Linksys BEFW11S4 hangs with streaming audio

I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2 and
more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to streaming audio,
e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media Player Radio. I read
somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast in the Media Player, but that
does not seem to help. When the router hangs the only way to access
the Internet again is to power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth)
is set in bridged mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to
be reset. Other than this quirk the router works great for wired
(static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access.

Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any settings
in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled or disabled? Use
the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new wireless router? :-) I have
the larger antennas and I have wireless access all throughout my
house. I'd hate to lose that ability.

--
Regards, Ben

Plan9 <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2 and
>more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to streaming audio,
>e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media Player Radio. I read
>somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast in the Media Player, but that
>does not seem to help. When the router hangs the only way to access
>the Internet again is to power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth)
>is set in bridged mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to
>be reset. Other than this quirk the router works great for wired
>(static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access.
>
>Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any settings
>in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled or disabled? Use
>the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new wireless router? :-) I have
>the larger antennas and I have wireless access all throughout my
>house. I'd hate to lose that ability.

I have exactly the same wireless router. It hangs erratically a few
times per week. Type of traffic doesn't seem to make much difference.
I have it because it drove one of my customers nuts so I traded him
for one that works.

If you search alt.internet.wireless for "BEFW11S4 hangs", you'll get
quite a few hits on the topic.
http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=befw11s4+hangs
The current consensus is that there's no fix. It's not affected by
the firmware version. That bad news is that you'll probably have to
fix the problem by replacing the wireless router with a model that
doesn't hang, or has a heartbeat timer.

To preserve your investments in antennas, other routers with Rev-TNC
connectors are available such as the Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS. If
you decide to buy one of these, be sure to *NOT* buy a WRT54G v5. It
has problems.

--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Plan9 wrote:
> I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2 and
> more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to streaming audio,
> e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media Player Radio. I read
> somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast in the Media Player, but that
> does not seem to help. When the router hangs the only way to access
> the Internet again is to power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth)
> is set in bridged mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to
> be reset. Other than this quirk the router works great for wired
> (static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access.
>
> Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any settings
> in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled or disabled? Use
> the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new wireless router? :-) I have
> the larger antennas and I have wireless access all throughout my
> house. I'd hate to lose that ability.
>
One of the many
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/rema...rt=40#14667660

"Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Plan9 <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
>
>>I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2 and
>>more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to streaming audio,
>>e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media Player Radio. I read
>>somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast in the Media Player, but that
>>does not seem to help. When the router hangs the only way to access
>>the Internet again is to power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth)
>>is set in bridged mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to
>>be reset. Other than this quirk the router works great for wired
>>(static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access.
>>
>>Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any settings
>>in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled or disabled? Use
>>the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new wireless router? :-) I have
>>the larger antennas and I have wireless access all throughout my
>>house. I'd hate to lose that ability.
>
> I have exactly the same wireless router. It hangs erratically a few
> times per week. Type of traffic doesn't seem to make much difference.
> I have it because it drove one of my customers nuts so I traded him
> for one that works.
>
> If you search alt.internet.wireless for "BEFW11S4 hangs", you'll get
> quite a few hits on the topic.
> http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=befw11s4+hangs
> The current consensus is that there's no fix. It's not affected by
> the firmware version. That bad news is that you'll probably have to
> fix the problem by replacing the wireless router with a model that
> doesn't hang, or has a heartbeat timer.
>
> To preserve your investments in antennas, other routers with Rev-TNC
> connectors are available such as the Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS. If
> you decide to buy one of these, be sure to *NOT* buy a WRT54G v5. It
> has problems.
>
> --
> Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
> 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
> Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

I also run XP w/SP2 and had the same problem with the Linksys router. It
made no difference about the traffic. Hang could only be fixed by power
down cycle for the router. The good news: The problem has just gone away.
All I can attribute to fixing the problem is recent updates I have installed
for both XP and my laptop.

Anyway, good luck.

I've raised this issue with Linksys product management.

There is also a known problem with firmware 1.52.02 where the
BEFW11S4 V4 may hang when using Macintosh clients with Airport cards.
This one is seen to clear up if downgrading to 1.50.10 firmware -
it would be interesting to see whether the streaming audio issue
is also cleared up by a downgrade.

If someone (Plan9?) can readily replicate this streaming audio problem,
then please email me with your contact information.

Regards,

Aaron (@cisco.com)

---

~ "Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
~ news:(E-Mail Removed)...
~ > Plan9 <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
~ >
~ >>I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2 and
~ >>more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to streaming audio,
~ >>e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media Player Radio. I read
~ >>somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast in the Media Player, but that
~ >>does not seem to help. When the router hangs the only way to access
~ >>the Internet again is to power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth)
~ >>is set in bridged mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to
~ >>be reset. Other than this quirk the router works great for wired
~ >>(static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access.
~ >>
~ >>Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any settings
~ >>in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled or disabled? Use
~ >>the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new wireless router? :-) I have
~ >>the larger antennas and I have wireless access all throughout my
~ >>house. I'd hate to lose that ability.
~ >
~ > I have exactly the same wireless router. It hangs erratically a few
~ > times per week. Type of traffic doesn't seem to make much difference.
~ > I have it because it drove one of my customers nuts so I traded him
~ > for one that works.
~ >
~ > If you search alt.internet.wireless for "BEFW11S4 hangs", you'll get
~ > quite a few hits on the topic.
~ > http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=befw11s4+hangs
~ > The current consensus is that there's no fix. It's not affected by
~ > the firmware version. That bad news is that you'll probably have to
~ > fix the problem by replacing the wireless router with a model that
~ > doesn't hang, or has a heartbeat timer.
~ >
~ > To preserve your investments in antennas, other routers with Rev-TNC
~ > connectors are available such as the Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS. If
~ > you decide to buy one of these, be sure to *NOT* buy a WRT54G v5. It
~ > has problems.
~ >
~ > --
~ > Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
~ > 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
~ > Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
~ > Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
~
~ I also run XP w/SP2 and had the same problem with the Linksys router. It
~ made no difference about the traffic. Hang could only be fixed by power
~ down cycle for the router. The good news: The problem has just gone away.
~ All I can attribute to fixing the problem is recent updates I have installed
~ for both XP and my laptop.
~
~ Anyway, good luck.
~

Aaron Leonard cried out

> I've raised this issue with Linksys product management.
>
> There is also a known problem with firmware 1.52.02 where the
> BEFW11S4 V4 may hang when using Macintosh clients with Airport
> cards. This one is seen to clear up if downgrading to 1.50.10
> firmware - it would be interesting to see whether the streaming
> audio issue is also cleared up by a downgrade.
>
> If someone (Plan9?) can readily replicate this streaming audio
> problem, then please email me with your contact information.
>
> Regards,
>
> Aaron (@cisco.com)
>
> ---
>
> ~ "Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> message ~ news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> ~ > Plan9 <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
> ~ >
> ~ >>I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2
> and ~ >>more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to
> streaming audio, ~ >>e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media
> Player Radio. I read ~ >>somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast
> in the Media Player, but that ~ >>does not seem to help. When the
> router hangs the only way to access ~ >>the Internet again is to
> power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth) ~ >>is set in bridged
> mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to ~ >>be reset.
> Other than this quirk the router works great for wired ~
> >>(static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access. ~ >>
> ~ >>Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any
> settings ~ >>in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled
> or disabled? Use ~ >>the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new
> wireless router? :-) I have ~ >>the larger antennas and I have
> wireless access all throughout my ~ >>house. I'd hate to lose
> that ability. ~ >
> ~ > I have exactly the same wireless router. It hangs erratically
> a few ~ > times per week. Type of traffic doesn't seem to make
> much difference. ~ > I have it because it drove one of my
> customers nuts so I traded him ~ > for one that works.
> ~ >
> ~ > If you search alt.internet.wireless for "BEFW11S4 hangs",
> you'll get ~ > quite a few hits on the topic.
> ~ > http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=befw11s4+hangs
> ~ > The current consensus is that there's no fix. It's not
> affected by ~ > the firmware version. That bad news is that
> you'll probably have to ~ > fix the problem by replacing the
> wireless router with a model that ~ > doesn't hang, or has a
> heartbeat timer. ~ >
> ~ > To preserve your investments in antennas, other routers with
> Rev-TNC ~ > connectors are available such as the Linksys WRT54G or
> WRT54GS. If ~ > you decide to buy one of these, be sure to *NOT*
> buy a WRT54G v5. It ~ > has problems.
> ~ >
> ~ > --
> ~ > Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
> ~ > 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> ~ > Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
> ~ > Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
> ~
> ~ I also run XP w/SP2 and had the same problem with the Linksys
> router. It ~ made no difference about the traffic. Hang could
> only be fixed by power ~ down cycle for the router. The good
> news: The problem has just gone away. ~ All I can attribute to
> fixing the problem is recent updates I have installed ~ for both
> XP and my laptop. ~
> ~ Anyway, good luck.
> ~
>
>

more than just steaming audio/video kills mine. Sometimes it will
jsut die because it doesnt like the website I visited. Sometimes it
just get's "sleepy" I guess and decideds to die for no reason at
all!!

On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 11:32:36 -0700, Aaron Leonard <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>I've raised this issue with Linksys product management.

Raise it again. Go to:
http://www.pcflank.com/exploits.htm
Run the router exploits test. My BEFW11S4v4 hangs on two of the test
(I forgot which ones). It's been hanging since the initial firmware
release. 4 other BEFW11S4v4 routers also hang on this test.

--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558 (E-Mail Removed)
# http://802.11junk.com (E-Mail Removed)
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS

Jeff Liebermann cried out

> http://www.pcflank.com/exploits.htm

Mine passes all tests but still hangs whenever it wants

Where I live it was 12/29/2005 1:32 PM, when Aaron Leonard wrote:

> I've raised this issue with Linksys product management.
>
> There is also a known problem with firmware 1.52.02 where the
> BEFW11S4 V4 may hang when using Macintosh clients with Airport cards.
> This one is seen to clear up if downgrading to 1.50.10 firmware -
> it would be interesting to see whether the streaming audio issue
> is also cleared up by a downgrade.
>
> If someone (Plan9?) can readily replicate this streaming audio problem,
> then please email me with your contact information.
>
> Regards,
>
> Aaron (@cisco.com)
>
> ---
>
> ~ "Jeff Liebermann" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> ~ news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> ~ > Plan9 <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
> ~ >
> ~ >>I am using a BEFW11S4 (V4 firmware 1.52.02) and Windows XP SP2 and
> ~ >>more times than not the BEFW11S4 hangs if I listen to streaming audio,
> ~ >>e.g. Amazon.com music clips, or Windows Media Player Radio. I read
> ~ >>somewhere to disable UDP and Multicast in the Media Player, but that
> ~ >>does not seem to help. When the router hangs the only way to access
> ~ >>the Internet again is to power cycle it. My Westell 2100 (Bellsouth)
> ~ >>is set in bridged mode and simply acts as a modem and does not need to
> ~ >>be reset. Other than this quirk the router works great for wired
> ~ >>(static IP) and wireless (DHCP) access.
> ~ >>
> ~ >>Should I back off to a previous version of the firmware? Any settings
> ~ >>in the BEFW11S4 that I should make sure are enabled or disabled? Use
> ~ >>the BEFW11S4 as a doorstop and buy a new wireless router? :-) I have
> ~ >>the larger antennas and I have wireless access all throughout my
> ~ >>house. I'd hate to lose that ability.
> ~ >
> ~ > I have exactly the same wireless router. It hangs erratically a few
> ~ > times per week. Type of traffic doesn't seem to make much difference.
> ~ > I have it because it drove one of my customers nuts so I traded him
> ~ > for one that works.
> ~ >
> ~ > If you search alt.internet.wireless for "BEFW11S4 hangs", you'll get
> ~ > quite a few hits on the topic.
> ~ > http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=befw11s4+hangs
> ~ > The current consensus is that there's no fix. It's not affected by
> ~ > the firmware version. That bad news is that you'll probably have to
> ~ > fix the problem by replacing the wireless router with a model that
> ~ > doesn't hang, or has a heartbeat timer.
> ~ >
> ~ > To preserve your investments in antennas, other routers with Rev-TNC
> ~ > connectors are available such as the Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS. If
> ~ > you decide to buy one of these, be sure to *NOT* buy a WRT54G v5. It
> ~ > has problems.
> ~ >
> ~ > --
> ~ > Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
> ~ > 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
> ~ > Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
> ~ > Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
> ~
> ~ I also run XP w/SP2 and had the same problem with the Linksys router. It
> ~ made no difference about the traffic. Hang could only be fixed by power
> ~ down cycle for the router. The good news: The problem has just gone away.
> ~ All I can attribute to fixing the problem is recent updates I have installed
> ~ for both XP and my laptop.
> ~
> ~ Anyway, good luck.
> ~

I am now the proud owner/user of a WRT54G V4 (last one on the shelf at
a local WalMart). But I'll continue to play with the BEFW11S4 over
the next few weeks for fun and giggles.

Aaron I have contacted you via PM about testing the BEFW11S4.

--
Regards, Ben

Jeff Liebermann <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>On Thu, 29 Dec 2005 11:32:36 -0700, Aaron Leonard <(E-Mail Removed)>
>wrote:
>
>>I've raised this issue with Linksys product management.
>
>Raise it again. Go to:
> http://www.pcflank.com/exploits.htm
>Run the router exploits test. My BEFW11S4v4 hangs on two of the test
>(I forgot which ones). It's been hanging since the initial firmware
>release. 4 other BEFW11S4v4 routers also hang on this test.

Ok, I lied. I just ran the tests again. My BEFW11S4 v4 1.52.02
firmware. It hangs the router on the TARGA3 test repeatedly and
passes on the other exploits.

Targa3 is a denial-of-service attack aimed at systems with IP stack
vulnerabilities. Targa3 sends random malformed IP packets that cause
some IP stacks to crash or act unexpectedly. Malformed IP packets
consist of invalid fragmentation, protocol, packet size, header
values, options, offsets, tcp segments, and routing flags. Once the
TCP stack received the invalid packet, the kernel had to allocate
resources to handle the packet. If enough malformed packets were
received, the system would crash because of exhausted resources.
Targa3 can be used to test firewalls and routers for stability and
reactions to unexpected packets.
Affected systems: Win 95,98,Me,NT,2000
--
Jeff Liebermann (E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558