Losing internet connection with BEFSR41 and BEFW11S4

[oberstca]

I have had a BEFSR41 in place for several months with no problems (sharing cable modem on 1 XP and 1 Win98 computer). I recently added a BEFW11S4 to add another win98 machine that was too far away to get wired. The problem I am having (after several hour long calls to linksys) is the internet will disconnect when the XP computer is not being used. All other computers only connect when this computer connects. It requires shutting down the XP, unplugging the modem in order to get it to reconnect - very annoying. I originally thought it was the wireless, but now even with that disconnected completely I am still losing my connection. Any suggestions??

 

[TheOldMan346]

oberstca,

Just out of curiousity, why did you add another router to the infrastructure? You could have just used a wireless access point to handle the wiring problems and just let it work with the BEFSR41 router.

Can you describe the network and how devices are connected?

The Old Man

 

[oberstca]

Thanks for the quick response - I need to keep a wired router because I use my company's VPN and they require a wired router. I was told the WAP11 would not work with the BEFSR41 on the front end, that I would need to add the BEFW11S4.
Network -
Cable modem (3com - Roadrunner service) into Wan port on BEFSR41. Three computers connected from BEFSR41 (1 to WINXP, 1 to Win98, and 1 to a laptop). USing port 1 to the uplink of the BEFW11S4. Wireless card in Win98 machine.
All work if the XP machine is connected.
I have now unplugged the BEFW11s4, but am still experiencing the disconnect problem.

 

[TheOldMan346]

oberstca,

I'm not all that familiar with the wireless equipment but it sounds like either the routing or default gateways have become confused. The wired equipment and the wireless equipment form two separate networks. You need something to "bridge" the two networks. This can be done with a router or a bridge (and some switches). You can read more about it here

http://www.homenethelp.com/802.11b/index.asp

Check what the default gateway is set to on each computer. The computers should be pointing at the IP address of the router they are connected to. The wireless router should have NAT turned off, use static IP for the WAN side and have a default gateway of the wired router. Run the wireless router in "router" mode and not "gateway" mode which is the default. You may also need to specify a static route on the wireless router to get the internet traffic to flow correctly. This image [not exactly correct since from another case] should give you the idea.

For the future, you might want to consider using a BEFSR41W which is a wired router that can be upgraded to include wireless networking. It will do the bridging for you.

Hope that helps.
The Old Man

 

[oberstca]

Thanks again for the suggestions. I still am having problems - I can get connected fine, but I cannot stay connected. I even tried going back to original configuration, resetting XP network connection settings, etc. I bet you love us geniuses looking for help ;-)

 

[TheOldMan346]

oberstca,

Can't speak for anybody else but, actually, I do!

Currently between jobs and this is helping me prevent my brain from turning to mush. Ya know, I love challenges, like helping people and all that.

Anyway, how long can you stay connected? What happens to disconnect you and what are the symptoms seen at the other workstations? While you are connected, open a command prompt/DOS window and type "IPCONFIG /ALL" without the quotes, then copy and paste the results back here.

The Old Man

 

[cliffodell]

I'm having a bug very similar to this. Network is the wireless Linksys BEFW11S4 with 1ea XP P4, 1ea W2k KL133Duron, 3ea mongrel W98SE. Everything ran fine until I upgraded the P4 box to XP from 2K; THEN, started loosing the network to XP (via wireless USB) and various other anomalies. I'm wondering about the XP "Firewall" Service that gets activated by XP??

 

[smah]

I have never heard of the firewall doing this, but it's interesting that you both have XP. Have you upgraded to SP1 and do you have any proxy info in you browser settings? If you wait 30 minutes does it come back? Have a read:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q320507

There were many other networking fixes with SP1, if you haven't updated yet, I reccommend it.

 

[helpdavid2]

Hi All.

seems to me I have the same problem. I'm using the BEFSR41 router connected to winXP computers and the WAN connection type is PPTP. The router(I think) is disconnecting me at least 10-20 times a day. If I connect the XP's directly to the DSL modem (ALCATEL) this does not happend. Could anyone help

helpdavid2

 

[Bill102938]

I believe Same Problem as helpdavid2! B-(

I have only one XP computer using the BEFSR41 router (firmware ver 1.44.2) using PPPOE for my DSL modem. I can connect to the web with no problem, but at random, I will recieve the "Network Cable Unplugged" error in the systray. It will appear for about 1 sec, then go away. I can still connect to the router (192.168.1.1). I check the status tab and it states (Connecting). Sometimes it will reconnect within a few minutes, other times I have to leave and come back later. I have tried rebooting PC, ROuter and DSL Modem, firmware updates, new network cables, etc.. with no resolve. I was hoping that someone else out there had the same issues.

I only have one suggestion for helpdavid two ( or a request for information). Where is your Router physically located? I have mine on top of the PC. Maybe this is a heat related issue? I am moving mine to a cooler place to see if that helps. If you have yours in a place that could be getting warm or a lack of sufficient airflow try moving it and let us know if that helps?

I will update if it seams to help mine

Good Luck and Happy Hunting !!!


Bill

 

[schreief]

Hmmm I wonder if the "Network Cable Unplugged" error is a XP thing. I have a VDSL modem which is connected to a Linksys switch (my router won't work with VDSL, but that's another issue), and I get that "Network Cable Unplugged" all the time. Except in my case, I don't seem to lose internet connectivity. It's still annoying to see that pop up though. Time to do some research.

 

[Bill102938]

This only happens while using the router. I can set up the PPPOE service directly from PC to DSL Modem and the problem does not occur?

I have been trying to figure out what settings in XP could cause this, but it seams if it was a software setting issue then the problem would not be random? I do not think it is a network card driver issue due to it occurring on several different network cards. Mine is(Realtek RTL8139) an on-board card on my Gigabyte GA-7VRXP Motherboard (I hate on-board, but the network card chipset is a decent one).

 

[smylies]

If you are experiencing intermitent connection, the best thing to do is to copy the DNS values in the Status page of the Router Setup, to the TCP/IP properties of your computer.

 

[helpdavid2]

Bill102938

Thanks for the reply. Sorry that your solution does not help,I have two other customers with te same problem and their routers are out in "the open". The problem is alse where.
hope you can assist more. Thanks again.

David

 

[Firm]

I don't know if this issue has been resolved but I was wondering if anyone paid attention to which port the problem computer was connected in the router?

Firm.

 

[javadog]

Hi all. (I'm new here..)

Anyway... I have had a linksys BEFSR41 for more than a year now. It's hooked to a cable modem. Has worked without problems for some time. Recently, a couple of weeks ago, I upgraded the firmware in it to 1.44.2. After doing this, my one WinXP system that was hooked up to the system began dropping it's network connection left and right (as many of you have also noted here). My WinXP system would also eventually "lock-up" when I ran an programs. Windows was still running, but the programs I would run took aournd 5 to 10 minutes to actually start. None of the other systems on my network did this, although my wife had complained about being kicked off the internet serveral times with here wireless Win2k notebook. The problem would not occur when I disconnected the router from the cabel modem. The problem with XP locking up also didn't occur if I by-passed the router and hooked directly into the cable modem.

The solution to my situation was to downgrade the firmware of the router back to 1.42.7. Since doing this, my system has been working just fine for the last few days. I've just tonight moved up to 1.43 and so far so good. I have tried re-installing 1.44.2, but after doing so, the system returns to its bad behavior.

Anyway, I hope this helps some of you. I would be that the drops are due to the 1.44.2 firmware in your routers. It might be worth getting ahold of an earlier firmware version to flash and see if your problems go away.

-- Bry

 

[mattshields]

Just thought I'd add... I have a BEFSR41 and it worked fine before upgrading to XP. Since upgrading to XP, I'm having the same problem everyone else seems to be describing... I lose my internet connection 3-4 times/day.

And I've tried everything... looking for more ideas.
matt

 

[MLNAdmin]

Hi there,

Great info in this thread. I have been experiencing a similar problem, although my network setup is different.

I have a BEFW11S4 Ver. 2.1 Router that is providing Gateway service to my network, along with WLAN (Standard Channel 6) and DHCP service to 1 WIN9x laptop. In addition to that I have a WINXP desktop hooked directly into the BEFW11S4 that has a static ip. I also have a Solaris 8 box on the other end of the house, and because I couldn't run cable, I have hooked up 2 WAP11 Wireless access points, one in Client Access Mode, and the other as an Access Point, both on Channel 1. This basically allows me to bridge my Lan to another hub that I have the Sol8 box plugged into. For some reason, Linksys decided not to provide firmware that works worth a darn for thier WAP11's Bridge mode, but Client Access Point to Access Point does the job just as well. WEP is enabled at 102bit on both channels.

The setup worked great until I noticed that I was getting intermittent network connectivity; the Solaris box would loose internet connection, and connection with the router. Thinking that it had something to do with the wireless access points bridging, I tested and retested. At the same time I was cut from the internet, I could ping the WAP11's from the Solaris box, so they were working fine. However, I couldn't ping the BEFW11S4 at all. After reading this thread and noting the issues some folks are having with WINXP and the BEFW11S4, I decided to downgrade the firmware in the router (BEFW11S4) to 1.42.7, as someone recommended. I'm still seeing the same problem with connectivity between the SOL8 host and BEFW11S4.

Simple network diagram:
6X)))
((( )))
|
X--------------X))) (((X-------XXX---X
1 2 3 4 5

1. Solaris 8 machine (192.168.0.10)
2. WAP11 (192.168.0.12)
3. WAP11 (192.168.0.11)
4. BEFW11S4 V2.1 (192.168.0.1)
5. Windows XP (192.168.0.15)
6. Windows 98SE (DHCP Assigned from router)

I know that there is nothing wrong with the wireless connectivity between the WAPs. I'm slowly narrowing down the possibilities, and here are what I have left to test:

1. Some sort of problem in the WAP11 firmware that forgets to re-broadcast to the bridged LAN.

2. Some sort of problem with the BEFW11S4 and the WAP11.

3. Version issues between the WAP11's (One is version 2.2 and the other is version 2.6, see issue #1)

Anyone else have an idea as to how to work this?

Thanks in advance

 

[icedane]

I too have problems with the BEFSR41. Untill recently I was using cable connect, and I had to restart the router a few times. Now I have switched to PPPoE, and it seems my router has become very instable. In the last couple of days I have had to restart the router because it disconnects from the net. usrname and password is correct, but I still loose the connection. When I loos connection, I am not able to enter teh router on the 192.100.0.0 address, but after a restart of the router, the interface pops up. I hope you can help?.. Do I need to downgrade the firmware?

 

[mikenetm2]

Just another example of this problem. Seems like I did all the wrong upgrades at the same time--upgraded XP to SP1, upgraded Linksys router firmware to latest. Now I'll lose connection from time to time, have to reset router, re-boot laptop with wireless connection.

Just one more wierd occurrence at the same time. Don't know what this is about, but it's happening at the same time--when I look at the available network connections on my laptop with the wireless connection, I see my linksys connection, and another connection which I have no idea what it is!

Any ideas?