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educateur370

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Router keeps requiring reset. Continues to drop connection once or twice per week.

My network is sharing a DSL connection from ATT and is using a Linksys Router (WRT54G). My network receives an internet connection 80% of the time, but once or twice a week (especially after the weekend) it drops the connection and requires a hard restart (unplugging it).  I've tried two seperate routers (DLink and Netgear) and it has not improved the problem.  I have 4 wireless access points (Dlink DWL-2100AP)connected to the network which may be a factor, but I'm not sure...hence this question.
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imalc3142

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Since it does it with more than one router, it makes me suspect the modem.

If using PPPoE to logon the DSL account, is the router set to keep the connection alive or connect on demand?
i know what this might be ;) well the WRT54G had over heating problems.. and this woudl casue lock ups..

A firm ware update did help solve this problem though...

I agree with Imalc linksys and dlink are great home routers. but they are not ment for continous high leve throughput.

much like a gig network card on a desk top will lock up if you try to seend continous high levlels of data to it. as it is not designed or able to run at continus gig speeds. Home routers are not built to deal with high traffic volumes. most home router only run at very low levels.

for buisness get a proper buisness router. it will cost a bit more but will be uch much more stable..

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educateur370

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Your probably right about the overheating.  it's locked away in an enclosed cabinet with poor ventalation.  How about 3Com.  Do they make some good (reliable) business routers?  Adtran is a bit pricer than 3com and CISCO is definitely outside my budget.
The router is set to keep the connection alive.
i know 3com do but i have only used there switchs (which seem quite good.)

So i am sure for a small user base they will be fine...

I don't know... I mount stuff in cabinets all the time, and as long as the box's cooling holes aren't blocked that should be fine (unless it's heating the inside of the cabinet to above 90 degrees F).

There have been reports of the wall wart power supplies going south on these. If you have another power supply of the same voltage, current and tip polarity, swap them out temporarily see if that makes a difference. If the other supply is rated for more current it should still work, as the device should only draw the current it requires. Oh, and type of current, too... i.e. if it says 12VDC, don't use one that says 12VAC.

If you have a volt/ohm meter to check it with, it would be nice to see it within 10% of its rated output voltage, though within 20% is probably ok (e.g. with a 12VDC rating it should measure between 9.6 and 14.4 volts).

A warranty RMA most-likely would not even fix such a problem, because usually they tell you to return just the device, not the power supply, cables or other accessories.
i was refering to the WRT54G in particular for over heating. it was a problem with this model..

however i would still not recomend using and router produced for home broadband on a buisness line..

they are not made up to the same standerdes and are not as relible as a proper buisness router..

you dont have to spend thousands on a good router. a few hundrad will set you up with a decent one. and it will be much more stable..

you find in terms of things like network equipment you pay extra for reilibility as well as features..

Just as i would not suggest you try running a £10 NIC in a server, i dont think home broadband routers really have a place in buisness. ITs not that they are bad products. but where as I dont mind my home router dropping the connection every now and then. its not some thing you want to have to worry about in your buisness.
I don't think Cisco would've bought Linksys if they had as low an opinion of them as you do.
Thanks for all the advice from everyone.  Since "imalc3142" had the first suggestion I'm awarding him the points.
err i have a very high opinion of linksys..

in fact for the last 6 or 7 years i have only used linksys as my home router for the very reson that i know how good they cisco are!

however i also knwo from playing with linksys at home and cisco at work the differences between them.. Home routers have lots more bugs in than corprate routers. these get fixed with firmware upgrades. these bugs are often proformance bugs and bugs that casue the systems to lock up.. Corprate bugs are often more security issues getting fixed..

If linksys home routers where as stable and as good as the corprate ones then why whould any one pay £2000+ for a cisco router when they can buy a linksys home router for £60???

its like buying a nic card for a desktop.. for most purposes a £10 NIC will work fine.. buts its a fact of life that a £10 NIC will probable fail if you try to run 1gig data through it 24/7. (in fact the design of dsektop nics means they cant run at 1gig for 23/7) however spend £80 of a NIC for a server (or desktop) and it will have larget inbuilt memory, have more processing power so rely less on the CPU of the machine and do more of the work its self. and will be wuite happy running full speed 24/7..

ITs not that either are bad products. its the fact that you dont need a desktop nic to run flat out all the time. so there for you they can produce a cheaper card. Why bother paying a lot of money for something you will never uses??

And its the same with routers. Home routers are not designed for buisness use. they will work fine and in many cases will work as well as a purpose made router.. however if you want to see the problems you get with linksys rtouters go to http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php

one of my favriot sites :) and if you want to lean how to configure a linksys router. latest firmwares, and in fact anything about there routers its the place to start! there are even 3rd party firmwares :)