wireless router info

Need to buy a good industrial router. working in a shop enviroment.Have tried Linksys. D-Link both lasted less than a year. need a goodone! any suggestions???

thanks D. Ford

What killed them? Mechanical damage? If so, try one with a metal case (i.e. Netgear), package it in a NEMA box, or hide it in a plastic container.

Can't say what killed it. it still works as a wired router but looses the wierless part signal drops off and wil come back. and my laptop is right underneath it 4 feet!

Might wanna check the antenna connections or try it again with a different laptop.

Don't assume that it's dead. Scribble down the settings, reset the router to defaults, and put everything back. That sometimes fixes it. If really ambitious, check the manufactories web pile for the latest firmware updates. Update, reset to defaults, reload the settings, and try again.

I'm not sure what to recommend as a more destruction proof router. It would be nice to know what killed the radios. The only boxes I've sold/owned/traded that had wireless section failures were two Dlink DI-514 boxes and a Belkin something. Same symptoms. Router works, but the wireless was either dead or flakey. I think I killed them all with my 5 watt UHF handheld transmitting nearby. Not sure.

I've had good luck recently with Linksys WRT54G boxes.

Thanks for all the suggestions, we have five laptops on the router and they all go down at the same time??? no signal

Wireless might not be acceptable in a shop where there is high frequency welding and such going on. You might want to check to see what is going on in the shop when the signal is lost.

D. Ford:

They aren't designed to project the signal downward, maybe try different position / orientation of the router. Failing that get an 'office class' router like Draytek Vigor 2600G, excellent performance and reliability but not as expensive as Cisco. Better still the 2600VG with two VoIP ports. Regards, Martin

I'd agree with the idea of using Linksys. And even if it had to be replaced once a year, that would still be cheaper than spending several hundred dollars on equipment that will become obsolete before it breaks.

However, I'd also suggest spending a bit of time/effort on providing a suitable environment for it too. I'm not sure what a "shop environment" means specifically in this case, but whatever it is there should be a way to build an enclosure that separates that environment from the router sufficiently to keep it running for more than a year or two. I mean... people hang these things outside in water proofed heated/cooled boxes, depending on local climate. A sealed plastic container, filtered air vents, whatever... might be very productive.

The best of the cheap routers is Linksys - lots of third party firmware, lots of help and dont drop connection ( version 2)

Thankyou all for your input. i work in a gm dealership mechanical shop. i went with a wrt56gx router with three anttena. looks like sputnic. with a surge protector. will see how it stands up. hopefully i will not be back hear in a year. thanks again all.

D. Ford

If the router comes back to life after a while, then its likely to be either a heat related problem, maybe you set it up on a radiator or something... or else radio interference from some nearby device, another wifi product or some electrical device or machinary.

Philip.