Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SuperHero]

I recently picked up a router which is working great. But every 2-3 days the internet stops. when I plug my primary computer directly into the internet no problem, but wiht the router no internet.

The solution is to unplug the router for about 5-10 minutes and the internet starts working again. Any suggestions for getting around this problem?

[gsxr750r]

Routers are weird things.

This Belkin model I have worked fabulous for six months on a Dynamic IP connection via cablemodem at my old place. I swore by Belkin. I've bought three of them for myself and friends, but in every case, they worked great with Dynamic IP settings on using cable modems.

I was late getting to Youngsan to buy a friend a Belkin router once, so on a whim, I checked Johnny computer in Itaewon. I asked him if they had any Belkin Pre-N routers like mine. He said something about not carrying Belkin because it didn't work well with certain DSP connections or something. At the time, I didn't know enough to understand what he was saying.

That was last summer.

I moved a month ago, to a place where the school offers me free internet. It's on a cable attached to the school (I live in a building in the school parking lot -- no joke). To use this connection, I needed to set it into Dynamic IP mode, enter all of the #'s, etc. During this process, my Belkin router has been an absolute pain in the a$$ to set up, and started doing things it had never done before. It took me a full 2 hours, despite me knowing all of the information necessary to make it work. The odd thing is that when plugged into this Static IP line without the proper numbers inputted, the router suddenly locks up like an angry wife. It won't even let me log on via hardwire, and the wifi signal won't appear for 3 to 5 minutes (and won't connect then, anyway). Resets started taking 5 minutes instead of 1. Weird.

It never had these problems when plugged into a Dynamic IP connection. I could set it up via hardwire or wifi -- no problems. It was smooth going.

I finally got the thing going by resetting EVERYTHING on the router via pin-press for 20 secs, rebooting windows on my notebook, and inputting everything via hardwire WITHOUT plugging into the internet connection. Even after doing all of this, it still wasn't playing nice the first few reboots.

I had one disconnect like yours last night (using WEP). That's another thing -- can't get anything but WEP when using Static IP. No WPA possible on any router I've tried. There's either some setting in Windows I'm missing, or a bug in the Windows wifi firmware.

I have a 40,000 won Zio router I bought from Johnny once. It works flawlessly, and is easier to set up, despite being in Korean. It doesn't have 5 minute delays on reboots with the Static IP in play, and never lost a connection in several months.

I'm back to using the Belkin Pre-N now, but just because it's a tiny bit faster on web page uptake, and I kind of wanted a challenge to see if I could get it working. 1 reboot in less than 12 hours. We'll see how it goes.... if it starts to drive me insane, I'll switch back to the Zio.

(After writing this long message, I see that it dropped signal again... ugh....)

[Wrench]

depends what brand and what your doing.

[SuperHero]

Linksys WRT54G

the last couple of times it crapped out while just surfing - no torrents

[gsxr750r]

What version? It will say on the UPC symbol on the bottom.

v4 was great, but Linksys was a little upset that people were using 3rd party firmware too much on that router, I heard. v5 was a total remake, and sucked. They are on v8 now and from what I've read, never approached the quality of v4.

If you are really frustrated, you could try flashing it with WRT Hyperthybor (I think that's the spelling). There's a wiki on how to do it with your router. I did it last year when I had one of those routers, but found boosting the power didn't help a lot.

[SuperHero]

I've got the latest firmware as I already ran the upgrade tool and was told I was upto date. I'll look at the other option you suggested.

[gsxr750r]

It's more than just firmware. After v4, the internals were totally changed.

[Wrench]

Those routers are crap. There has been problems since version 2.2. Any open connections that have a history of 2 days or more cause the router firmware to freak out. You can try DDWRT to fix the problem but I would just dump the router.

[gsxr750r]

My v4 worked perfectly, and they did for two friends as well.

Many Korean shops sold v4 as long as possible, until they were harder to come by. If you can still find a v4, you're safe. Other versions... I can't speak for them other than to say v5 is said to really suck.

[Wrench]

I know v4 had some issues with wireless. I never had any luck with Linksys garbage ever since BEFSR41 routers. They are in my experience the biggest tripe on earth. So far I am very happy with the Buffalo router that I got. Its fast and reliable.