Linksys router problems

[LibertyPatriot]

I've been using a Linksys wireless-G router for a couple of years now.   Lately, the signal strength is very low to none.  Before I've had anywhere from 33Mbps to 54Mbps most of the time.  Now for some reason, I'm getting from 2Mbps to 11Mbps and will sometimes kick me off completely.  Also, I have an Ipaq handheld with WiFi and it won't connnect anymore, but it will connect at other hot spots in town.

Is my WiFi going south?  I don't want to go buy another one if there's is something I can do.  Do consumer units typically fail over time?

TIA,
Keith

[LibertyPatriot]

Went home at lunch and tried hitting the reset button on the back of the router.  Got the iPAQ to connect and got my iMac to connect via Cat 5 and finally got the notebook PC to connect when I dissconnected the wireless connection and then reconnected to the WiFi.  Got it to come in at 54Mbps.  I took it accross the house and fired up ABC.com and watched According to Jim.  It only hicupped once when the microwave was running and the PC was within 10 feet.  There must be something interfering with the connection.

Still though, what's the lifespan of a Wireless-G router?

[LoneWolf]

I could be a number of things Keith... I've never heard of a router going bad just sitting there. Though if you have dropped or banged it up, you could have damaged it. Also, if you have a neighbor that is using the same frequency that you are, it will degrade your routers performance. You can change it to a different frequency by logging into your router... another thing is that the firmware might be way out-of-date, so you can update that as well while your in there.

I have my Wireless Router for over 3 years and it still works fine...

WRT54G

Look under products for yours and there should be a link to the latest firmware.

[OJTV8CJ]

Umm yeah what Jimmy said!

[LoneWolf]

I know he didn't ask for all that ... but I thought I would offer it.  :agree:

[LibertyPatriot]

I did notice on my iPAQ it had another host listed, maybe it is getting confused or connected to someone elses that is "Open" instead of "Secured" like I have mine.  Since the other host could be a couple of houses away it's getting horrible signal.  All this happened after I connected at Panera a couple of weeks ago.  When I came home it must have tried connecting to the new host.  When I refreshed the list of available wireless connections it found mine and reconnected as secured with a much stronger signal.

I will take your advise, Jimmy, and update the firmware.  Although I hate to "screw" with something that works.  I have a 2nd Gen iMac running OS 8.6 connected and am afraid if I update the router my Mac may not be able to connnect again.... although it shouldn't matter as long as the routers IP address stays the same. huh?

Too confusing when I'm not actually looking at it.

Oh, and no I didn't drop it or anything like that... the unit is probably okay.

Thanks!  Just glad you didn't tell me to call the dealership...  :ahhhhh:

[DrLewall]

That makes me SICK! All this high speed talk and here I am, poor pitifull me with dialup..best connect I can do it 38.7kbs...hope you get it figger'd!  

[stripe]

I've set up a ton of Linksys WRT54G routers.  Most common solution where you keep connecting to another router is to change the channel of your router.  I'm not sure if this program works on MAC's, but a program called Network View will show you all the wireless networks available and also their channels, so you could check to see if yours is the same as another.

Also, maybe about once a month I have to power cycle my router.  I don't hit the reset (this will change it back to factory defaults), just unplug the power and reconnect.