intel, 1 3com. Both are quality. That then plugs into a 3com switch. I've got a linksys WAP, but I don't care that it's crap because nothing very important is on the wireless.
Sure it costs a few dollars more, but reliability is what it gets.

BTW, I sure wouldn't expect to return what you bought since you did throw it into a wall. That's your fault, not linksys'.

OpenStep · May 15, 2003, 04:09 PM

Scott, just curious what Cisco router do you have? I have a SOHO 91 that I love except I can't use the Cisco Router Web Setup on a Mac.

Scotttheking · May 15, 2003, 04:19 PM

I have a cisco 678, it's a DSL "modem" that's so much more. I actually don't use it for routing because it's routing table can't route back in, which would prevent me from running a transparent firewall, along with it sending requests to my sites back in to the server.

stevesnj · May 17, 2003, 09:23 AM

Originally posted by Scotttheking:
So you bought a cheap little device, it was DOA, and you threw a fit.
You get what you pay for.
If you want a high quality reliable router, get something from Cisco. They cost a little more, but you get what you pay for.
Personally, I have my internet connection coming into a low end cisco router, which then goes into my server which also does the routing, which has 2 NICs, 1 intel, 1 3com. Both are quality. That then plugs into a 3com switch. I've got a linksys WAP, but I don't care that it's crap because nothing very important is on the wireless.
Sure it costs a few dollars more, but reliability is what it gets.

BTW, I sure wouldn't expect to return what you bought since you did throw it into a wall. That's your fault, not linksys'.

Linksys is owned by Cisco.

l008com · May 17, 2003, 01:53 PM

Well I got my replacement yesterday, which is pretty impressive from amazon. So I hooked it up and everything seems to work fine, I updated my domains for my new IP, and now, the next day, all my web sites work fine. But I'm having another problem, that I had with the last one too when it was working. My server is rejecting all mail passwords. You type the correct password and it just says no. All 14 mail accounts I have. This happened before and when i removed the old router and went back to having my server route, my mail service returned to normal. Can anyone figure out what the problem might be, how come I can't check my mail over a linksys router.

l008com · May 17, 2003, 03:35 PM

And with this router, i can only stay connected to AIM for about a minute or two, then i time out, and send message into space or something, then a few minutes later, it will officially kick itself off and sign back one. I'm really NOT liking linksys ****

suthercd · May 18, 2003, 02:01 PM

From the terminal, type man netstat to become familiar with this command if you are not already. Run netstat and netstat -r and study the results.

Try pinging the different e-mail ports on your server. pop, imap, both secure and insecure.

Sounds like there is some sort of firewall of spam protection in place that is restricting access in your email server. The server gives several different replies after being sent a message- these can help you diagnose what's messing you up.

Craig

psu03bob · May 27, 2003, 02:26 PM

I don't know about the email problem, but I had the problem where the whole network would go down every time one of the computers would reboot or wake from sleep. It seems to be a firmware issue, i flashed the firmware on the router a befw11s4 ver. 4 with the 4/16/03 firmware and the network stays up after everyone of the computers restarts. Even though that is the version the router ships with, reflashing it seems to have fixed my problem.

l008com · May 27, 2003, 05:11 PM

Hmmm tech support had me check to amke sure I had the right version, but never had me reflash, my uncle bought the same router recently and it has the exact same problems. Thats 3 for 3.

psu03bob · 02:15 PM

The next morning the router hung when I woke my iMac from sleep. I exchanged for another router. Hopefully there will be no problems with this one. If so I am returning it for good. If I had known that Linksys did not offically support any platforms other than windows i never would have bought it.

Seconds after sending this post the first time I restarted my computer, and you can guess what happened, guess I will be returning this one too.

l008com · May 31, 2003, 02:24 PM

I've gone back to using my server as a router too, it always worked perfectly, and Since my G4 tower is always on, I'm just goona buy an airport card for it and it can be my basestation. And that be that!

jtbowden · May 31, 2003, 02:31 PM

I have the exact problem regarding the wake from sleep issue. I have to hard reset the router every time I wake my PB from sleep. Argh.

As far as the email issue, does this apply?

http://www.linksys.com/support/support.asp?spid=87

l008com · May 31, 2003, 02:34 PM

no not at all thats a whole different issue thier talking about.

jtbowden · May 31, 2003, 02:48 PM

OK, so it looks like this linksys is going to be worthless. I have always had good luck with them until now.

So, the question is, what does everyone recommend as an alternative? Basically, I need a wireless-b access point + 4-5 port router with good (as good as possible) range that does not have wake-from-sleep issue and works well with a mixed mac/pc network.

Suggestions?

l008com · May 31, 2003, 02:50 PM

Maybe some other companie's wired router and a old school airport basestation?

n~s · May 31, 2003, 08:13 PM

Originally posted by jtbowden:
OK, so it looks like this linksys is going to be worthless. I have always had good luck with them until now.

So, the question is, what does everyone recommend as an alternative? Basically, I need a wireless-b access point + 4-5 port router with good (as good as possible) range that does not have wake-from-sleep issue and works well with a mixed mac/pc network.

Suggestions?

Er, I have that now with a cheap linksys and an old Airport base station, but somehow I don't think you'll be too keen on that idea.

Sorry to hear all the horror stories. I have been using a Linksys router in a mixed pc/mac environment for over a year with no issues whatsoever. Just thought I'd mention it...don't want the reader to get the impression that all Linksys routers are s***...maybe it's a problem with recent units?

PreciousBbird · Jun 1, 2003, 09:05 AM

I have a Netgear MR 814 and it does that wake from sleep thing, too. It didn't before I had to reconfigure it, so I suspect it's something in how I have it configured that is causing the problem. I haven't fixed it because I have only one G4 on my network and reconnecting isn't a big pain.

I am mentioning this because it seems like it's not only the LinkSys routers that have the wake from sleep issue - so maybe it's not the router? Just speculating.