WAG54G Ethernet ports not responding

Dear alt.internet.wirelessers,

I have a linksys wag54g with a wireless access working perfectly except
for ethernet ports that started losing connections in an off-on manner
and finally went dead. Sometime I see the port led flickering for
second but the connection never get established.

I tried changing the lan cable, plugged the router to my laptop,
changed the ethe card on my desktop and none have worked.

Finally I have given up and got a new linksys wag54gx2.

But what I need to know is the main cause of wag54g losing ethernet
ports connectivity and if that is some of linksys flaws.

Thanks

-aljuhani

aljuhani wrote:
> Dear alt.internet.wirelessers,
>
> I have a linksys wag54g with a wireless access working perfectly except
> for ethernet ports that started losing connections in an off-on manner
> and finally went dead. Sometime I see the port led flickering for
> second but the connection never get established.
>
> I tried changing the lan cable, plugged the router to my laptop,
> changed the ethe card on my desktop and none have worked.
>
> Finally I have given up and got a new linksys wag54gx2.
>
> But what I need to know is the main cause of wag54g losing ethernet
> ports connectivity and if that is some of linksys flaws.
>
> Thanks
>
> -aljuhani

Why not just buy a ethernet switch? You can pick up some 100 Mb
switches for a good low price. Hardware fails, especially in this
price segment of the market. If you are worried about failures get a
dedicated AP and leave the router to dedicated hardware. It will also
make your network more robust, so if a port fails in the future you
will not have to replace the whole router/AP.

Rthoreau

On 12 Aug 2006 07:06:52 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote in
<(E-Mail Removed) om>:

>aljuhani wrote:

>> I have a linksys wag54g with a wireless access working perfectly except
>> for ethernet ports that started losing connections in an off-on manner
>> and finally went dead. Sometime I see the port led flickering for
>> second but the connection never get established.
>>
>> I tried changing the lan cable, plugged the router to my laptop,
>> changed the ethe card on my desktop and none have worked.

All 4 LAN ports, or just one of them?

>> Finally I have given up and got a new linksys wag54gx2.
>>
>> But what I need to know is the main cause of wag54g losing ethernet
>> ports connectivity and if that is some of linksys flaws.

Probably just a hardware failure, a rare failure for any brand.

>Why not just buy a ethernet switch? You can pick up some 100 Mb
>switches for a good low price. ...

Won't help if all 4 LAN ports are dead because there wouldn't be
anywhere to connect it.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

aljuhani wrote:
> Dear alt.internet.wirelessers,
>
> I have a linksys wag54g with a wireless access working perfectly except
> for ethernet ports that started losing connections in an off-on manner
> and finally went dead. Sometime I see the port led flickering for
> second but the connection never get established.
>
> I tried changing the lan cable, plugged the router to my laptop,
> changed the ethe card on my desktop and none have worked.
>
> Finally I have given up and got a new linksys wag54gx2.
>
> But what I need to know is the main cause of wag54g losing ethernet
> ports connectivity and if that is some of linksys flaws.

It's a rare case. I would suspect that the wireless would go out first
and not the wire.

I like to protect such devices with a UPS/AVR to power clean and
constant so that they don't take hits from other household appliances
switching on/off spiking the line that could lead to the router going
defective.

Duane

John Navas wrote:
> On 12 Aug 2006 07:06:52 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote in
> <(E-Mail Removed) om>:
>
> >aljuhani wrote:
>
> >> I have a linksys wag54g with a wireless access working perfectly except
> >> for ethernet ports that started losing connections in an off-on manner
> >> and finally went dead. Sometime I see the port led flickering for
> >> second but the connection never get established.
> >>
> >> I tried changing the lan cable, plugged the router to my laptop,
> >> changed the ethe card on my desktop and none have worked.
>
> All 4 LAN ports, or just one of them?

Yes all the 4 ports were not establishing connections.

> >> Finally I have given up and got a new linksys wag54gx2.
> >>
> >> But what I need to know is the main cause of wag54g losing ethernet
> >> ports connectivity and if that is some of linksys flaws.
>
> Probably just a hardware failure, a rare failure for any brand.
>

Well it appears to be a hardware failure but what I was thinking about
why linksys are not making routers with multi-point failure with regard
to ethernet ports. i.e failure of one port should not affect the rest.

> >Why not just buy a ethernet switch? You can pick up some 100 Mb
> >switches for a good low price. ...
>
> Won't help if all 4 LAN ports are dead because there wouldn't be
> anywhere to connect it.

Correct.

Thanks all.

> --
> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

-aljuhani

On 12 Aug 2006 13:08:08 -0700, "aljuhani" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote in <(E-Mail Removed) .com>:

>John Navas wrote:
>> On 12 Aug 2006 07:06:52 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) wrote in
>> <(E-Mail Removed) om>:
>>
>> >aljuhani wrote:

>> >> But what I need to know is the main cause of wag54g losing ethernet
>> >> ports connectivity and if that is some of linksys flaws.
>>
>> Probably just a hardware failure, a rare failure for any brand.
>
>Well it appears to be a hardware failure but what I was thinking about
>why linksys are not making routers with multi-point failure with regard
>to ethernet ports. i.e failure of one port should not affect the rest.

Not so surprising: All 4 LAN ports are probably controlled by a single
chip.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

John Navas wrote:
> On 12 Aug 2006 13:08:08 -0700, "aljuhani" <(E-Mail Removed)>
> wrote in <(E-Mail Removed) .com>:
>
> Not so surprising: All 4 LAN ports are probably controlled by a single
> chip.

John.

Well surprise surprise. when I changed "Link Speed / duplex mode",
under the NIC advanced tab, from "auto negotiation" to "10 Mbps / half
duplex" the network connection immediately established with firm
non-flashing port led on the router!.

Any ideas?


>
> --
> Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
> John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
> Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
> Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

-aljuhani

On 13 Aug 2006 05:28:41 -0700, "aljuhani" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote in <(E-Mail Removed). com>:

>John Navas wrote:
>> On 12 Aug 2006 13:08:08 -0700, "aljuhani" <(E-Mail Removed)>
>> wrote in <(E-Mail Removed) .com>:
>>
>> Not so surprising: All 4 LAN ports are probably controlled by a single
>> chip.
>
>Well surprise surprise. when I changed "Link Speed / duplex mode",
>under the NIC advanced tab, from "auto negotiation" to "10 Mbps / half
>duplex" the network connection immediately established with firm
>non-flashing port led on the router!.
>
>Any ideas?

Autonegotiation was problematic in some early chips.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

"aljuhani" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:

>Well surprise surprise. when I changed "Link Speed / duplex mode",
>under the NIC advanced tab, from "auto negotiation" to "10 Mbps / half
>duplex" the network connection immediately established with firm
>non-flashing port led on the router!.

1. NWAY negotiation between some devices is a problem. However, I
haven't seen that problem on current hardware.

2. More common is a miswired ethernet cable with split pairs. It
will test ok for continuity, and has the correct wire connections, but
there is so much crosstalk between data pairs that full duplex fails
to function.

--
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

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> "aljuhani" <(E-Mail Removed)> hath wroth:
>
> >Well surprise surprise. when I changed "Link Speed / duplex mode",
> >under the NIC advanced tab, from "auto negotiation" to "10 Mbps / half
> >duplex" the network connection immediately established with firm
> >non-flashing port led on the router!.
>
> 1. NWAY negotiation between some devices is a problem. However, I
> haven't seen that problem on current hardware.
>
> 2. More common is a miswired ethernet cable with split pairs. It
> will test ok for continuity, and has the correct wire connections, but
> there is so much crosstalk between data pairs that full duplex fails
> to function.
>

Hello Jeff.

Thanks for your input.

The lan connection was only established at 10 Mbps and nothing above or
auto negotiation but finally I have managed to get the router working.

I had a feeling that the 3rd party firmware installed 8 months before
the problem is what causing all this so I decided to downgrade the
original firmware ver. (WAG54G_AnnexA_ETSI_v1.02.7_03_code.bin). Of
course the downgrading to said firmware was not possible thru the GUI
so I did the followings:

1. Plugged the router to my laptop at 10 Mbps connection after applying
hard-reset.

2. Downloaded tftp.exe from linksys ftp website:

ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pub/network/tftp.exe

3. Started TFTP Client and entered the gateway value 192.168.1.1 for
server, admin for password, and selected the firmware 1.02.7 to upload.

It all went well as firmware installed successfully and router auto
rebooted. I then accessed my NICs options and changed the Link Speed
back to auto negotiation mode after which the port led where lan cable
is connected started blinking and connection established at 100 Mbps
with no problems.

I then reconfigured thru GUI my ADSL specifics and authenticated ok.

Thanks to all for the Help ...

-aljuhani