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eskimojack
join:2003-09-18
Boston, MA

eskimojack

Member

Belkin Wireless Router - Lockup woes

Certainly not a unique story, I'm sure...

I'm running a F5D6231-4 Wireless Belkin. It assures me my Firmware is current (it self-updates). I currently have it running a PPPoE connection to the DSL modem, Firewall up, one IP (wired PC laptop XP Pro) in the DMZ, Macs and PCs wired and running DHCP, and a laptop wireless (encrypted signal).

The Router seems to lock up a lot. By locking up, I mean no connections from any of the computers to the internet, and I am not even able to login to the router's IP interface... The Network seems to remain up, DHCP doesn't appear to fail... just the access to the internet...

And it never feels incredibly warm to the touch, so I assume it's not a temperature thing.

I always have to hard reset it, the highly-technical unplug-and-replug method. This can't be good for the life of the router to constantly do.

Sometimes it lasts 2 or 3 or 5 days working fine after that... sometimes it lasts only 5 minutes or less... and it will lockup all over again.

When I first started geting the router lockups, I decided to try putting my most secure computer (having its own firewalls and Norton Internet Security software up the wazoo) in the DMZ. When the router is working, the DMZed computer gets Portscan attacks, Trojan SubSeven attacks,etc. quite frequently...

This led me to the possible concern of attacks being to blame for my router lockups? Is that possible?

Here is another thing I find interesting: When I do get the router restarted, and I attempt to login to its IP interface, I sometimes get to the "enter password" option and it freezes up (the interface only, not the router or internet). I can continue to surf the web normally but am sometime unable to access that interface. that is a hit-or-miss problem. I don't ever seem to have that problem, however, when the modem is turned off... the interface moves quickly with no issues. Curious.

Which then led me to another interesting thing: I've used a few different routers on this same network before... SMCs and even a cheapo LinkMax... This Belkin router was the first one that actually required me to turn OFF the DSL Modem's built-in PPPoE connection and use the PPPoE connection of the Router itself. Is this best? Could this be a part of the issue? If so, how do I set the router to allow for the DSL modem's internal PPPoE setting to be activated and not interfere with the Belkin Router?

So many questions... so many issues... Sorry for attempting to be so thorough. I'm not looking for "well, that's what you get for buying a Belkin" type responses... I know that Belkin's may not be the "greatest" but It's my router and I am looking for fixes and your serious input. Thanks!
[text was edited by author 2003-09-18 19:38:44]

Jtmo
Premium Member
join:2001-05-20
Novato, CA

Jtmo

Premium Member

I have heard that port attacks can cause lockups on networks. Our security forum may have something on that.

The Belkin actually is a good router, they stand behind them well I hear. I have an SMC (wired) that does the same thing every week or so. I bought a cheapo Seimens that stayed up, but was slow due ot no MTU settings, but that proved the SMC was a problem. I found the breaker outside in my panel was building up an arc corrosion to ground (cheap, no longer made side spade breaker). Since replacing that with a better breaker, the SMC seems better, still waiting more proof.

How is your power? The SMC seems picky, the Belkin is actually the same base router (at least the wired ones were, not sure of the wireless).
Where is the router, any lights, other equipment etc. around that could cause problems.

Maybe Belkin would RMA your router?

Just a few thoughts.
gber2
join:2003-06-16
Medford, MA

gber2 to eskimojack

Member

to eskimojack
There are some pretty long threads out there about Belkin's dropping connection to the internet. I too have run into this problem. Heat buildup is a frequent theory, and I tried everything to cool it down -- No dice. I downloaded the latest patches and played with a variety of settings -- nothing again.

I ran into the solution (I have not dropped internet connection in over 2 months now) by chance. To keep the story short: it turned out to be the cable between the cable modem and the Belkin. Ok, I know it sounds whacko, but when I use one of my spare cables (that happens to be be 50ft long) the Belkin maintains a rock steady connection to the internet. I've tried 2 other cables (1 that came with the Belkin, 1 that came with the modem) and the belkin would drop the internet connection.

Can the Belkin really be that sensitive about the cables? I switch off to another cable and the problem returns like clock work when I start downloading huge files off the internet (500 meg files). Am I suggesting the length of the cable had anything to do with it -- no, I'm not that crazy (yet). It is most likely that that particular cable fits just so into the WAN port.

Well, good luck.

else {bye;}
darktrancer
Premium Member
join:2003-01-03
Fontana, CA

darktrancer to eskimojack

Premium Member

to eskimojack
Mine used to Drop my PPPoe Connection all the time. Then I reflashed my router with the 3.00.5 firmware and now it is rock solid.

brout
@attbi.com

brout to eskimojack

Anon

to eskimojack
I am having almost the same problem with the Belkin 4-Port Cable/DSL Gateway Router F5D5231-4 model, which is wired, not wireless. It doesn't lock up quite as frequently, but I'm going to say once a week average.

When it's locked, I can't even ping it at 192.168.2.1, and none of my computers have internet access after that. I have to unplug and replug the power cord, and then it works fine for a few days.

My previous router was a netgear, and it had exactly the same problem, but even more frequently. My friend in another city just bought a router too, and he's having the same problem.

It's hard to believe, but it seems like this is a common problems with broadband routers of different brands. My firmware is up to date. I'm desperately looking for a solution!

I bought these at Staples, and their return policy is terrible. You have to return in 15 days or you're screwed, and even then all you get is a credit toward a comparable item they carry.
Ghoulishduck
join:2003-11-25
England

Ghoulishduck to eskimojack

Member

to eskimojack
Hello
are you guys using any peer to peer software like Edonkey? I had a netgear WGT 624 router, which did do the same lock up, i.e can't access the internet but all network connections remained, even msn messenger. Have been told this is to do with the max number of connection to the router can allow, before running out of memory, and locking up

Belky
@hinet.net

Belky to eskimojack

Anon

to eskimojack
New Belkin Wireless Router is $9.99 at Stapples. It is a price you have to pay. Stop complain about dropping connection. Product is cheap enough.

Check out a latest Rating of Belkin from PC World Magazine: FFF

CompMan86
@chesterfield.k12.va.

CompMan86

Anon

I have the same exact problems as posted in the first post of this thread. Hopefully a new firmware will come out for this router. I also have a belkin WIRED router in my closet that I haven't tried yet, but since there's a new firmware for that one and I'm just using the wireless one as a wired router, I might give that a shot. The router froze up on me twice within a few hour period, but since then it has been stable. I changed a couple settings. Belkin tech support was NO help. The man spoke very little english and all he wanted to do was tell me the steps on how to flash the firmware, but he wouldn't accept the fact (which I kept trying to tell him) that the firmware on their website was the original firmware. Maybe I'll try calling again tonight and hopefully get connected to someone slightly more intelligent. I know there's gotta be some somewhat intelligent people picking up the phones. I got the router for $10 after rebate from Circuit City, so even if we can't fix this, I'll probably just keep it in my closet until a new firmware comes out. I'm using Comcast and I have the HUGE number of ARP requests coming in all the time, which leads me to another rant/story.

Last March, I tried setting up a TCP/IP network in conjunction with comcast. I just had a plain old switch and paid for a second IP address. I could never get the computers to talk to each other, and after some packet sniffing and looking at ARP -a in command prompt, I noticed that each computer was assigning the mac address of comcast's cisco router to the IP address they were each trying to talk to. This was because Comcast's router was replying to ARP requests instead of forwarding them to be replied to by computers on the network. I spent at least 8 hours on the phone with various tier 2 tech support guys, one guy (Mike) was a senior support guy and he forwarded the problem to the network engineers, but said it probably wouldn't get fixed. About 3 or 4 months later, I started getting flooded with ARP requests and now my TCP/IP network works! I like to credit myself with the Comcast's change in network configuration, but I probably was just one of many who were complaining of this problem. Well anyway, I gotta get back to class, I hope we can find a way to figure out what's going on with these routers. Maybe hooking up a computer between the router and the cable modem and sniffing packets to see what the router is doing on the WAN side (if anything) when it freezes. Well I've only had it for a couple days, so time will tell.
CompMan86

CompMan86

Anon

Ever since I switched the DHCP lease time to FOREVER I have had no problems with the router. I also called belkin tech support again and the lady said that they were told to have people setup their IPs statically on their computers connected to the router if they were having internet drop out problems. Set the DNS setting on the computers to the DNS server(s) of your ISP. I think normally with just plain DHCP it asks the router for name lookups. This way, it should go through the router and ask the actual dns server directly for name lookups. I've had no problems and I'm very happy...hopefully I'm not jinxing it. Let me know if this solves your problems!
JEFF68005
join:2002-09-12
Bellevue, NE

JEFF68005 to eskimojack

Member

to eskimojack
I have had to unplug my CABLE modem for a minute and then plug it in. The connection is DHCP dynamically at this time. I also chose to rename the connection. I also changed the connection channel from the default to a different channel. My experience with it has been limited, but those are the things that I have done.

My firmware is 1.00.000. Old school says don't mess with what is not broken. WHY should I upgrade the firmware or can I stick with the old school thinking?? Opinions?

Dave5365544
@lncstr01.pa.comcast.

Dave5365544 to eskimojack

Anon

to eskimojack
I am experienceing the same lockup problems described in the previous posts with a Belkin 4 port wired router. When talking with Belkin tech support i was told that the router does not synchronize ip addresses with my cable modem. He said the only way to update the ip on the router was to unplug the power. I'm about ready to smash the thing and buy a better one.

My computer nerd friends told me to get rid of it and get another brand becasue these things are junk.

Belky
@cox.net

Belky

Anon

Stay away from ALL Belkin products. Don't waste your time. There is no firmware and only new hype to buy Bluetooth and Powerline products.
Be extra careful what you buy from Belkin. There is no Product Manager to support them.
dandi496
join:1999-08-31
Buffalo, NY

dandi496

Member

A little bird told me they just hired some Managers and are starting some new stuff to check and fix problems!

Belky
@cox.net

Belky

Anon

Good luck and keep reset Belkin products. This is the only way to fix problems. If it persists, contact Tech Support. It is a good pratice to be a Belkin customers.