Wireless faltering - MAC address cause?

Hi all

Having a few wireless problems, and not sure whether its the router or my M1530, and I won’t be able to check with another laptop for quite a while. Until a couple of days ago, when I added a new MAC address to ‘acceptable list’ on the Linksys WRT54GSV4 router, my wireless was working pretty okay. Since then I’m getting sporadic connections. Generally the laptop makes the connection, albeit quite slowly, and drops it again a couple of minutes later, before repeating the “Acquire IP address > Connecting ..” process. It’s now unable to hold a connection

Wired connection with the router seems to be absolutely fine and I’ve done numerous resets, etc. On a couple of occasions I’ve needed to create a new connection to the wireless, re-entering the password and network name and that’s made a connection, even though the existing connection details on the laptop are correct.

I can’t identify any logical reason why this is happening. Sometimes it will hold a reliable connection which will later start to get slower and slower, but resetting the laptop throws it off into the above loop again

Any suggestions much appreciated!

 

Well, as long as your pc is in the access list, then you should be good. Nevertheless, it may be the router's firmware that's buggy; the software might be defective in such a way that the device's wireless capability fluctuates with MAC filtering on. Try updating the firmware.

 

Thanks for the suggestion ... I'll update the firmware now, although I've always had MAC filtering on ...

 

Updated with the latest release on the Linksys website, but the problem persists. Still works fine on a wired connection though.

Could there be any value in doing a full reset of the router, and giving the network a new name, password, etc?

 

Discontinue the use of MAC Filtering. It is a very weak/poor security. Any site survey software reveal the MAC Address, down load netstumber and see for your self. It will also give you the channels that each is running on. You want yours to be on a channel that is not close for minimal interference.

Setup WPA(2) AES Personal correctly and it will be a lot more secure.

Only use a wired connection to admin a router. Wireless will corrupt the data/settings due to mini reboots a router does to load the settings.

DO NOT HIDE the SSID, doing so causes connection problems.

 

Even though that it's A+ cert type security, I still tend to hide my SSID. I have not had any problems doing this at the office and on my home network. As long as it maintains a signal it should be good.

I ten-thousand-and-one percent agree that you should not only secure your network by mac-address filtering. That's not a very secure method at all. Using some kind of sniffer app you can easily get the mac address of a computer that has access to the network, spoof your own mac address, and then get access to the network.

WPA2 AES is the best security you can have for wireless. Be sure to set up a good long passphrase/key to prevent pre-calculated attacks.

 

With Vista and even XP the wireless works much better with the SSID visiable. I had mine hidden and ran in to it constantly disconnecting and reconnecting. Made it visable and all cleared.

 

Thanks for tha advice everyone. The problem seemed to be solved after I made SSID visible, although I don't know if this was just coincidence. I shan't use a wired connection again other than for admin...

The router is setup to WPA2 TKIP security, but I'd really like to change the password to something more secure. I know this sounds daft, but is it possible to do this and, ideally, to change the network name too? Ought I just use a wired connection and change all the settings on the router, or do I need to do a full reset. I can't seem to track down the necessary instruction on the Linksys pages...

Thanks again

 

To change the WPA security passcode and the Network name you just log into the router, do it and save the changes! You can do this wirelessly but it's not recommended; so just hook up directly to the router using an ethernet cable and make the config. changes. No need for a reset.......

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Problems are persisting and I'm wondering whether there's a hardware problem instead.

I have finally been able to use another laptop which is experiencing the same dropping connection every minute or two, although the wired is 100%. I seem to need to resetup the connection details via the Network and Sharing Centre a couple of times a day as after the connection drops it sometimes tells me the connection/security details are incorrect. Also, even when sitting next to the router no connection can be made and poor wireless signal is cited as the reason.

Is there any way to test for sure whether the router has packed in, or dooe it sound from the above symptoms that this is the case?

Many thanks for any suggestions!

 

Hmmm...you've reset the router (by holding the button behind it for approx. ~30 secs) and it does the same thing? IDK, maybe the 'Wireless functionality' is failing...as odd as it may sound....I don't understand what the issue may be. If you do a reset, and just get the wireless to work w/ out doing any security configurations such as encryption, mac filtering etc. (just basic functionality) does it still act up?

 

Thanks again for the help. I tried hardware resets for the first time today with various degrees of success

Initally, having reset the router and set it back up it worked okay both wired and unwired. I was even able to add WPA2, and other settings with the connection in place. I then tried to update the firmware for the router (correct version v4), after which it stopped working with the old issues (some of) re-occuring - basically, although the wireless network was identified with full signal, whever I tried to connect it failed citing low wireless signal (100% sure it was my network I was trying to connect to)

I reset the router again and tried to set it all up once more. However, on this occassion it could not make a connection even without any security features in place - low wireless signal again

Third time - so far - seems to be okay-ish. The network picked up initially, although there seemed to be problems once the security settings were set up. I left the whole lot for an hour or so (all switched off), returned and it's working.

Must say I'm baffled and fear this is not the end of it! I wonder if it has anything to do with adjusting router settings and restarting the unit (via power socket not reset button) or even the laptop after making changes. Any suggestions about when things should and shouldn't be restarted.

Will keep you posted - working at the moment, but who knows tomorrow!

Many thanks once again

 

I continue to be baffled. Today we lost wireless after having used it fine for a couple of hours (no changes made). Several laptops showing same problem, although they could all connect "local only". One of the machines detected a low signal even though it's normally full. Several restarts, etc. have not helped, but again, back to a wired connection.

As I say, nothing is being done to router, settings, modem before it drops. It feels like the wireless bit of router is on its way out ... anyone think this sounds about right?

 

Linksys firmware and hardware has suffered cinced Sysco bought them out. The firmware has been flacky ever since they cut the cmos and ram size to prevent Linux firmware from being installed. The GS version I was on last, was junk (v2). It could only handle 1 wireless client and 1 wired before it started acting up. The reason most opt for the GL version. I do not know if dd-wrt has firmware for your version. I would see if you can return it, for the GL version or another mfg.

 

Strange thing is, I have never updated the firmware since first using the router a few years ago, so the inital problem was not caused by changes to that. On one of the occassions after a seemingly successful reset I updated to the most recent firmware, and it stopped working.

One new development - I'm on a wired connection now, but it's not naming my network, instead saying I am connected to "Network 4" (wireless switch is off). First time I've noticed this, and it won't let me log into the router admin page...

 

This is why everyone was loading after market firmware like dd-wrt. I have it loaded on a Buffalo router setup as a AP. I got this before Buffalo was forced to stop sells/imports due to a law suite injunction.

here is a link for the dd-wrt supported hardware page. http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Linksys

 

How old is the router? These things don't seem to have a particularly long service life from what I've seen (on my fourth router as of now).