How do I know if my router is shot?

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I have a linksys W54G router that is 2+ years old. Lately, I have had many instances of “page not found”. Not all but enough to be an irritation. And more on one PC than the other. A friend suggest my router, as I had it stacked on top of my cable modem, may have led to overheating. Is this a valid scenerio? Can I test it somehow? :huh::confused:

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Try to keep your modem and router separated by a meter/yard or so, they can interfere with each other as well as cause local overheating.

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Follow the suggestion by;satrow first by all means.I would like to suggest also to do an upgrade of your firmware for the router.

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Do you know how to access your router home page? In your navigation bar type in your router’s IP address which by default is 192.168.1.1 You will be prompted to enter the ID/PW for your router. If you don’t know your IP configuration, then in XP click Start>Run> type cmd> when you get the command prompt type ipconfig>Enter and it should immediately show up. If you are using Win 7, http://www6.nohold.net/Cisco2/ukp.aspx?pid=80&vw=1&articleid=22482 use these instructions.

Once you know the number sequence to enter into your navigation bar, type it, click enter and you will see many different tabs. Click the Administration tab and in that you will find “Firmware upgrade.” Follow the instructions. I just upgraded mine I believe in December since my router is at least 5 years old.

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you said not all pc but more than the other? have you tried scanning for any malwares on that pc’s of your? btw for linksys is http://192.168.1.1 type this on your browser

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I gave instructions for finding the IP if it wasn’t known. I also know that mine is the same model, BUT uses 192.168.5.1 instead due to my local ISP config. Invariably, default is 192.168.1.1 as I posted, but not ALWAYS, that is why I gave instructions for finding it.

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You could just turn the router off for 30 seconds – may just need a gentle kick.

cheers, Paul

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Hmmm!
I bought two Linksys 54G routers at a computer show. They were supposedly “Refurbished”. Neither one would work Wirelessly.
I got the firmware updates as per the previous instructions and now both work just fine.

Yesterday, I got a new Cable Modem from my cable company, to fix some drop-out problems I’ve been having. Now none of my routers (Linksys B, Linksys G, Intellinet N) can find the internet, so today I’m running this PC on a cable, plugged directly in to the Modem. It’s a real pain in the (you know what) but at least I’m on line.
Routers can be a great improvement to a system, but some days they can be a “Demon from H***”.

Good Luck to anyone having router problems.
The Doctor

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I’m glad the firmware updates worked for you I understand your frustration with the cable modem and having to be “hard-wired.” Not at all what we have come to depend upon. Good luck!

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Dr Who,

To fix your problem, plug your router of choice in to your cable modem via ethernet cable, then plug your computer in to your router via a second ethernet cable, once you’ve done this, power cycle your cable modem, once its completed the power cycle and all lights are lit up again, open the administration console on your router and go to status page, click on the link for wan status and see if it pulled an IP address from you cable modem, it likely has.

A little history on cable modems and the docsis standard that they use. For security purposes when a cable modem powers on they “marry” themselves to the first device they see, by way of recording that devices MAC address, they will not communicate with any other device, period, until they are power cycled again, so by plugging your router in and power cycling the modem, the cable modem will “marry” itself to that router, if you want to change routers you have to power cycle the cable modem again.

If this simple fix doesnt work then its possible that your cable company hard “marries” the devices, meaning that you must call them and have them reset the MAC address relationship of your cable modem, but i haven’t heard of that being required in 10 years or more.

Hope that helps.

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