D-Link WBR 2310 rebooting

Chris hath wroth:

Are you sure that connecting the computer is the problem and not what the computer is doing? For example, if the computer was hosting a P2P file sharing program (i.e. BitTorrent), it might be crashing the router due to a large number of IP sockets and buffers used.

Also, there's small chance that you might be getting attacked from the internet. Go unto:

and try the router exploits test on your WBR-2310. I have a few older routers that will either hang or reboot when hit with some of these exploits. All the more recent routers pass all the tests without incident. I don't think this is the problem, but it's worth checking.

Incidentally, you're not the only one with reboot problems. Search:

for the word "reboot". There are 3 user comments with apparently the same reboot problem.

It may also be this bug:

I don't understand the mechanism: "If they have your administrator password, they can pass packets that can cause routers to reboot," the D-Link spokesperson said."

I think you mean 128 bit WEP but I get the idea.

Amazing. So it happens with both the wired and wireless connection. Therefore it's not the wireless. Is there something unusual about this laptop and it's 802.11b card? (Maker and model would be nice). For example, is it running something other than W2K or XP? (The exact OS would be nice). Anything unusual about the laptop setup, such as a static IP address? (IP address layout of the system would be nice)? Any chance there's a duplicate MAC or IP address?

Any chance you can borrow a 3rd computer and try it on your router? I'm trying to determine if it's the presence of a 2nd computer that's causing the problem (which implies a broken router), or if there's something on the laptop that's causing the problem.

Nope. The best I can do is to identify the probable culprit. If it's the router, it's probably defective.

Ok, that's the latest version firmware. You might want to call or write DLink to determine if there are any beta version in the works.

Now that you mention it, this does happen mostly when I'm playing an online FPS (Tremulous, Enemy Territory, Doom3, etc.). I have my laptop on so that I can browse the net while I wait to respawn (which that happens more often than I like to admit ;))

I'm wondering now, if the high traffic caused by the online game is overwhelming the router?

I will try disabling the wireless and have both machines connected. Perhaps the wireless part of the router is causing the problem?

I tested the router with the exploit site and it passed.

My laptop uses openSUSE 10.2 and my desktop is openSUSE 10.1. I had this same setup with my old Linksys wireless B router. That router was rock. I had it for 4 years (I think) and didn't have a single problem with it. Well, no problems until that router died. So I bought the D-Link wireless G thinking that I would upgrade my wireless adaptor to G.

I think my next move is to contact D-Link. It's been my experience though that companies tend not to help, so I'm not expecting much feedback from them.

Thanks,

Chris hath wroth:

It's possible. It's not the amount of traffic that kills cheap routers. It's the number of simultaneous connections (streams or IP sockets) that require huge amounts of buffer memory in the router that just isn't there. The router has to juggle what little RAM it has to work with, and sometimes does it badly. I don't think that's the cause but it's worth researching and tinkering with your usage patterns to see if there's a connection. 20 minutes sounds like about the time it would take to thoroughly scramble some buffers and create an over-run that clobbers some other code that eventually initiates a crash or reboot. It might be just one game that's causing it. However, it shouldn't be happening and does seem to point to bad code in the router.

I don't think so. The wireless bridge section (i.e. access point section) is suppose to be just an extension cord for ethernet. It has it's own collection of horrors but crashing the router or rebooting is not one of them.

Oh well. That would have been too easy.

That would probably be a BEFW11S4 v1, v2, or v4. When I was running the v4 version at home, I thought it a horrible router. It would hang or act weird for no obvious reason. I could hang it with 2 of the router exploit tests. I had to constantly power cycle it to keep it alive. I'll assume you had one of the other hardware versions.

I don't think this has anything to do with running SUSE unless you've got some manner of custom packet generator, AP simulator, MAC address flooder, ARP flooder, or similar IP packet hacking tools running.

I've seen a few questions no failed BEFW11S4 v2 routers drift by this newsgroup in the last year or so. Apparently, they have some type of lifetime problem.

Well, that's generally a good idea.

It's worth a try. There's a real chance that they know about the problem and have a secret project to fix it with a bios update going. This has happened a few times with other Dlink products (i.e. DI-624). The problem is that it was in beta for what seemed like forever, the only site that had it was in Italy, and the final version was released dated from before the last beta version. If you're really adventurous, go unto:

and see what you can excavate. I couldn't find anything with WBR2310 inscribed.

Also, note that the GPL code for most of DLink's routers has been quietly released on some models that use Linux. Sorry, your WBR2310 is not listed.

Jeff Liebermann hath wroth:

Well, I found the directory:

Unfortunately, nothing but released firmware. Bummer.

Seems some people have been running the DI-624 rev D 4.03 firmware to cure the problem.

I read the comments, but not much information on how many people got this to work. I would think the router would reject the firmware? I guess not. I downloaded the firmware, but I think I'll wait till I find out if more people used this to fix the problem

Thanks for the link

Nice. This might also help if you get into trouble:

Judging by various postings on DSLReports, spontaneous rebooting seems to be common problem. There doesn't seem to be any "instructions" so I guess it's just flash from the menu and hope for the best.

What's the FCC ID number on the WBR-2310? I wanna lookup the router and can't seem to find the prefix.

FCC ID: KA2DI624D2

IC: 4216A-WBR2310

H/W Ver: A1

Egads. It even says DI624 in the FCC ID model number.

Amazing. The inside and outside photos are a DI-624, not the newer WBR-2310. Looks like a DI-624, smells like a DI-624, must be a DI-624. Digging through the other DI-624 certification pages, D-Link has apparently obtained approval for various MiniPCI replacement radios. However, nothing that looks like the WBR-2310 package.

However, the WBR-1310 was type certified in the correct package and looks internally like a completely different product from the WBR-2310.