WRT54G router reboots when I connect with my wife's laptop

[Kenneth John]

I notice that the power light on my Linksys WRT54G router blinks each time I connect with my wife's laptop. The manual says this indicates the router is rebooting. This happens when I first power on her laptop and again when I click on her user account to log on. I eventually connect to the router but I'm wondering if the power light should normally blink like it does.
Thanks!

[glc]

Wired or wireless?

[Kenneth John]

My wife's Sony Vaio laptop using Vista Home Premium connect to the LinkSys WRT54G router okay after it reboots one or more times. This can cause a problem with my other desktop computer that is connected to the router via a cable.
I can't figure out why the power light and Cisco Systems light goes off and then on every time she connects.
I will be happy to check out any setting on either her computer or my desktop, where I access the router control settings.
Thanks.
Ken

[Kenneth John]

It is a wireless connection on the laptop.

[rave]

two things to do:
1. upgrade your wireless drivers on your wifes laptop
2. if that doesnt fix it upgrade the firmware for the wireless router.
get back to us if it worked or not.HTH

[Kenneth John]

I checked the laptop wireless driver (Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN). Windows says that the driver is up to date when I asked the device manager to look for a newer driver version.
I found the correct firmware version on the LinkSys web site and installed it. It appeared to upgrade correctly and I reset the settings to the factory default. I then updated my SSID to what it was before and also the security to WPA Personal.
It looks like the router is still rebooting when I access it with the wireless laptop. It first reboots the router when the laptop is turned on and then will reboot the router a second time when I click on user account.

Ken

[mojo]

Check intel's website for updated drivers, windows almost never gets it right.

[toomyg]

I checked the laptop wireless driver (Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN). Windows says that the driver is up to date when I asked the device manager to look for a newer driver version.
I found the correct firmware version on the LinkSys web site and installed it. It appeared to upgrade correctly and I reset the settings to the factory default. I then updated my SSID to what it was before and also the security to WPA Personal.
It looks like the router is still rebooting when I access it with the wireless laptop. It first reboots the router when the laptop is turned on and then will reboot the router a second time when I click on user account.

Ken
Did you try LinkSys web site to see if it happens to others? sometimes there web site can be helpful.

[Kenneth John]

I called LinkSys and spoke to a person about my issue. They suggested a firmware upgrade too but I told them this was already done. The support person said that the router definitely should not reboot (power light goes off and then back on) and it could be either the router or the wireless connection in the laptop. To help determine which it is, they suggested I try to connect with a different laptop, which makes sense. I don't have one in our household so I'll see if I can get a friend to try this. I'll check out the Intel website in the mean time to see if there is a new driver there. Good suggestion! Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes.
Ken

[toomyg]

I called LinkSys and spoke to a person about my issue. They suggested a firmware upgrade too but I told them this was already done. The support person said that the router definitely should not reboot (power light goes off and then back on) and it could be either the router or the wireless connection in the laptop. To help determine which it is, they suggested I try to connect with a different laptop, which makes sense. I don't have one in our household so I'll see if I can get a friend to try this. I'll check out the Intel website in the mean time to see if there is a new driver there. Good suggestion! Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes.
Ken
Please do keep us posted to what happens because I never heard of a problem like this myself

Edit: I just thought of this... You should try an see if the ac adapter is under powering the router maybe you could get one thats the same volts,amps and polarity try it mine is a Linksys WRT54GL 12volts 1000mA your adapter should not be much different then mine. It's worth a shot to check yous out or buy a whole new router

[Kenneth John]

I have a friend coming over on Saturday, 8/25 with her laptop and we'll see what happens when she connects. This must be a new one for LinkSys too as they didn't have a clear cut answer / fix when I called them. When I just connected now (I'm sending this from the Sony laptop) the rounter rebooted THREE times. First when I turn on the laptop and twice after logging into my user account.

[Kenneth John]

I've conducted the test with having a different laptop connect to the LinkSys router via a wireless connection. Bottom line is on two separate attempts, the test laptop connected with no issues (such as causing the router to reboot). Each time I had the test laptop shut completely down, power up and then connect to my router. The test laptop was a Gateway running Windows XP.
So it looks like my wife's Sony Vaio is the cause of the router rebooting and it is not a problem with the router itself. I guess I'll just have to dig deeper into the settings on the Sony Vaio to see what could be causing it to force my LinkSys WRT54G router to reboot.

[toomyg]

Do you have any unneeded stuff running with this computers connection like in the picture I uploaded? It my look a bit different then mine but same idea applys

[Kenneth John]

Thanks for the screen shot of the network card options. I'm attaching an image of what my options are set to.
I have a nice screen image that says it's only 29K in size but the upload of it just hangs for some reason.
The following are checked for the network connection properties for my Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN:
Client for Microsoft Networks
QoS Packet Scheduler
File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks
Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)
Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
Link Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver
Link Layer Topology Discovery Responder

I hope this information helps!
Thanks.

[mojo]

Disable or remove Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6). It's a newer protocol that most devices, including your router, don't support yet.

[toomyg]

If your problem still persists the 'QoS Packet Scheduler" I my self don't use and the "Link Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver" , "Link Layer Topology Discovery Responder" I have never heard of maybe you could uncheck these and see what happens becuase you can always recheck it again if something dones not work right.

[Kenneth John]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll disable that version of the Internet Protocol and see what happens. Just for fun, I enabled the wireless MAC filtering feature and put in my wife's wireless MAC address. It didn't make a difference in that the wireless router still will reboot when I turn on her laptop. But I think I'll leave the MAC filtering on as it seems to be a better level of security. Can anybody present a reason not to use MAC wireless filtering?
Thanks again. I'll keep you posted.

[mojo]

Can anybody present a reason not to use MAC wireless filtering?
Thanks again. I'll keep you posted.

It's trivially easy for a hacker to sniff a valid mac and then pretend to have that mac and still get on your network, so it's really not providing you much security. Without any benefits, why use it when it's so much of a pita if you want to let anyone on to go and add their mac to your router settings? Use WEP or WPA(1 or 2). WPA is much more secure than WEP, but WEP is better than nothing.

[Kenneth John]

I unchecked the Internet Protocol version 6 and the Link Layer Topology options but the rounter still reboots when the wireless connects.
I see that there is some firmware called dd-wrt tht can be used with my router. I don't think I want to get involved with that sort of thing, however.
I also see that Intel has a newer version of the driver for my Intel WiFii 4965AGN card in the laptop. Intel says to use the versions that are on the coimputer manufacturer's website rather than the drivers that Intel has. I'm wondering how hard it is to update the driver and if it's a big deal to go back to the prior version if there is a problem.

[toomyg]

Installing dd-wrt is not that hard if you go step by step here http://www.bitsum.com/openwiking/owbase/ow.asp?WRT54G5_CFE
I have done this firmware flashing with 2 Linksys routers already (WRT54G V5 and WRT54GL V1.1) with no problems
What version is you WRT54G router? V5 maybe.




*EDIT: If your ever wondering what DD-WRT looks like check out this screen shot.

[Kenneth John]

I have a version 8 WRT54G router. It looks like DD-WRT only goes up to version 6?

[glc]

Version 4 was the last good WRT54G - 4 and earlier used Linux-based firmware but 5 and newer uses VXWorks which is being problematic. This is why we recommend the WRT54GL instead.

[Kenneth John]

Looking at the user reviews / comments in Newegg for my router, it seems either the reviewers love it or hate it. There were many comments about how my model has been "cheapened" in the most recent versions. I wish I had known about this prior to buying it.
I'm going to look into having a Geek Squad type of person check into the problem. I first want to get a sense that they will be able to solve the issue before I shell out money for their time. I will keep you posted.

[glc]

A new router will be cheaper than paying ANYONE to look at your problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190

[mojo]

He's right, I think the minimum charge for having geek squad come to your house if about $120.

[Kenneth John]

I can see your point about buying a new router before I have a "geek" come to the house to fix the problem (if they can).
My wife's Sony Vaio has the ability to use the latest "n" wireless technology. I'm wondering if I do buy a new router whether it might make more sense to buy a "n" version since they seem to have some clear advantages.
I'd welcome any comments about going the "n" route and what I might gain. We don't have any issues with signal strength with our current "g" router, just that darn rebooting issue when the laptop connects.

[toomyg]

Did you try disabling the SES (Secure Easy Setup) option on that router? If you already posted that sorry to ask again I missed it

[glc]

"N" is still not a final standard.

[mojo]

If you do get N, make sure to get a draft 2 product as the draft 1 products were terrible. If it were me I would just wait until it becomes a final standard.

[Kenneth John]

Thanks for the "N" feedback and the SES suggestion. I did disable the router's SES function but it still reboots when the wireless connection takes place. (It just did this, as I'm composing this reply. The router got "hung" so I had to unplug the power cord to get it working again).
Another network technician I called also suggested trying a different brand of router to see if the problem persists. His suggestion was a simple "g" Netgear router. If the problem doesn't go away, then he said to just return the router. It should be noted that he also appeared to be a "seasoned" troubleshooter but he's never heard of something like this.
I'm going to buy that Netgear router next week and see what happens. I'll be sure to keep everybody posted. Thanks again.

[Kenneth John]

I bought the Netgear WGR614 wireless g router and installed it earlier this week. So far, the laptop has been connecting reliably each time and not going through the "router reboot dance" several times like the Linksys did. The signal strength is excellent and the speed seems to be fine. I didn't have to do a thing to the laptop to get it to connect.
So it looks like the Netgear is a "keeper" and the Linksys router will go to the dumps eventually. I like the user interface for the Netgear much better. It's better organized and easier to find what you're looking for. Netgear also has a nice, simple radio button to click to check to see if there is a newer version of firmware.
Thanks again to all of the forum members that offered their assistance /advice. In the end you saved me some serious money by suggesting I purchase a different router and not get a "geek" involved. The Netgear router was a heck of a lot cheaper!