Steeeenking Netgear Wireless!

[osgood]

A few months ago I bought a Netgear wireless modem/router. The newest model N300, I believe.
It just didn't work at all, straight out of the box and the Netgear phone support said just update the firmware. The only firmware available was exactly what was installed so that didn't work. Sent it back!

Got the old model (DGN2000 from memory) that was supposed to be ultra reliable. Yaaay....it works, perfectly......for about two months then the wireless just quits. Cable connections work fine.

Have to send it back for repair or replacement, but have nothing else to use while getting sorted.

Will now have to buy another one to use while the broken one is away.


Oh yeah, bought an Epson TX710W wireless printer a few months before that. Set it up and managed to get one page to print wirelessly, but never happened again. Epson phone tech support spent an hour on the phone with me and had to admit defeat. Couldn't get it to work either.

That make 100% success rate of stuffing up wireless technology.

Have come to the conclusion that I must emit some sort of strange electronic interference that zaps anything with wireless capability.

This is just to make you aware of this situation so no-one will ever make the mistake of allowing me within 20 yards of any wireless equipment.....if you know what's good for you!

 

[Bob Doyle]

I have/had an old Cisco wireless that I successfully turned into a brick It had been working "just fine" for 2-3 years so of course I had to update the firmware.... Now it stays on for 2 minutes then reboots I can't get it to stay on long enough to try to downdate the firmware. You want it W54G2 ver 1.5

I went out and replaced it with the newest and greatest N300 wireless router.... from ... net gear. model WNR2000.. still running, but I think I'll try to reflash my cisco router

Oh, my netgear wireless has a button on the back to turn the wireless feature on and off. have you by any chance bumped that switch?

 

[Mike Labbe]

Keep in mind that wireless is a quirky technology. It's ok at home for a laptop, but not really recommended in a networked business environment. It will get stopped dead in its tracks by things like baby monitors, microwave ovens, cordless home phones in the 2.4ghz range, xbox 360 controllers, remote control toys, wireless internet jack devices, FRS walkie talkies, etc

I always hate when Andy uses the microwave and my laptop loses internet

It annoys me that most of them still include WEP encryption, with some ISP's using it as a default in their equipment. It only takes someone about 2-5 minutes to get your WEP password, with one of many freeware utilities found on the internet. Then they have full access to abuse your internet, as well as the files on your shared drives. WPA2 encryption is much more secure.

Mike

 

[osgood]

Thanks for the offer, Bob, but I think I will pass on that one.

Mike,
It is at home not at work. We do have a Microwave and a cordless phone, but none of the other stuff.
I wonder why it would work perfectly for a couple of months with the same microwave and cordless phone, then kick the bucket?

My tech guy has sold many of the same model over the past years and mine is the first to have a problem.

Are there any brands/models that are more resistant to those home appliances?

 

[Steve Collins]

All wireless routers should allow you to set the channel to use, which is a separate frequency (band) within the 2.4 Ghz bandwidth. Some channels will work better than others.

So the first thing to try, if you haven't already, is setting a different channel. In our environment, channel 6 is very flaky while channel 2 is fine.

The router should have a web interface for "administration" and setup. So you want to use that.

In any case, nothing beats an Ethernet connection whenever you can.

 

[osgood]

Thanks Steve.
I have tried some different channels, but not all of them. I don't understand why the channel it was originally set on, would work perfectly for a couple of months, then just quit.
I will try all the channels and see what happens.

 

[Steve Collins]

Thanks Steve.
I have tried some different channels, but not all of them. I don't understand why the channel it was originally set on, would work perfectly for a couple of months, then just quit.
I will try all the channels and see what happens.

By nature, wireless is sensitive to the environment. If you or someone near you recently added a device of some kind that interferes with the frequency you're using, it could cause the problems you're seeing.

You could also try resetting the router to factory defaults. You would want to make note of any settings that you have that are not defaults, which you would need to reinstate after the reset.

We have an old Linksys that flakes out once in a while & the above reset gets it going again for another month or so. Doesn't happen very often & I'm too cheap to give up on it.

 

[echavez123]

I bought el cheapo D-Link wireless router and had it for 4 years. The wireless feature died about 3 weeks ago. Called support. My D-Link has been obsolete for 4 years. I guess thats why they sell em real cheap.

ernesto

 

[Rob Markoff]

When I built my home, the electrical contractor tried to discourage me from running CAT 5 everywhere saying in the future, everything will be wireless. I even ran it behind our refrigerator and to the TV outlets. Wire is cheap -especially in open walls. So now everything runs to a smart panel and from there to a router.

I have/had the same wireless problems as others have described - so I hard wire whenever I can.