# Linksys routers drop wireless constantly



## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

I have been having a lot of trouble lately with my wireless network. Basically, under certain situations it will constantly drop out, by which I mean all computers will lose connection with the wireless network for about 30 seconds and then reconnect.

This is happening with two different wireless routers so I don't exactly know what is happening. I usually use a Linksys WRT54GS v7 but after this started happening I borrowed a friend's Linksys WRT54G2 v1 router to test it out with no change. I also updated both router's firmware last week, and changed both router's channels to 1 in case that was a part of the problem. To clarify, only one router is being used at a time, I have just tried different steps with each one.

The other day when it was happening repeatedly, I connected one of the computers directly to the modem and had no problems so I do not think it has anything to do with my modem. 

On the network, depending on the time of day, there will be any combination of three macbooks running the latest version of snow leopard and one older PC running Windows XP. The network can drop out with only the PC, no PC, or any combo of macs. There can also be two iPhones and a Blackberry using the wireless depending on who is home.

The most consistent problems seem to occur whenever something is being uploaded. We seem to get major issues when my wife is sending relatively large files (5MB+) using her macbook's mail program (either sending through gmail or her work address). However, yesterday it was happening every 30 seconds when someone was talking on skype on her macbook while there were two other macbooks connected to the network but doing nothing more than using a browser for basics like google.

I have also noticed that this will often happen, though usually only once rather than repeatedly, when a computer that hasn't been on is turned on.

Sorry for the long post, I am just hoping some random bits of info will help figure this out as it is becoming very frustrating.

Thanks for any help.


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

can you connect a PC to the router by cable and see if the cable connection disconnects 

also can we see an xirrus screen shot here



*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* {run Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector} Download and install*
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to copy the program across to the faulty PC

Xirrus: The Leader in High Performance Wi-Fi - Advanced IT Wi-Fi Networking Tools
Direct link to the program is here Xirrus: The Leader in High Performance Wi-Fi - Advanced IT Wi-Fi Networking Tools
Then run and install the program 
if you get an error - You need NET Framework installed for the WiFi Inspector to function.

Run the program 

post a screen shot of the program running - if there are a lot of networks showing can you click on "networks" top lefthand area - so we can see all the network information, and also post which network "Adapter Name" (1st column) is yours on the list 

To post a screen shot of the active window, hold the Alt key and press the PrtScn key. Open the Windows PAINT application and Paste the screen shot. You can then use PAINT to trim to suit, and save it as a JPG format file. 
To upload it to the forum, open the full reply window and use the Manage Attachments button to upload it here.

Note:
For a reliable (or robust as the Xirrus user guide says) wireless connection you need a signal of about -70 dBm or better.
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

I will run that shortly. However, as I mentioned above, when I connected a macbook directly to the modem, it ran fine. I did this when the network kept dropping out with skype for some reason and then connected the mac using skype right to the modem and a 30-minute conversation went completely smoothly.

I am assuming xirrus is for PC only? I will run it on my PC and post what I find, but this issue has been occurring with PC, mac, etc...


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

I assumed when you said modem that was different to the router
often you have a separate modem connects to the router - so I just wanted to know if a cable connection to the router stayed on and therefore if a wireless issue only ?


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

Oh, now I understand what you mean. I will connect a computer directly to the modem and see what happens. Unfortunately, I can only really test this at a time when the wireless drops out which I can't always do on command. Installing xirrus now, will post a screen shot in a few minutes.


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

so before did you have it connected by cable to the router and if so did the cable PC also fail when the wireless failed ?

have a look at the lights on the modem and on the router and when they disconnect post back here if the lights status


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

What I did the other day was just plug one computer directly into the modem with no wireless router in between and just unplugged the wireless router just so the skype conversation could occur. The router is in another room so I have never seen what happens with the lights when the connection drops out but I am going to shortly go and try to have one computer wired to the router while I attempt to send a large email using a computer connected through the wireless network and hopefully knock out the wireless and see what happens. I have also attached a few screenshots of xirrus. There are multiple just so you can see the info for all nearby wireless networks in case that is important. As you can see, the network I use is called "tina".


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

here is the last screenshot.


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

thats a very busy environment 
channels 1 and 6 and 11 do not overlap , so they are often the best to use 
you are on channel 1 and 
you have some strong signals near you on channel 1 and 2 
you may be better off on channel 6


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

I had been on channel 6 for the past few months. I only recently moved to channel 1 about three days ago just because reading around made it seem as if since the default is 6, it is better to not be on 6. Anyway, changing channels has obviously not made a whole lot of difference.


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

> I had been on channel 6 for the past few months. I only recently moved to channel 1 about three days ago just because reading around made it seem as if since the default is 6, it is better to not be on 6. Anyway, changing channels has obviously not made a whole lot of difference.


 No but 1 is next to another strong signal on 1 and that may interfere as well 

so we are now down to testing the connection - some more tests from a PC (Not Mac) that is connected and also disconnecting

ipconfig /all and three ping tests - do the tests when its all working OK and then repeat when disconnects - also the status of all the lights on modem and router as discussed.



*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* {ipconfig /all} *
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to paste the results into something like notepad and then copy onto a machine that can access the internet and post results here

We would like to see the results from ipconfig /all post back the results in a reply here

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* then press *Enter* to open a command prompt box (A new dialogue box - black with white font, will appear on screen ):

In the command prompt window that opens, type the following command:

_Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is *NOT* a space after the / in the following command._

* ipconfig /all > network.txt & network.txt *

It will export the results to notepad and then automatically open notepad.

Now all you need to do is copy and paste those results to a reply here
to do that:
From the notepad menu - choose *Edit* - *Select all* 
all the text will be highlighted
Next
From the notepad menu - choose *Edit* - *Copy*
Now go back to the forum - reply and then right click in the reply box and *paste* 
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*


*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* {Ping Tests} *
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to paste the results into something like notepad and then copy onto a machine that can access the internet and post results here

Start> Run {search bar in Vista}> CMD to open a DOS window and type:

Type the following command 
*Ping* {plus the number thats shown against the default gateway shown in above ipconfig /all}
Post back the results
rightclick in the box
select all
enter
control key + C key - to copy
then reply here and 
control key + V to paste

Type the following command
*Ping google.com*
Post back the results
rightclick in the box
select all
enter
control key + C key - to copy
then reply here and 
control key + V to paste

Type the following command
*Ping 209.183.226.152*
post back results
rightclick in the box
select all
enter
control key + C key - to copy
then reply here and 
control key + V to paste
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

OK. Of course the one time I want my internet to get knocked out, it is becoming very very difficult to make it happen. I was able to knock it out once and ran most of the tests, however I couldn't run the last ping before the wireless reconnected. I'll post the test results below from when I am connected to the internet, and the next post will be the results I got when the wireless dropped out.

Also, when the wireless dropped out, the computer that was connected to the wireless router by a cable maintained internet access. I also saw no changes in the lights on either the router or the modem. Even the wireless light on the router kept flashing as it always does. I should also point out that when this happens, I am always still able to see my wireless network on the list of nearby wireless networks, but I am just unable to connect to it for around 20-30 seconds.

Results when PC connected to wireless:

C:\Documents and Settings\David>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : kilgore
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
DNS Suffix Search List. . . . . . : nc.rr.com

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Netw
ork)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-10-C6-D3-A0-84

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : nc.rr.com
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-CE-63-1F-15
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 209.18.47.61
209.18.47.62
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Sunday, February 27, 2011 2:52:18 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Monday, February 28, 2011 2:52:18 PM


C:\Documents and Settings\David>ping google.com

Pinging google.com [74.125.67.104] with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 74.125.67.104: bytes=32 time=1105ms TTL=54
Reply from 74.125.67.104: bytes=32 time=1200ms TTL=54
Reply from 74.125.67.104: bytes=32 time=1156ms TTL=54
Reply from 74.125.67.104: bytes=32 time=1217ms TTL=54

Ping statistics for 74.125.67.104:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1105ms, Maximum = 1217ms, Average = 1169ms

C:\Documents and Settings\David>ping 209.183.226.152

Pinging 209.183.226.152 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=1405ms TTL=51
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=1390ms TTL=51
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=1398ms TTL=51
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=1447ms TTL=51

Ping statistics for 209.183.226.152:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1390ms, Maximum = 1447ms, Average = 1410ms

C:\Documents and Settings\David>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 1ms


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

Results after wireless knocked out. I can post the ping results for 192.168.1.1 next time I get knocked out if you need it:

C:\Documents and Settings\David>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : kilgore
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Bluetooth Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Netw
ork)
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-10-C6-D3-A0-84

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network
Connection
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-13-CE-63-1F-15

C:\Documents and Settings\David>ping google.com
Ping request could not find host google.com. Please check the name and try again
.

C:\Documents and Settings\David>
C:\Documents and Settings\David>ping 209.183.226.152

Pinging 209.183.226.152 with 32 bytes of data:

Destination host unreachable.
Destination host unreachable.
Destination host unreachable.
Destination host unreachable.

Ping statistics for 209.183.226.152:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

> Also, when the wireless dropped out, the computer that was connected to the wireless router by a cable maintained internet access. I also saw no changes in the lights on either the router or the modem. Even the wireless light on the router kept flashing as it always does. I should also point out that when this happens, I am always still able to see my wireless network on the list of nearby wireless networks, but I am just unable to connect to it for around 20-30 seconds.
> 
> Read more: Linksys routers drop wireless constantly - Tech Support Forum http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...wireless-constantly-554446.html#ixzz1FC15eQ2K


Thats useful information - so looks like a wireless issue and effects ALL wireless connected devices ONLY 

I would suggest the router at this point , BUT you have already updated the router firmware and also replaced the router and still have the issue 

lets see if we can get some PING tests when disconnected


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

> Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:
> 
> Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
> Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG Network
> ...


So that confirms the wireless connection is lost 
and thats for all devices correct


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

yes, every device connected to the network when it goes out will lose internet for 20-30 seconds. and as i mentioned, this happens with two different wireless routers.


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

etaf said:


> Thats useful information - so looks like a wireless issue and effects ALL wireless connected devices ONLY
> 
> I would suggest the router at this point , BUT you have already updated the router firmware and also replaced the router and still have the issue
> 
> lets see if we can get some PING tests when disconnected


missed this reply. do you still need a ping result for 192.168.1.1 when disconnected or were the two ping tests enough information?


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

running out of ideas - if the cable connected device retains internet then we know the connection via the modem is good and therefore it must be the router or wireless interference 
there is a chance two router have identical issues - however, can you confirm the borrowed router works perfectly on wireless at the owners house 
in which case that leaves us with some forma of wireless interference at your home 
devices , such as cordless phones, or microwaves interfering - is all i can think of 

what other devices do you have that operate wirelessly ?
phones, 
microwaves 
lighting



> missed this reply. do you still need a ping result for 192.168.1.1 when disconnected or were the two ping tests enough information?


 the fact it lost its IP on the ipconfig /all was good enough


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

another random point. is it possible for one specific computer to be causing this to happen? if i really think about it, i would say that most times the wireless gets knocked out, my wife's macbook pro will be turned on. i was just talking to my sister-in-law who said that she was using skype this morning perfectly and towards the end, she lost her connection and when went to see why, found out that my wife had just woken up and turned on her computer.

now, it also happened yesterday when my wife's computer was already on and i turned on the PC, but I thought I would add this info in case it is possible for one laptop to somehow be doing this...


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

etaf said:


> running out of ideas - if the cable connected device retains internet then we know the connection via the modem is good and therefore it must be the router or wireless interference
> there is a chance two router have identical issues - however, can you confirm the borrowed router works perfectly on wireless at the owners house
> in which case that leaves us with some forma of wireless interference at your home
> devices , such as cordless phones, or microwaves interfering - is all i can think of
> ...


i don't know that we have anything else that operates wirelessly. we do have a microwave but rarely use it. we have cellphone, but no wireless landline. lighting it not wireless either.

i have been fighting with this thing for a while now and came here just because i also ran out of ideas. i feel like something on the network has to be causing it to happen and the most common culprits are the two oldest computers (my wife's macbook pro and my old PC). can this be something to do with wireless b/g? i have to admit this is getting to the limits of my wireless knowledge so i am clutching at straws a bit...

oh, and the borrowed wireless router had no issues that i know of at my friend's place.


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## etaf (Dec 28, 2008)

could be an ip conflict
can we see the ipconfig /all from all PCs 
now for macs that ifconfig 
i'm no expert on mac software - but we want to see the IP and if its assigned by dhcp or fixed address 

if for example the router assigns an ip to a PC - lets say 192.168.1.102 as your details above and also as 
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
then a fixed IP PC tries to connect with the same IP - there will be a conflict and both PCs may lose connection - not sure if the wireless will fail for any other devices at all 

worth experimenting and see if you can confirm the PC is the issue


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## alngtheway (Feb 27, 2011)

doesnt appear to be an IP conflict, I had thought of that the other day. all devices on the network are connected using DHCP and have unique IP addresses. 

i guess it is just a random mystery. i had been thinking about buying a new router but am concerned about doing that since this issue is repeatable with different routers. maybe if i just leave the linksys "family".

thanks a lot for all your help. it's definitely apprecciated!


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