Router Overload?

[Sovereign]

I have been fighting with this router for years. It's a Linksys BEFW11S4 with the latest firmware I can find. I'll try to be brief but the problem is long and complex so that might be difficult.

I have had many problems with this router in the past, mostly my fault because I configured something incorrectly. However, this configuration (which used to work relatively well with a ~90% walk-in-and-log-on reliability) has not changed yet it has become more and more annoying to maintain.

Am I correct in assuming that one should be able to walk into the house with a laptop computer, turn it on and immediately get an IP address from the router, and seconds later be able to access the internet? If this is (supposed to be) true then my router is not living up to what we paid for.

The problem: both myself and my father have laptops with B/G adapters. The router is B. My laptop runs Windows Vista Ultimate and my father's runs Windows XP Professional SP2. For example, when I arrive home from school, I unpack my laptop and turn it on. Sometimes, my dad is home and sometimes not. Regardless, usually I receive the "Local Access Only" message from Windows, with options to "repair" by getting a new IP address or resetting the adapter. However, neither option ever works. I've tried ipconfig/ renew and release at the command line. The only way to solve the problem is usually either to reboot my laptop or run into the other room where the router is located and unplug its power cord, wait about ten seconds, and power it up again.

My dad can be right in front of it and sometimes it won't give him an IP. We are often frustrated with the "169 IPs of doom" because once the router hands you one of those, you practically must reboot to have any hope of restoring your internet.

In summary:
- The usual upon arriving at the house is to get a 169 IP with no connectivity or a "normal" 192.168.1.10x IP but be unable to access the internet.
- Updating to the latest drivers does not help
- The router itself has the latest firmware and is properly configured
- The modem is in UHP Bridge Mode, which is what I was told to do with it (otherwise it acts as a DHCP server and hands out one IP, the router tries to hand out more IPs and problems ensue)
- Often I will lose the ability to browse the Web via Firefox but my AIM and BitTorrent connections remain operational
- The problem does not seem to relate to how many people are using the connection, although when my dad and I both are on it, the chances of one or both of us getting "kicked" are much higher

Is my router incompatible with Vista or something? I have a friend who upgraded to Vista Ultimate x64 and could not get online. He was stuck with local access only even though I was plugged into the same switch and had no problems at all. I upgraded his router's firmware and all was well after that. Am I asking too much of this router? Should I replace it?

Note that when hardwired connections are used, there are virtually no problems, it's only when wireless is needed that major headaches begin.

[geokilla]

I get a similar problem as well, but it's not as extreme as yours. My router is a Linksys WRT54GS v7.I have the latest drivers and firmware as well and it seemed to help me a bit. I can get the static IPs for my computers just fine, but I always have a problem with viewing files that are being shared on the other computers.

Like you, sometimes I can't surf the web, but I am able to play online games such as MS and CS fine, or MSN will remain operational. This only happens when I am running BT as well.

For me, a simple router reset usually fixes the problem. Since my router is unplugged overnight, I usually reset my router in the afternoon.

[kenc51]

I've seen this alot with various routers, this is prolly the most common wireless issue the guys in my job come accross.
Normally re-setting TCP/IP does the trick, but I don't know how to do this with Vista, the commands just don't work

You mentioned the router is not set to be a DHCP server, but to relay DHCP requests? What's connected behind the WiFi router? Are you getting the IP from your ISP or another modem? IF it's from you ISP, then this is the problem. Windows only allows for a certain amount of time to recieve an IP address and the latency from your ISP's RADIUS/DHCP server will be way too high.....Imagine you request an IP from your ISP, that server could be miles away and the traffic has to pass through at least ~5 routers/switches. It then has to pass through your Linksys (whichh is crappy compaired to anything else on your ISP's WAN).

You should set the router to accept the IP from your ISP and use NAT to allow the router to assign you a private (192.168.x.x) address.
Are you on a DSL connection? If you are, take note of your username & password, also the "VPI & VCI" and also the protocol used (PPPoE or PPPoA etc)
If you have a DSL modem behind the WiFi router, you should set this to "bridged mode" -> this way it will only translate the DSL signal into ethernet and do nothing else. The Linksys can log you on and get assigned your public IP.

Without knowing your full setup, this is hard to troubleshoot.

[Darkstar]

I would replace it, they have gotten so cheap now, its not worth the time or headache to mess with it. I picked up a Dlink for 30 something B/G and anyone that has come over with a laptop has no problem getting an IP address.

[stev]

Have you tried searching out the problem(s) on http://www.dslreports.com ?

Kenc51 has some great input here if you plan on keeping that router.

If not, I would concure with Darkstar on getting a newer unit or swapping in another unit to see it that will solve the problem before making any additional purchases.

The BT (LW) and P2P stuff can be a headache at times. I've currently have my P2P turned off by the router's hardwire firewall. Why? Well, two of our home systems in the network became overrun by attacks that the machines in a matter of one or two downloads became totally useless to operate. The machines were hostages of some bad worm that pretends to be spyware removing software. We had to launch the recovery CD's and rebuild both machines. I lost four hours that night of good beauty sleep getting the machines back up to the normal operation for the next day.

We have only one machine for BT (LW) and P2P stuff now. It's the easiest machine to rebuild and connect to the internet.

Just because there are software firewalls and anti-spyware and anti-virus programs, a machine can still get wacked hard.

Don't get me wrong, I really like the ability that you have stated, to turn on the computer and to connect right away. But, there comes a time to use caution on how to achive that goal within reason.

[Sovereign]

I've seen this alot with various routers, this is prolly the most common wireless issue the guys in my job come accross.
Normally re-setting TCP/IP does the trick, but I don't know how to do this with Vista, the commands just don't work

You mentioned the router is not set to be a DHCP server, but to relay DHCP requests? What's connected behind the WiFi router? Are you getting the IP from your ISP or another modem? IF it's from you ISP, then this is the problem. Windows only allows for a certain amount of time to recieve an IP address and the latency from your ISP's RADIUS/DHCP server will be way too high.....Imagine you request an IP from your ISP, that server could be miles away and the traffic has to pass through at least ~5 routers/switches. It then has to pass through your Linksys (whichh is crappy compaired to anything else on your ISP's WAN).

You should set the router to accept the IP from your ISP and use NAT to allow the router to assign you a private (192.168.x.x) address.
Are you on a DSL connection? If you are, take note of your username & password, also the "VPI & VCI" and also the protocol used (PPPoE or PPPoA etc)
If you have a DSL modem behind the WiFi router, you should set this to "bridged mode" -> this way it will only translate the DSL signal into ethernet and do nothing else. The Linksys can log you on and get assigned your public IP.

Without knowing your full setup, this is hard to troubleshoot.

I'm sorry, it appears I confused you. The router is a DHCP server and is set up to receive a single IP from the ISP. It then uses NAT to allow all computers on the network to access the web. The connection is EarthLink ADSL w/PPPoE set in the router, the modem is a UHP device but it is currently in bridge mode as I stated earlier.

[kenc51]

Try changing the wireless channel