Updated: I curse the Linksys router

It seemed so simple, buying a router to have liberation from the devil ethernet cords. Four hours have passed now, with the evil Linksys router electronically taunting and mocking me, over and over again.

I should have known, really, when I was reduced to chewing open the shrink wrap to get the damn box open.  The neon yellow sticker warning me to NOT touch anything until I launched the CD did not seem inherently pernicious, but that was my last warning, before my Friday night was viciously stolen from me by failure after failure.

Sure, I finally got the devil Linksys to recognize itself, after the 18th try, but it is now psychotically opposed to recognizing the internet. I would apply some anti-psychotics to the bastard appliance, but alas- there is no slot for that.

So, I must curse the devil Linksys by its evil name, the electronic beast with the mark of WRT54G on its nasty little sticker.

I curse its cables, the blue one and the yellow. I curse its antennas, both lefty and righty. I curse its power cord and its reset button. I curse its flashing lights and especially the ones that don't.  I curse its Quick Installation CD and the Wizard that lures me ever closer to committing electronic slaughter. I curse its wireless emanations and the nasty little chimes that the install program makes as it fails again, and again. I curse its coming and I will curse its departure.

Why, oh mighty Jeebus, did I buy an appliance that appeared on South Park? Why did I believe my buddy, who said this was the easy one to configure, and that the cheapest model was perfectly fine for me?  Why?  WHY?!?  WHY???????

Update:
Router still screwed- too tired to care

Ohio State History Day results for Senior Papers:
  Two finalists going to DC for nationals with topics of Conscientious Objectors WWI to Vietnam, and Workplace Reform with legal stuff from Louis Brandeis.  Alternate paper on the sinking of the Altalena.  Outstanding efforts from every one of these bright kids!

•  Tips are welcome

  Would a hammer help?

  by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:01:30 PM PDT

  •  Ach Mein Gott--We transformed dKos into Slashdot!

    by palantir on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:47:39 PM PDT

  •  Is DHCP enabled?

    If it's the only router in the system, you want DHCP enabled on it and you want to set your computers to obtain IP addresses automatically.

    When it comes to configuring the WLAN, take it one step at a time: get it working without any security, before you set up a secure network with WEP*/WPA/WPA-2.  

    *almost worthless

    You might have to restart the router and/or the computer each time you make a change to the configuration.

    by xynz on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 12:09:31 AM PDT

    •  Also...

      ...you must shut down the DHCP server on any DSL modem you have if you are using the DHCP server on the router.

      by LakeSuperior on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 10:28:30 AM PDT

  •  You have to get in to the router192.168.1.1

    from a wired source and clone the mac address of the computer you first hooked up to the modem.

    To prevent fraud (?) or some other dumb reason, the modem will pass traffic to only the  MAC address you set it up with.

    Or sacrifice a chicken.

    Best of luck

    by Tinfoil Hat on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 04:41:18 AM PDT

  •  I can't believe you're having trouble too

    I have to reinstall mine regularly, update the drivers, and perform the Worshipful Router Dance to get the damn thing to work.  

    I'm not loving Linksys just now.

    by escapee on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 05:19:07 AM PDT

  •  Yes to the hammer

    If at first it doesn't work, get a bigger hammer.
    If it breaks, it needed fixing anyway.

    by frostyinPA on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 05:56:55 AM PDT

•  Well...

  that reset button and a call to tech support might help a little more.

  Since it's late you won't have to wait on hold long.

  by ek hornbeck on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:06:47 PM PDT

•  Blessed are the packet routers.

  So says Jebus.

  by Rgandhi3k on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:07:53 PM PDT

  •  Oh god, am I supposed to have one of those?

    I miss my imac. It was such a pretty blue.

    by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:09:32 PM PDT

    •  Jebus shakes his head sadly and prays for...

      Your sad, misunderstood Linksys Router.

      by Rgandhi3k on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:23:56 PM PDT

    •  Yeah I was just looking lovingly at my Airport

      Extreme.  

      by kate mckinnon on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:03:52 PM PDT

    •  There is the problem

      If it's not a Mac you start out several steps behind....

      by luckylizard on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 07:36:05 AM PDT

•  It Doesn't Like YOU

  Sorry... ran the software, plugged it in when it told me to, I'm not terribly paranoid (and rural - no neighbors), so, no to WEP. Fired up the HP laptop (WINXP SP2), wifi card (Belkin) sez: "You're in range of this network, 'K?" I sez, "Yeah." Surf away.

  Sometimez life just sux. Commiserations.

  by Uthaclena on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:09:01 PM PDT

  •  Your Belkin Router doesn't like you either

    

    by mbayrob on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 01:40:28 AM PDT

•  A wired network is far more reliable

  But they're mostly all the same, the Linksys, the NetGear etc. The biggest hassle with it is that you can't configure it without a wire! Not just the Linksys, any of them.

  by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:09:30 PM PDT

  •  You've hit the evil part of the directions

    I have the wire plugged into the DSL, I follow the damn directions and connect the ethernet wire to the router instead- and it all goes to hell.

    Even the cat is laughing at this travesty. Likes the cord action though.

    by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:11:11 PM PDT

    •  Question

      Are you trying to get one computer on the internet or several?

      by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:14:07 PM PDT

      •  Just one. The new laptop

        Compaq presario V6000, brand new for the bargain price of $349 at BestBuy last week. I could live with the cords if they weren't so damn short. There's no phone jack in the living room and it gets old sitting at the kitchen table. I want to slouch in the living room, so wireless seemed the thing.

        by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:16:53 PM PDT

        •  That's a good price

          Have you heard of ClearWire? They have a PCMCIA modem card that does wireless broadband. You just plug it in the laptop and it gives it an IP and you're on the net.

          But, I prefer having a hardware firewall, like your Linksys router.

          Did you configure a wired gateway router before you bought this one? Do you know about 192.168.x.x IP addresses?

          I'm trying to figure out how I can help you. I have a lot of experience with this.

          by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:22:44 PM PDT

          •  Set up DSL with ATT with no problem

            Cheap, but it works other than the wire tripping. No login, no problem. It just poofs onto the screen, which is good considering my level of tech savvy.  

            How naive am I- to think that if you follow directions that this shit will work?

            by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:25:19 PM PDT

            •  So, before

              You plugged the modem into the phone line, and then plugged your computer into the modem?

              So, this is a big change then actually.

              Instead of just getting a computer on the internet, now you need to make a private network, and route traffic on your private network onto the internet.

              The way this works is that your router will have 2 network interfaces, one on the internet and one on your private network.

              Plug a cable from your computer to the Linksy ports. And plug the modem into the specially marked Linksys port. The one the says "WAN" or something like that.

              Now, from your computer, open a command shell and type:

              ping 192.168.0.1
              and if that doesn't work, try
              ping 192.168.1.1

              by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:33:24 PM PDT

              •  Dumb question #1

                Pretend you're talking to an idiot (shouldn't be hard).

                How do I open the (magic chocolate) command shell?

                by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:38:28 PM PDT

                •  Press the Start button, then choose Run

                  And in the edit box type "cmd", or "command", then enter.

                  Or maybe, with Vista, just press the start button, and then type in "cmd" or "command", whichever works.

                  At that point, it should open a window with a command prompt, waiting for you to type in a command, which is run when you hit enter.

                  Also, try this command:

                  ipconfig

                  The output should look something like this:

                  Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

                         Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . :
                         IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.107
                         Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
                         Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

                  by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:43:26 PM PDT

                  •  The computer can find the wireless router

                    With the barebones IP address- 192.168.1.1
                    But when the router tries to talk to the modem, it doesn't find it, even with cords attached.
                    Something isn't connecting with the setup.

                    BTW- I did manage to kick myself offline like five times in the last few minutes.  

                    I think my best solution is to drag home my buddy, who told me to get this devil router, and have him set it up.

                    I swear, I thought this wouldn't be such a pain.
                    I've got to read those damn papers before I go to sleep.

                    by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:54:31 PM PDT

                    •  Cool, you're 1/2 working

                      And your buddy will know how to fix it the rest of the way.

                      In any case, you can try this http://www.tech-faq.com/...

                      from your web browser.

                      And check if it is configured to obtain it's IP on the WAN dynamically, which is the setting I am guessing you need. However, you might have to configure it for a static IP.

                      And these are NOT the 192.168.x.x addresses. Remember, the router needs 2 IP's. One is the 192.168.x.x it got automatically, the other one is a real internet IP.

                      Worst case, you can call your ISP (AT&T) and ask them how you're supposed to set the IP for the router.

                      You almost have it working. And then you'll be on the internet. But after this, you'll then want to work on getting the wireless part working.

                      by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:06:42 PM PDT

                      •  Consider yourself hugged

                        ...by a baggy eyed lady with 10 history papers on "Conflict & Compromise" to read. Mercifully, no primary papers, but several on I/P conflict.

                        Sigh.

                        by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:08:57 PM PDT

  •  Wired network may be more reliable

    but impractical in many areas -- especially for households with two or more computers; I'm on the couch with the MacBook while the spouse is on the other side of the living room on the iMac, and if I get tired I can retreat to the bedroom with the MacBook if I want. :)

    by Cali Scribe on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:12:42 PM PDT

    •  Very true

      And wireless will get better in time. When you can configure it over wireless, it should be much more convenient.

      by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:16:21 PM PDT

      •  More convenient for hackers too.

        Sitting on your street...which is why you need the wire, and will probably always need the wire.

        by spotDawa on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:48:28 PM PDT

        •  I think the way it would work is based on a PIN

          One that would be printed on the device.

          by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:53:58 PM PDT

          •  I'm an idiot, I've been using somebody's wireless

            If I can make mine secure enough for somebody else not to do what I've done in the last week, I will be content.

            by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:55:56 PM PDT

            •  Configure the security options.

              It'll be on the setup and administration pages that get served by the router.

              by spotDawa on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:57:00 PM PDT

          •  Still very hackable.

            In fact, a patient hacker can also just watch the stream of your "secured" connection and crack it.  Wireless is very difficult to secure.

            by spotDawa on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:57:50 PM PDT

            •  I think that's true already though isn't it?

              A PIN based configure is no less secure than wireless itself isn't it?

              I'm not an expert on this, but right now with WAP or WEP, you have to send up a encryption key plain to get a connection, I think.

              But in any case, this is another reason I prefer a wired network. It is inherently more secure (as well as reliable).

              And another point, some devices, such as wireless print servers might not need very high security.

              Also, in the PIN based approach, once you configure it one time, I would image that attempting to re-configure it would not only require the PIN, but also the password. This would prevent someone visiting your house, writing down the PIN and then hacking into your network.

              by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:15:07 PM PDT

              •  There's always a risk.

                When you're broadcasting an encrypted communication, every time you send a packet you're also sending the key information.  Not that I know how to do it, but I have read that there is cracker software that uses this information to crack the keys.

                I figure, you do your best and take your chances.  Just like everything else.

                As for printers, a connection is generally a connection.  In fact I remember working in computer labs in college and watching the administrator pulling his hair out over trying to secure a printer connection.  Most entryways are hackable.

                Think of a steel-reinforced door with unpickable locks.  If the wall next to the door is made of wood and plaster, it's easier to just go through the damn wall.

                Locks generally just keep out the honest people, just like gun laws seldom deter criminals from finding and using guns.

                by spotDawa on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:31:49 PM PDT

  •  and a wired network is more secure

    Unless you really know what you are doing, you should have someone that knows what they are doing set up your wireless network.

    by Unbozo on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:24:51 PM PDT

  •  I don't remember needing a cable

    to configure the WRT54G. Turned it on, the Mac saw it and I went into configuration. I can do it any time.

    by fly on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:36:06 PM PDT

•  I went Buffalo a year ago

  flashed the memory with DD-WRT, and never looked back.

  Never had a problem, either :)

  by Jonathan on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:09:35 PM PDT

  •  Would flashing help?

    I'm willing to strip down at this point.

    by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:12:47 PM PDT

    •  No. But I'm guessing he needs to Spoof his PC MAC

      address (find out the MAC address with DOS command "ipconfig /all").  To spoof means setting up the router to send the MAC address of the PC to the ISP from the router's WAN end, instead of using it's own MAC address.  Everything that hooks to a network has it's own, unique MAC address, like a license plate, except routers can be configured to show the license plate of your computer instead of flashing it's own to the ISP.

      Spoof PC MAC address is probably in the manual or on the web admin screen.  It's one of those techie things few people really comprehend.  Just try it.

      After doing that, his ISP (Internet Service Provider) DHCP server will consent to provide him an usable IP address, and voila! Hot glowing internet connectivity will be his!  After that, flash anything you want, dance on a table, or lap, sit in a chair and dump a bucket of water on yourself, it should all be good.

      by antirove on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:41:25 PM PDT

•  Apple rocks!

  When I set up my first Apple Extreme Base Station, I just basically plugged it in and plugged in the Ethernet cable from my cable modem to the base station, and I was up and running in about 15 minutes (and would have been 10 if I hadn't spent 5 minutes cursing before I realized I needed to reset the modem). My iBook (later MacBook) and iMac found the connection with no problem.

  Apple -- it just works. :)

  by Cali Scribe on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:10:05 PM PDT

  •  You can't really appreciate anything that

    is too easy to use.

    Linux for the masses.

    :)  Peace

    by palantir on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:17:29 PM PDT

•  cat5 is your friend

  Why are the ethernet cables evil? They aren't! They are your friend. You can count on them. Unless you're tripping over them, I don't see the problem.

  by yet another liberal on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:11:44 PM PDT

  •  I had a Linksys Router

    wired to this computer.  It was nice one with packet inspection and a real firewall.  My power company killed it. The lights went dim and up, dim and up dim and bang!, no more lights. When the power came back, I had no router, the little lights glow but the WAN port does not work.  I am using the idiotic windows firewall and Guarddog in Linux instead.  Most of the stores around here have stopped carrying good wired routers, you can get really cheap ones or nice wireless ones.  I am thinking about just finding an old computer and running Smoothwall.

    by pgm 01 on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:55:53 PM PDT

    •  to prevent this, get a UPS

      I used to live in a place with a serious power problem with both outages and power surges.

      A UPS is a battery backup for your computer, you plug it into the wall and plug the computer and peripherals EXCEPT FOR A LASER PRINTER - use a surge protector for that) and it gives you a few minutes to shut down your system in an orderly manner or depending on software, will shut down your apps and then the OS and computer automatically. Buy one and follow the instructions (generally install the software off the CD and plug in the UPS USB cable into the computer)

      There are plenty of sub-$100 and even a few sub-$50 units. You need something that's big enough to power your system and has software compatible with your OS. (both power and compatibility info should be on the side of the box)

      That's for Windows and OSX.

      For Linux, very few companies have software available, one generally has to use a pair of open source packages that's . . . are an interesting experience to configure. I've got an article on that somewhere.

      by alizard on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 12:12:33 AM PDT

•  Poor You

  Linksys routers (especially v5) are pieces of shit.  I went through three of them.  One night I had to reboot and reinstall the router eleven times.  After that I got a Belkin, which died in about 6 months.  Now I have a Netgrear, which seems to just keep working and working.  Fine.

  by kaleidescope on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:14:11 PM PDT

•  ROTFLMAO!

  circuits, networks, passwords, security
  makes me wish for days of purity
  when we slept at night when the sun was down
  and innertubes a prop for clowns

  by palantir on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:14:57 PM PDT

  •  Here you go....

    

    No intertubes there... just a 300 baud acoustic coupler modem that you could connect to compuserve for $3.00 an hour!

    by LordMike on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:20:15 PM PDT

    •  I've got one nearly that big in the basement

      The modem got slammed in a car door and still worked.

      by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:21:31 PM PDT

    •  LOL

      computer history of palantir,
      TI 99/4, Commodore 64, Commodore 128 (still have both Commodores), ATT/Olivetti 8086 (fell of the back of a truck. At least that's what my Uncle Nello said), Gateway 486/25, Gateway dual Pentium 2 (I needed a EISA bus for some SCSI drives I 'acquired'), HomeBrew1 - dual pentium 586, Whitebox DEC Alpha AXP, HomeBrew2 - Intel Celeron (I wanted to play with overclocking and lapping the cpu to a mirror finish. I polished one a little to much :), a whitebox dual amd opteron 1st gen, and finally a dual opteron dual core (to run windows under vmware fully 64bit)

      Pure Linux geek since RedHat 5.  

      by palantir on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:41:24 PM PDT

    •  Ah, my second computer

      16K Communications Card, Videx 80-column card... with upper and lower case.

      I also had a 10MB hard drive. The most productive computer I ever had-- booted in about 2 seconds, I could start AppleWorks in about 5 seconds.

      by Olds88 on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:09:46 PM PDT

  •  Oh - I know what your should do

    ask the professional - Ted Stevens, Senator of Alaska

    he knows everything about the tubes - contact him - he'll fix it    =)

    by sara seattle on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:32:11 PM PDT

•  My WRT54G is pretty reliable.

  Occasionally however, Vista refuses to recognize my laptop's 802.11g network adaptor--it just disappears from the list in the device manager like it never existed--and I lose the connection.

  Any thoughts?

  by converse on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:17:29 PM PDT

  •  It's all Vista's fault, then, isn't it?

    I should have known.

    by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:19:49 PM PDT

    •  Seems a convenient scapegoat these days. n/t

      by converse on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:24:30 PM PDT

      •  I have Vista

        and Linksys - and everything has worked well from the beginning I set it up.

        I am just a little old grandma - with my new laptop - and got it all up and working - no problem - so I do not think that it is Vista that is causing your problem.

        by sara seattle on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:29:31 PM PDT

        •  This is not encouraging the downtrodden installee

          If this things requires grandkids, I am SOL.

          by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:32:05 PM PDT

          •  But at least - you should be happy practising

            first for children - then down the road the grandchildren will come by themselves

            Either way - best of luck to you....

            by sara seattle on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:35:51 PM PDT

        •  Hmm, are you

          actually Melinda Gates?  Because no one else in America has had any luck with Vista.

          by gchaucer2 on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:34:46 PM PDT

          •  Melinda is quite a bit younger than me

            and i do not have any of her money - maybe just the money she has floating around in her purse.

            Honestly - I have not had any problems - actually like some of the functions.  I am somewhat of a geek - so the differences were fine with me - like doing things in a different way --

            I know it freaks out some people - one-tracked minds and all --

            Did you see the e-mail from some V.P. within Microsoft absolutely unloading on the Vista people -- it really is too hilarious - poor guy could not get it to work - and he was NOT a happy camper.

            So either I am channeling the Vista creators and get where they were going with the tubes - or I have no idea what I am doing =) --

            either way - so far so good

            by sara seattle on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:42:01 PM PDT

            •  just figure

              you've had the kind of luck with Vista that you could have used to win a state lottery with.

              I have 42 years of computer experience (ever see a computer using a vacuum tube CPU and drum memory?) and I wouldn't even attempt Vista unless I were to try running it as a virtual machine over Linux (via VMware Server) or OSX (via VMware Server or Parallels).

              by alizard on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 12:17:56 AM PDT

              •  Oh come on - be brave

                life is full of amazing discoveries - LOL

                by sara seattle on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 07:50:30 AM PDT

                •  not this time

                  I make a living with my computer when I'm not here.
                  I've already got a stable Linux box. Why would I want to downgrade it to Vista? I'm not going to use Vista to turn it into a brick just because I can.

                  When an OS has more articles in print on how to remove it (to upgrade to XP) than how to install it, experienced IT people run the other way.

                  Apple sales were up 51% last quarter.

                  by alizard on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 03:06:10 PM PDT

•  BARACK OBAMA CONFIGURED MY ROUTER.

  So says this website anyway.

  by Michael D on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:19:01 PM PDT

•  LOL

  Interesting...I recently set one up no prob...tried to set another one up no luck at all.  

  That was for other people.  As for me, give me wire or give me longer wire.

  by BalanceSeeker on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:19:08 PM PDT

•  Sorry for your pain,

  thanking you for the laughs, and thanking heaven I stuck with the cord and never attempted wireless.

  by MissLaura on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:22:42 PM PDT

•  My linksys

  was difficult to install but it wasn't the router.  I bought a laptop about a month ago.  My desktop accessed Internet through DSL, USB connection.  I don't remember why I used USB and not ethernet from the beginning.  Long story short, going into my device manager, found my ethernet driver had not been installed.  This is probably not your problem though.  My ISP help desk got me wireless through Linksys (second level after original help got to a stopping point and the 'manager' came on line).  It also involved finding out your Linksys IP address, etc., etc.  Call your ISP tech people and get the right person.  (getting secure wireless was another story)

  by cka on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:26:03 PM PDT

  •  That seems manageable.

    But I think I've exhausted my patience for tonight.
    I've also got to read a dozen history papers for state history fair tomorrow.  The kids will be getting a baggy eyed judge, that's for sure.

    by histopresto on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:28:11 PM PDT

•  I actually had one of those.

  I gave it away.  To people I secretly hate.

  by AndyS In Colorado on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:29:57 PM PDT

•  DIR-655 or dd-wrt

  I had a Linksys and swapped out the firmware for dd-wrt

  But, by far the best move was to replace it with a D-Link DIR-655.

  Suggest that you do one or the other.

  Best of luck.

  by monkey brains on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:30:37 PM PDT

  •  I had a Linksys

    what a nightmare it was.  Best thing I ever did was get rid of it and remove the frustration and headaches.

    by RoCali on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:54:12 PM PDT

  •  What's the advantage...

    of dd-wrt? I've got a WRT54G, set it up in about 5 minutes and it's worked fine ever since.

    I've got it completely locked down. I'm on a Mac so the setup disk was useless to me I did it all from scratch.

    by fly on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:30:38 PM PDT

•  I have no

  frigging clue what that router is or is supposed to do but your diary made me laugh -- sorry.  Good luck.

  by gchaucer2 on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:31:56 PM PDT

•  Linksys sucks

  I replace mine with a ZyXel and never looked back. I'm running Vista on a laptop and desktop, plus a wireless router, same brand. I can print wirelessly from the laptop now and my network is secure!

  I switched from Mac when the computer games never came out for it.

  Bioshock...yum

  by kpbuick on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:35:16 PM PDT

•  It's always possible that it's a failure

  of the router itself.  But probably not.

  Technology sux, except when it doesn't.

  by spotDawa on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 10:49:24 PM PDT

•  Take it back and get another model. It's

  range is limited and set up is more difficult than other models.

  by lordcopper on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:02:58 PM PDT

•  No excuses

  We need those TPS reports by the end of the day!  mmmmkay?  

  by Hail Ripley on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:09:29 PM PDT

•  The lynksys should be placed

  under Shrubya's pillow. It might make him more intelligent by osmosis. Or not. It seemed fitting for the linkycist in any case.

  by cosmic debris on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:23:09 PM PDT

•  I'm black and blue from laughing so hard

  I keep falling out of my chair. But then my Linksys works.

  by raindrop on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 11:38:41 PM PDT

•  Linksys are designed to be shitty routers

  They're the cheap-o division of Cisco, who sells their routers for hundreds of dollars.  The only reason they make them is to get you used to having a wireless router, and maybe you'll decide to trade up to their non-POS models.

  by Trepanator on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 12:00:02 AM PDT

•  Dear guy....

  ...Linksys routers are golden compared to D-link routers.....

  The problem you may have may involve an interaction between your DSL modem and your router.  

  Basically, it is a contest of whether your router will function as a bridge or not and which device, the router or the modem, sends PPPoe commands.  

  The Modem may have bridge mode vs. DHCP mode and you're stuck in the interaction between the DSL modem mode and what mode your router is in.

  If the router is to serve as your DHCP server, then you may have to set the DSL modem to "bridge mode" and then use the setting of the linksys router to send the USER ID and password to the DSL modem.

  by LakeSuperior on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 12:48:44 AM PDT

  •  Ok, I'm sure your right, but I'll be damned

    if I understood a word you said.

    But then again I'm

    

    by notquitedelilah on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 02:55:15 AM PDT

    •  read the documentation

      ...You're going to have to read the documentation/manuals for both the DSL modem and the router in detail, and then what I said will make more sense.   Some of the documentation may be in PDF files on the disk you received with your router and/or modem.

      by LakeSuperior on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 10:22:35 AM PDT

    •  also...

      spend some time here.....

      http://www.linksys.com/...

      by LakeSuperior on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 10:26:23 AM PDT

•  One word. Netgear.

  Period. Best consumer routers you can buy. And even for small businesses. My router at home is business class, so I shelled out over $400 for it. But their consumer routers are reasonably priced, perform well, and are easy to configure.

  by HeartlandLiberal on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 02:50:48 AM PDT

•  Hard to diagnose in the dark, but...

  from skimming the comments and remarks below, it sounds like your router is talking to your computer behind it, but NOT communicating with the outside world.

  The key is how you are connected to the outside world via your DSL modem. The router has to face both ways, inward towards you machine(s) (that is the default 192.168.0.x IP range on most routers). But the router also has to know how to connect with your ISP, whether you must authenticate or not, and how an IP is assigned to that outward facing part of the router Interface.

  Somewhere in the router setup should be a section which you configure with questions like 'does your ISP require authentication or not', and 'does your ISP automatically assign IP number to your DSL modem' and 'what are your ISP DNS servers' and are they automatically assigned or do you have to specify them.

  Sounds like a call to support at your ISP is in order to get that part working.

  As for wireless, I would point out that just using WEP, the simplest, most basic protocol, is absolutely hopelessly insecure. Your neighbors will be able to connect and use your Internet connection, and anyone wardriving by could do the same. It is unencrypted, basically wide open.

  Your router should have at least some form of WPA, which offers at least minimal encryption. Your best bet, if your router supports it, is WPA2 with embedding of a key value, e.g. a long nonsense character string, which must be used on the computer connecting to the router in order to be allowed to connect.

  And most importantly of all, CHANGE THE ADMIN PASSWORD from the default. The criminal hackers scan the Internet constantly looking for routers on which the manufacturer default password has not been changed, so they can utilize them and hopefully machines behind them for all sorts of criminal activities. My router has a 32 character sheer nonsense password because of this.

  by HeartlandLiberal on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 03:06:11 AM PDT

•  We're having issues, too

  Have to plug in at home, it's ridiculous. Got a new cable modem because the ADSL was screwed (f-ing Telstra) and now the wireless router won't work.

  Ugh

  by AggieDemocrat on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 03:29:44 AM PDT

•  I am using that exact router.

  It works flawlessly, and I never used the CD. In fact, I use Linux as my OS, and I still have no problems. Did you try looking it up on http://www.portforward.com? They have great tutorials.

  Another thing: Have you looked at the router's settings by entering its URL? It's usually http://192.168.3.1

  by iconoclastic cat on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 03:29:51 AM PDT

  •  Heh-

    I always find them @ 192.168.2.1

    DSL modems usually @ 192.168.1.1

    ..or maybe that's just the drugs talking...

    by Remembering Jello on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 04:23:02 AM PDT

•  I went

  nuts with Linksys for 3 years because I kept getting disconnected.  My husband had main box and I didn't have enough strength.  It got to the point when I called lynx, they knew me.  My son solved problem with an interior card in 5 minutes when the company couldn't.  I'm proud that I'm probably the only senior citizen that knows all about linksys

  by paj1 on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 04:42:23 AM PDT

•  Look at this Linksys FAQ

  Look at this linksys FAQ for connecting routers to modems.....

  http://linksys.custhelp.com/...

  by LakeSuperior on Sat Apr 26, 2008 at 10:37:05 AM PDT