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| reply to qenymin
Re: Post Your BEFW11S4 V4 Issues Here After going through the runaround with Linksys again, I'm probably going to be returning the product to the place where I purchased it, online.
Linksys technical support advised me that "It's ok to flash a v3 firmware on v4 routers", despite the documentation that comes with it that STRONGLY advises against doing so. The woman I connected to (I couldn't get her name, she barely spoke legible English), said she deals with this every day, and it's ok to flash v3 onto v4.
So I flashed it onto the router anyway, and behold! A brick!
I could no longer communicate with the router using any method, even after statically assigning the host computer an IP address. I could ping 192.168.1.1 after doing a hard reset, but the browser interface wasn't available, and the tftp interface would just fail to connect. Simply put, Linksys advised me to turn their router into a brick.
I called back, and got someone else on the line (again, couldn't get his name, another non-English speaking person), and mentioned that I flashed v3 firmware onto the v4 router, at Linksys' request. He basically said "You can't flash v3 firmware onto v4 routers, that won't work".
No shit Sherlock.
The next worst part, is that I may have to pay to ship it back to the manufacturer, who has a 15% restocking fee, AND I have to pay for the shipping from there to Linksys and back, which is basically the cost of the router itself.
Needless to say, I'm furious. I may just end up walking into Staples or CompUSA and buy the same thing, and swap the boxes, and return it there for a refund that way. I'm pretty pissed off now.
Clearly Linksys' technical support does not communicate amongst themselves, and aren't sharing the same knowledge. One technical support person says that it's ok to flash v3 onto v4 (it isn't), and another says that you can't do that.
I spoke with the Linksys RMA department, and she said that they don't pay for shipping, and that I'd have to pay for that myself. I made her painfully aware that I was shipped a defective product, and that it was ONLY 2 DAYS OLD, and has not worked at all since I unpacked it from the shrinkwrap. I was not going to pay for shipping of a defective product back to the manufacturer. No way, no how. She mentioned that their policy is that they do not offer reimbursement for shipping, even on defective products (which this clearly is).
I've been told that v3 and v2 routers do not suffer from this problem, but I can't seem to locate any of those online. | |
 Jetter2
join:2003-05-11
Royse City, TX | I have a W11S4 v. 3 router. It has been the biggest pain int he ass. On my computer it would dorp my internet connection about once every 26 hrs...requiring me to restart my computer. But I think i figured out the trick. Just reset the router, and use the computer you use the most to configure your router. So far so good for me on firmware 1.45z. | |
| reply to qenymin
If you have flashed the wrong firmware you can assign the router a static ip such as 192.168.1.5 by going into the Local Area Connection. Then run the firmware update program type in your assigned ip address for the router and then upload the orginal firmware that is only for v4. This allows the reset button to work which you can then push to reset the router. Although this doesnt fix the hanging problem it turns your brick back into a semi-working router. | | |
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| Yep, indeed, I was able to recover my BEFW11S4-v4 by doing the "Hold down reset for 60 seconds, remove power, release reset" method (30 didn't work, releasing reset then pulling power didn't work). Bringing it back up as 192.168.1.1, then statically assigning my box a 192.168.1.x address and reflashing the proper firmware with the tftp tool.
Now I have a v4 unit with the ONLY version of firmware made for it, v1.44.2, which is the buggy one that doens't work at all for sustained transfer rates.
I tried the previous 4 versions of firmware (1.43.3 down to 5 releases prior), and they all give me the "GFLOD" (Green Flashing Lights of Death). The ONLY firmware which works with this device (version 4) is 1.44.2. Previous v3 and v2 routers work fine with the 1.44.2 and prior firmware revisions, but not the v4 devices.
Flashing anything BUT 1.44.2 onto the device, removes your ability to use it as a wireless device. It basically turns it into a hub. There is no web interface to configure it if you flash it with anything other than 1.44.2, and there is no SNMP management. You can ping it at 192.168.1.1, but you can't do anything else with it. If you request a DHCP address from it, you get passed through, and receive a DHCP address from your provider, through your cable/dsl connection.
I'm waiting for a new firmware to address these issues, no word on it yet. | |
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