How I got Linksys BEFW11S4 v.4 to work reliably

I have gotten to a stable, consistently working state with the Linksys
wireless router when it's attached to a Linksys DSL router.
Here's the way it is. My DSL line is connected a BEFSR41 to which is
connected a desktop
Dell and another laptop via a USB NIC. Also to the router is connected the
BEFW11S4 ver. 4 wireless router. The wireless router is set to work in
router, not gateway mode with DHCP turned off. The BEFSR41 is 192.168.1.1
and the BEFW11S4 is set to local IP address 192.168.1.254. In the BEFW11S4
ver. 4
I have flashed ver 1.5 of the firmware from Linksys (I did a very long hard
reset on the BEFW11S4 after installing 1.5, not just a quicky power cycling.
Then I made my local settings.

It has its Internet setup screen set to a Static IP address of
192.168.1.105. I set the gateway address to 192.168.1.1 and the subnet
mask to 255.255.255.0, and I supplied a default DNS IP address.

I think this static IP setup along with ver 1.5 has been the key to the
wireless router not dropping a connection to the internet through the
BEFSR41 for over a week now through power off/on and standby mode operation
on the Gateway 200x laptop running XP and with 1-3 other wireless APs
appearing periodically from neighbors' equipment.

The Gateway 200x has the builtin Intel Pro Wireless 2100 wireless adaptor.
On
the Gateway I have the driver set not to do any power management when on
battery mode and I've disabled the XP Zero Config service, relying on
Intel's Pro Step software for configuring my wireless connection. I use
WEP, and have changed the SSID on the wireless router to something other
than the factory default and use MAC filtering to do the most I can to limit
unwanted intruders on the wireless network. I also allow the SSID to be
broadcast as I don't want the laptop latching onto other wireless AP's that
we can recieve in our house, which I've read will happen if they are
broadcasting the SSID (they do, the default SSID from Linksys and DLink) and
my access point isn't broadcasting.

Hope this info helps someone as it took a couple long weeks of fiddling to
get to this point along with some ideas gleaned from the Linksys forum at
www.broadbandreports.com .

Why didn't you just return the router? If it will not work the way Linksys
intended it to then why keep it!! This is a known problem with all BEFW11
v3 and 4's. I have gotten Amazon to give me my money back for the one I
pruchased and the 2 I got from Linksys have been returned. I am a Network
eng and work with (not for) Cisco and will never again buy any Linksys
products. T

"Larry Nolan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:qDpDb.3359$(E-Mail Removed) m:

> I have gotten to a stable, consistently working state with the Linksys
> wireless router when it's attached to a Linksys DSL router.
> Here's the way it is. My DSL line is connected a BEFSR41 to which is
> connected a desktop
> Dell and another laptop via a USB NIC. Also to the router is
> connected the BEFW11S4 ver. 4 wireless router. The wireless router is
> set to work in router, not gateway mode with DHCP turned off. The
> BEFSR41 is 192.168.1.1 and the BEFW11S4 is set to local IP address
> 192.168.1.254. In the BEFW11S4 ver. 4
> I have flashed ver 1.5 of the firmware from Linksys (I did a very long
> hard reset on the BEFW11S4 after installing 1.5, not just a quicky
> power cycling. Then I made my local settings.
>
> It has its Internet setup screen set to a Static IP address of
> 192.168.1.105. I set the gateway address to 192.168.1.1 and the
> subnet mask to 255.255.255.0, and I supplied a default DNS IP address.
>
> I think this static IP setup along with ver 1.5 has been the key to
> the wireless router not dropping a connection to the internet through
> the BEFSR41 for over a week now through power off/on and standby mode
> operation on the Gateway 200x laptop running XP and with 1-3 other
> wireless APs appearing periodically from neighbors' equipment.
>
> The Gateway 200x has the builtin Intel Pro Wireless 2100 wireless
> adaptor. On
> the Gateway I have the driver set not to do any power management when
> on battery mode and I've disabled the XP Zero Config service, relying
> on Intel's Pro Step software for configuring my wireless connection.
> I use WEP, and have changed the SSID on the wireless router to
> something other than the factory default and use MAC filtering to do
> the most I can to limit unwanted intruders on the wireless network. I
> also allow the SSID to be broadcast as I don't want the laptop
> latching onto other wireless AP's that we can recieve in our house,
> which I've read will happen if they are broadcasting the SSID (they
> do, the default SSID from Linksys and DLink) and my access point isn't
> broadcasting.
>
> Hope this info helps someone as it took a couple long weeks of
> fiddling to get to this point along with some ideas gleaned from the
> Linksys forum at www.broadbandreports.com .
>
>
>
>

You have learned a lot and what you have learned and posted here may help
someone else.

Duane

Maybe he likes to play around. Anyway it is working fine and that is
the point.

Whatever. Linksys really has a bad rep with some folks. However, this
is to be expected because it is owned by cisco. At work the cisco
routers are always messing up.

Whatever.

>>>>> "trash" == trash <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

trash> Why didn't you just return the router? If it will not work the
trash> way Linksys intended it to then why keep it!! This is a known
trash> problem with all BEFW11 v3 and 4's. I have gotten Amazon to
trash> give me my money back for the one I pruchased and the 2 I got
trash> from Linksys have been returned. I am a Network eng and work
trash> with (not for) Cisco and will never again buy any Linksys
trash> products. T

I had similar problems using a BEFW11S4 with another router (leaving the WAN
port unconnected). Setting a Static IP address on the WAN port seems to
make a HUGE difference in the router not dropping calls.

Mike Schumann

"Larry Nolan" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:qDpDb.3359$(E-Mail Removed) m...
> I have gotten to a stable, consistently working state with the Linksys
> wireless router when it's attached to a Linksys DSL router.
> Here's the way it is. My DSL line is connected a BEFSR41 to which is
> connected a desktop
> Dell and another laptop via a USB NIC. Also to the router is connected
the
> BEFW11S4 ver. 4 wireless router. The wireless router is set to work in
> router, not gateway mode with DHCP turned off. The BEFSR41 is 192.168.1.1
> and the BEFW11S4 is set to local IP address 192.168.1.254. In the
BEFW11S4
> ver. 4
> I have flashed ver 1.5 of the firmware from Linksys (I did a very long
hard
> reset on the BEFW11S4 after installing 1.5, not just a quicky power
cycling.
> Then I made my local settings.
>
> It has its Internet setup screen set to a Static IP address of
> 192.168.1.105. I set the gateway address to 192.168.1.1 and the subnet
> mask to 255.255.255.0, and I supplied a default DNS IP address.
>
> I think this static IP setup along with ver 1.5 has been the key to the
> wireless router not dropping a connection to the internet through the
> BEFSR41 for over a week now through power off/on and standby mode
operation
> on the Gateway 200x laptop running XP and with 1-3 other wireless APs
> appearing periodically from neighbors' equipment.
>
> The Gateway 200x has the builtin Intel Pro Wireless 2100 wireless adaptor.
> On
> the Gateway I have the driver set not to do any power management when on
> battery mode and I've disabled the XP Zero Config service, relying on
> Intel's Pro Step software for configuring my wireless connection. I use
> WEP, and have changed the SSID on the wireless router to something other
> than the factory default and use MAC filtering to do the most I can to
limit
> unwanted intruders on the wireless network. I also allow the SSID to be
> broadcast as I don't want the laptop latching onto other wireless AP's
that
> we can recieve in our house, which I've read will happen if they are
> broadcasting the SSID (they do, the default SSID from Linksys and DLink)
and
> my access point isn't broadcasting.
>
> Hope this info helps someone as it took a couple long weeks of fiddling to
> get to this point along with some ideas gleaned from the Linksys forum at
> www.broadbandreports.com .
>
>
>