Help! LinkSys WRT54G wireless router resets itself!

I've been using my new WRT54G wireless router for the last month or
or two, and it works fine, except I have discovered it resets itself
to it's default values every so often. At first I thought it was
associated with some power outages we've been having (which, of course,
shouldn't cause this to happen anyway, since saving settings SHOULD
save them to flash), but have found that it resets itself for no
apparent reason.

Has anybody seen this problem? This ain't good, since it resets to
an insecure set of defaults.

--

(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in news:btqnk6
$e48$(E-Mail Removed):

> I've been using my new WRT54G wireless router for the last month or
> or two, and it works fine, except I have discovered it resets itself
> to it's default values every so often. At first I thought it was
> associated with some power outages we've been having (which, of course,
> shouldn't cause this to happen anyway, since saving settings SHOULD
> save them to flash), but have found that it resets itself for no
> apparent reason.
>
> Has anybody seen this problem? This ain't good, since it resets to
> an insecure set of defaults.
>

A device such as a router doesn't like bad power like spikes, brownouts,
blackouts. You should look into getting a UPS to protect your investment.

Duane

In article <Xns946D6EC90BFnotmwnotmecom@204.127.199.17>,
Duane Arnold <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in news:btqnk6
>$e48$(E-Mail Removed):
>
>> I've been using my new WRT54G wireless router for the last month or
>> or two, and it works fine, except I have discovered it resets itself
>> to it's default values every so often. At first I thought it was
>> associated with some power outages we've been having (which, of course,
>> shouldn't cause this to happen anyway, since saving settings SHOULD
>> save them to flash), but have found that it resets itself for no
>> apparent reason.
>>
>> Has anybody seen this problem? This ain't good, since it resets to
>> an insecure set of defaults.
>>
>
>A device such as a router doesn't like bad power like spikes, brownouts,
>blackouts. You should look into getting a UPS to protect your investment.

Well, the changed values are *supposed* to be saved to flash, so they
shouldn't go away. They don't when I unplug the thing, so I'd think
it wouldn't lose the settings during normal operation.

As I said, it's getting reset even without any power problems.

--

(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in news:btqqga
$gth$(E-Mail Removed):

> In article <Xns946D6EC90BFnotmwnotmecom@204.127.199.17>,
> Duane Arnold <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in
news:btqnk6
>>$e48$(E-Mail Removed):
>>
>>> I've been using my new WRT54G wireless router for the last month or
>>> or two, and it works fine, except I have discovered it resets itself
>>> to it's default values every so often. At first I thought it was
>>> associated with some power outages we've been having (which, of
course,
>>> shouldn't cause this to happen anyway, since saving settings SHOULD
>>> save them to flash), but have found that it resets itself for no
>>> apparent reason.
>>>
>>> Has anybody seen this problem? This ain't good, since it resets to
>>> an insecure set of defaults.
>>>
>>
>>A device such as a router doesn't like bad power like spikes,
brownouts,
>>blackouts. You should look into getting a UPS to protect your
investment.
>
> Well, the changed values are *supposed* to be saved to flash, so they
> shouldn't go away. They don't when I unplug the thing, so I'd think
> it wouldn't lose the settings during normal operation.
>
> As I said, it's getting reset even without any power problems.
>

Yeah,

And like I am saying, I had some issues with my BEFW11S4 v1 router when I
first purchased it. That all went away when I got that UPS and plugged
the router into it. The router has been going strong now approaching
three years in May 2004 without a peep out of it. If you go into any
computer room in the business environment where these devices are being
used, they are most likely connected to a UPS. They don't like spikes,
brownouts, blackouts or a sudden lost of power. And they will start going
defective if the situation is continuous.

Duane

In article <Xns946DCB6921B8notmwnotmecom@63.240.76.16>,
Duane Arnold <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in news:btqqga
>And like I am saying, I had some issues with my BEFW11S4 v1 router when I
>first purchased it. That all went away when I got that UPS and plugged
>the router into it. The router has been going strong now approaching
>three years in May 2004 without a peep out of it. If you go into any
>computer room in the business environment where these devices are being
>used, they are most likely connected to a UPS. They don't like spikes,
>brownouts, blackouts or a sudden lost of power. And they will start going
>defective if the situation is continuous.

Ah well, I had the impression that, these being consumer-grade devices,
they'd be less susceptible to power fluctuations (given the assumption
that the average home user won't go out and buy a UPS).

I'll see if I can get an answer back from LinkSys (Ha!) before I think
about that option. Thanks for your suggestions!

--

"Spammay Blockay" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:btqtt2$krl$(E-Mail Removed)...
> In article <Xns946DCB6921B8notmwnotmecom@63.240.76.16>,
> Duane Arnold <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in news:btqqga
> >And like I am saying, I had some issues with my BEFW11S4 v1 router when I
> >first purchased it. That all went away when I got that UPS and plugged
> >the router into it. The router has been going strong now approaching
> >three years in May 2004 without a peep out of it. If you go into any
> >computer room in the business environment where these devices are being
> >used, they are most likely connected to a UPS. They don't like spikes,
> >brownouts, blackouts or a sudden lost of power. And they will start going
> >defective if the situation is continuous.
>
> Ah well, I had the impression that, these being consumer-grade devices,
> they'd be less susceptible to power fluctuations (given the assumption
> that the average home user won't go out and buy a UPS).
>
> I'll see if I can get an answer back from LinkSys (Ha!) before I think
> about that option. Thanks for your suggestions!
>
I've been having a bitch of a time with a couple of BEFW11S4 V4 units which
exhibited some odd behaviour such as resetting to defaults every now and
again. My solution was to power them with real 12V power instead of the
16.7-17.1 that the supplied wall warts were providing. Funny how all of the
problems besides obvious programming issues disappeared.

--TW

Spammay Blockay wrote:

> Ah well, I had the impression that, these being consumer-grade devices,
> they'd be less susceptible to power fluctuations (given the assumption
> that the average home user won't go out and buy a UPS).
>

The best assumption for consumer level gear is *CHEAP*. Corners are cut, to
shave a few cents. In the communications industry, with "five nines"
reliability, the equipment is of much better quality and powered by battery
supplied -48V DC. Some equipment will have double or triple redundant
power feeds.

--

Fundamentalism is fundamentally wrong.

To reply to this message, replace everything to the left of "@" with
james.knott.

In article <btqnk6$e48$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Spammay Blockay <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>I've been using my new WRT54G wireless router for the last month or
>or two, and it works fine, except I have discovered it resets itself
>to it's default values every so often. At first I thought it was
>associated with some power outages we've been having (which, of course,
>shouldn't cause this to happen anyway, since saving settings SHOULD
>save them to flash), but have found that it resets itself for no
>apparent reason.
>
>Has anybody seen this problem? This ain't good, since it resets to
>an insecure set of defaults.
>
>--
>

Yes, I've seen this twice with one of my wrt54g's. I think that both
times it was associated with me rebooting the unit by pulling the
power and plugging it back in.

Jim

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Buzbee "I was gratified to be able to
(E-Mail Removed) answer promptly, and I did. I
http://batbox.org said I didn't know." Mark Twain

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>,
Jim Buzbee <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>In article <btqnk6$e48$(E-Mail Removed)>,
>Spammay Blockay <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>I've been using my new WRT54G wireless router for the last month or
>>or two, and it works fine, except I have discovered it resets itself
>>to it's default values every so often. At first I thought it was
>>associated with some power outages we've been having (which, of course,
>>shouldn't cause this to happen anyway, since saving settings SHOULD
>>save them to flash), but have found that it resets itself for no
>>apparent reason.
>>
>>Has anybody seen this problem? This ain't good, since it resets to
>>an insecure set of defaults.
>>
>>--
>>
>
>Yes, I've seen this twice with one of my wrt54g's. I think that both
> times it was associated with me rebooting the unit by pulling the
>power and plugging it back in.

Hmm... it *seemed* to have done this when we had a power outage
here, but then the next time it happened, we hadn't had any power
outage, so it's bizarre.

Where can a guy get a dependable, professionally-built, well-supported
wireless router?

--

Spammay, Duane there gave you some good info. Best not ignore it.

First, if you read the test reports and the cover letters for equipment
approval, it's amazing that anything works at all.

Second... Devices are running hotter, faster and being pushed to the
limit. (Sometimes with pretty junky parts. No names mentioned. <G>) This
makes them way more susceptible to power fluctuations. Different
countries, states and sometimes different counties have different rules
for what's acceptable. Some states have no rules at all and leave it up
to the power companies to decide. If you can see your lights in your
office, or home dimming, that's not a good thing for computers and
computer peripherals period. Since appliances are now using computer
chips in them, they're affected as well. You also want to consider if
your network goes down and you have a battery backup for the computers,
if the routers and gateways aren't protected, then you have a good
chance of losing information because the link to data was lost.
(Printers are plugged into a battery backup is *generally* a bad thing
and voids one, or both warranties.)

So for a good UPS, I recommend Triplite. http://www.tripplite.com They
make them with 'line massagers', that supplements very small loses in
power, protects against surges and of course the battery part. Not all
models are made with line massaging. There are other manufacturers who
make these as well. For about $105 bucks you can protect countless hours
of work and the cost of your hardware generally. It can protect your
equipment / bios from actual damage, like what you're describing with
the reboot and loss of firmware settings. I like to talk to their
engineers before purchasing, so they can recommend the model to cover
each specific workstation / server. It's free and they're real good at
what they do. The battery software will even sense a blackout, close
your applications and shut down the computer properly for you while your
away.

Spammay Blockay wrote:

>In article <Xns946DCB6921B8notmwnotmecom@63.240.76.16>,
>Duane Arnold <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>
>>(E-Mail Removed) (Spammay Blockay) wrote in news:btqqga
>>And like I am saying, I had some issues with my BEFW11S4 v1 router when I
>>first purchased it. That all went away when I got that UPS and plugged
>>the router into it. The router has been going strong now approaching
>>three years in May 2004 without a peep out of it. If you go into any
>>computer room in the business environment where these devices are being
>>used, they are most likely connected to a UPS. They don't like spikes,
>>brownouts, blackouts or a sudden lost of power. And they will start going
>>defective if the situation is continuous.
>>
>>
>
>Ah well, I had the impression that, these being consumer-grade devices,
>they'd be less susceptible to power fluctuations (given the assumption
>that the average home user won't go out and buy a UPS).
>
>I'll see if I can get an answer back from LinkSys (Ha!) before I think
>about that option. Thanks for your suggestions!
>
>
>