WRT54G + Comcast = random cutouts?

Maybe your router is getting hot or going bad? I have Comcast and the same router and it works just fine. Have you tried an alternative software for the router?

Its not getting hot, it has been sitting in the same place for the last year without a problem. There's no dust.

I heard about alternative firmwares for the Linksys... Which one should I try?

All the reviewers like Tomato, I use HyperWrt 2.0, it works fine for me.

Both of which I can't use due to version 6.0.

I use and recommend dd-wrt. You can check if your device is supported here:

from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

Try changing the frequency band that your wireless router uses. I had a Linksys WRT54GS wireless router that worked for a couple months, and then the connection started getting iffy. I suffered for at least 6 months, thinking that "it's that flaky Wi-Fi crap". I finally tried changing to a different frequency band, and then the connection became rock solid. A neighbor had probably gotten a wireless router, too, and chose the same band. Or someone nearby got a wireless telephone.

*TimDaniels*

from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

Do you mean channel, or band? For example I have it on channel 11, using G. Should I go back to b?

from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

I think he meant channel. Going from G to B (or vice versa) will not help. Changing to another channel MAY help, assuming you find a channel without interference. Note that there are only 3 non-overlapping channels: 1, 6, and 11. Try doing a site survey to see which channels are in heavy use, and then avoid them.

from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

I went from 11 to 1 - no change. I used kismac to see what channels are open, there is one other wireless network on channel 6 - very weak signal. He has wpa2 enabled just like me.

from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

With that info, I think you can probably rule out interference from other wireless networks. Unfortunately, wireless networks aren't the only thing that use that band.

By the way, if I were going to manually set the router's MTU, I'd probably use 1500 rather than 1492 bytes, but that's based on an experience I had quite a few years ago so it may not apply now.

When your Internet connection goes down, have you pinpointed whether the culprit is the router, cable modem, or other?

no reason.

MTU from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

I confirmed it is not the wireless - the ethernet machines go down as well. It has been OK for the day so maybe it healed itself.... I had a problem with the MTU back around 2004, I would connect to a friend's dyndns.org site. When I tried to upload a file it would transfer the first byte and quit. Once I set the MTU from 1,500 to 1,492 it worked. I never understood what the problem was. That was with a different router, though.

for no reason.

MTU from auto to 1492, I thought that worked

So it could still be the router, the cable modem, or the ISP. If it happens again, try to narrow it down further.

Thanks for the tip. Yes, it keeps happening now. I can get about two nimutes of internet usage and then it craps out.

I unplug the modem and router, plug the modem back in, and then the router. I can get an external IP address. Once it craps out, I still have the ip address. I CAN get to the router setup fine. I have to hit renew several times before I get an IP, but its always been like that.

Here's the log from 192.168.100.1 Time Priority Description 2009-12-04 00:48:01 critical Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:45:19 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:45:15 critical Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout 2009-12-04 00:44:42 critical Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:42:54 critical REG RSP not received 2009-12-04 00:42:38 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:42:33 critical Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout 2009-12-04 00:42:00 critical Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:29:15 critical Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout 2009-12-04 00:28:42 critical Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:26:58 critical No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out 2009-12-04 00:26:52 critical Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, But no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout 2009-12-04 00:26:20 critical Started Unicast Maintenance Ranging - No Response received - T3 time-out

I think it's time to remove the router from the equation and connect one of your PCs direct to the modem and see how that goes. I'm guessing it will work fine.

You mean the router can get an external IP address assigned to its WAN interface, right?

This part seems to refer to getting a non-routed IP address assigned to your PC by the router. It's normal for this assignment to take

10-20 seconds, so perhaps you're being impatient? You shouldn't have to hit renew to make this happen after a router/PC reboot.

I didn't see anything interesting in the modem log, but I wouldn't mind seeing the numbers from the Signal page, specifically the Downstream level and SNR, and the Upstream level.

And like $Bill said, simply (temporarily) removing the router and connecting a PC directly to the cable modem might be a quick way to rule the router in or out. Note that you'll have to reboot the modem and reboot or renew the PC when you make the cabling change.

I assume the modem's various lights remain on and normal. I also assume you've done a hard reset of the router, not the quick reset. With the router powered up, you'll need to press and hold the reset button for about 30 seconds to do a full reset and return everything to factory defaults.

When you see your next outage, verify that you can access the router's setup pages, if the router is still in the mix at that time. (Checks the router's LAN side and its internal web server.) Then check to see if you can access the modem's web pages. (Checks the router's WAN side and checks the modem's LAN side and internal web server.) If all of that works, what _exactly_ do you see when you try to access anything on the Internet? Have you tried pinging your ISP's gateway address and perhaps a known Internet address such as 4.2.2.2? (easy to remember IP of a DNS server)

Correct.

Downstream Channel Lock Status Operational Modulation 256QAM Channel ID 45 Provisioned Rate 6600 kbps Symbol Rate 5360.537 Ksym/sec Downstream Power -1.7 dBmV SNR 37.6 dB Upstream Channel Lock Status Operational Modulation 16QAM Channel ID 1 Provisioned Rate 1100 kbps Symbol Rate 2560 Ksym/sec Upstream Power 38.8 dBmV

I understand.

If I do that I'll have to reenter all the WPA keys... Ugh. But yes, that's one thing I have not tried.

I do have access to the router's setup page, I confirmed that. When it goes out, the first thing I do is release and renew the router's WAN ip address - via the setup page.

Thanks.

Modem signal levels all look good. Thanks for posting this.

There's only one key, and heck, you can use Copy/Paste if it's hard to type. :)

Ok, don't do that. :)

I would suggest a slightly different mindset next time it happens. Instead of focusing on fixing the issue, focus on troubleshooting the issue. Once you know what the real issue is, the permanent solution will likely become obvious.

Yeah, right. Thanks for all the "help." I am switching to Comcast's triple play so I will end up with a new cable modem. The connection has been working all day.

You're welcome.

I didn't see any issues with your current modem, so I don't expect to see any major changes as a result of getting a new one. I know you need it to support the triple play, but I'm just saying.

Cool. Hope it stays that way. :)