losing internet connection

I have a Linksys G and it is not working every time - off and on - off and on

Why???

Annie

Does your modem working though?

thanks - my modem is working but it will only work for 5 minutes or less then lose connection - then I get the message in the corner of my pc that a network cable has been unplugged when no cable is unplugged. It will go away - Internet will come back up then go through the whole thing again. I removed the modem and reset it back up but still the same thing. I have since gone back to non-wireless until I can get this figured out. This is my first time using wireless Internet so I'm sure something isn't right somewhere. I am using a Linksys G and I just went through the set up on the screen from the CD they supplied, went to my mac and had Internet. It worked for a while then it started losing connection. The wireless modem sits next to the cable modem. I'm not sure - any help would be much appreciated. I'm not going to be here this morning but will be back after lunch - any ideas??? Thanks so much

Annie

Make sure the cables going from the modem to the router are connected securely. They have to click in. Also, make sure the router cord is pluged into the slot labled "Internet" on the back of the router.

When your internet goes out again, could you tell me which lights are on, on the router and modem.

The first thing to do would be to grab something like iStumbler and check that your wireless network isn't on the same channel as another in your vicinity. Conflicting frequencies is the usual cause for randomly breaking wireless networks.

Rob said:

Make sure the cables going from the modem to the router are connected securely. They have to click in. Also, make sure the router cord is pluged into the slot labled "Internet" on the back of the router.

When your internet goes out again, could you tell me which lights are on, on the router and modem.

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The cables are all right - secured - and the router cord is in the Internet back on the router.

The lights it this: Power button is flashing and all 1-4 Ethernet and internet, and in the corner of my pc that a network cable has been unplugged.

Thanks
Annie

Annie said:

The cables are all right - secured - and the router cord is in the Internet back on the router.

The lights it this: Power button is flashing and all 1-4 Ethernet and internet, and in the corner of my pc that a network cable has been unplugged.

Thanks
Annie

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The power light show not be flashing on the router... What lights are lit up on the modem? Try plugging in directly to the modem and see if it still does it.

And about the on/off thing, is it only wireless or both?

I've seen wireless signals go off-line from various types of EMI, including from wireless phones on the 2.4 Ghz band, other wireless networks, from cell phones, from microwave usage, and from large machinery in operation. As mentioned above, try different channels-- the default ones can get saturated in some areas.

I've tried different channels - I am on right now through my DSL modem - w/out the linksys it works fine and I'm able to get on the Internet as I've always done. It's when I go through the Linksys that it has the problem. What do you mean only wireless or both? My DSL modem is not wireless if that is what you are referring. This is so frustrating! To have a laptop and not be able to access the Internet makes it pretty useless. Maybe someone can figure this out becuase I sure can't! Well going to try again and see what happens then will check back here. Thanks for all the suggestions - much appreciated.

Annie

Annie said:

I've tried different channels - I am on right now through my DSL modem - w/out the linksys it works fine and I'm able to get on the Internet as I've always done. It's when I go through the Linksys that it has the problem. What do you mean only wireless or both? My DSL modem is not wireless if that is what you are referring. This is so frustrating! To have a laptop and not be able to access the Internet makes it pretty useless. Maybe someone can figure this out becuase I sure can't! Well going to try again and see what happens then will check back here. Thanks for all the suggestions - much appreciated.

Annie

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Okay - it is working right now which proves everything is hooked up correctly. Let's see now how long it lasts. The only change I made was I put the DSL modem right next to the Linksys - would this make a difference??? The DSL modem was in the cabinet in my desk where the pc is kept then the Linksys was on top of my desk.

Thanks
Annie

Okay - it stayed up for maybe 2 minutes max then went down again - all four Ethernet lights light up and the power light flashes - sometimes the WLAN light comes on. Maybe I need to move the linksys somewhere else?? I am new at this wireless stuff so I'm at a loss. I'm going to do some research now and see if I can figure this out. If anyone knows of anything pleast post. Thanks so much!

Annie

Well it's certainly not normal behavior. Could be either the router itself or the laptop's wireless card. Have you tried the laptop on another network? Or perhaps another wireless device on your network? That would isolate where the problem is.


Edit:

Rereading the thread I think I might have had a bit confused about your set-up. What I see now is that, I think, you have a DSL modem, into a router, and have a PC plugged into the router and are using the laptop wirelessly...is this correct? If that is the case and you are getting the "cable unplugged" message on your PC and that it coincides with losing signal/internet access on the laptop, it sounds definately like your router is having problems. It looks like it's reseting every few minutes. I'd take it back and try a new one.

dan828 said:

Well it's certainly not normal behavior. Could be either the router itself or the laptop's wireless card. Have you tried the laptop on another network? Or perhaps another wireless device on your network? That would isolate where the problem is.


Edit:

Rereading the thread I think I might have had a bit confused about your set-up. What I see now is that, I think, you have a DSL modem, into a router, and have a PC plugged into the router and are using the laptop wirelessly...is this correct? If that is the case and you are getting the "cable unplugged" message on your PC and that it coincides with losing signal/internet access on the laptop, it sounds definately like your router is having problems. It looks like it's reseting every few minutes. I'd take it back and try a new one.

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I am holding my breath but I think I found the problem. I did some research (sorry should have done that before posting on here) but I use Zone Alarm firewall on my pc. I shut it off and since then it's been working. Guess I'll have to figure out why or use a different firewall - with windows you have to have one. It's been over 5 minutes now so hopefully that was it. Thanks

Annie

Have you tried to reset your modem and the router? Perhaps it will help if there is any misconfiguration.

novicew said:

Have you tried to reset your modem and the router? Perhaps it will help if there is any misconfiguration.

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Yes I have - not working still - driving me crazy!!!

Annie

My suggestion would to be to re-configure your router through your PC. If it is possible to get online (without the router) for a decent period of time, try going to Linksys.com and there are downloads that setup the router for you automatically and I know that solved my problem once, instead of following the configuration wizard that comes on the CD.

Trust me I know how frustrating it can be, because I had the hardest time setting up wireless WEP protection for me and my friends at college.

On a side note - If you do happen to try to download the software configuration through the website, do it through IE (yes I know it sucks) becuase if memory serves me correct, I couldn't access the download pages through Firefox. Also, you know that if you ever need to check the status of your Linksys router, type in the IP address 192.168.1.1 (someone back me up on if that's correct or not) into a web browser to view the many options of your router. If you can't access the router through that IP address (remember to make sure that your plugged into the router) then I would think it has something to do with the the configuration. Hope this helps! Just remember it just takes time, but you'll get it working eventually!

by any chance would you happen to have WRT 54G? I've had one, and had similar things happened (PC/Mac would lose connection every 5 or 10 mins). We even tried to update the firmware, and that did help a little. We got a new off-brand wireless router since then; but now the problem is that (sometimes) it takes forever to load a page on Mac's; while the router works perfectly on PC's.

Are you running ay other wireless devices in your home? Perhaps a Wireless home phone or some sort of music streaming hardware (not Airport) for wireless music?

hotpursuit said:

by any chance would you happen to have WRT 54G? I've had one, and had similar things happened (PC/Mac would lose connection every 5 or 10 mins). We even tried to update the firmware, and that did help a little. We got a new off-brand wireless router since then; but now the problem is that (sometimes) it takes forever to load a page on Mac's; while the router works perfectly on PC's.

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That is interesting because I have 2 Linksys WRT54G's here, one as the router and the other as an Access Point and NEVER had a problem with my wireless connection to both Macs and PC's. It's up 24 hours a day and never one problem. Most reliable router/Wireless I have ever owned.

dtravis7 said:

That is interesting because I have 2 Linksys WRT54G's here, one as the router and the other as an Access Point and NEVER had a problem with my wireless connection to both Macs and PC's. It's up 24 hours a day and never one problem. Most reliable router/Wireless I have ever owned.

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Yeah, when I bought the router from NewEgg; I've read lots of good reviews...and for the price, I was sold.