They REALLY Don’t Make ’em Like They Used To

This is the latest in a series (previous entries here and here) on my quest to have a rock-solid, reliable Internet Gateway Router.

Network ConfigurationWhen I last wrote about this, I had gone to Netgear Tech Support, and they said my router was bad, and we were going to exchange it. So, the new unit came, I returned the old one, and…

…still the same problems.

Personally, I’m inclined to think there’s a fundamental flaw with the Netgear WGR614 v7 router itself. But whatever I think, I still need a reliable Internet connection, and the Netgear wasn’t providing it. So, to test for the possibility of outside interference (maybe it’s my cable modem that’s the trouble, or some power fluctuation in the outlet?), I went out and bought a new router from Linksys instead.

The new one is a Linksys WRT54G2 wireless router. It’s basically the same as the popular WRT54G, except in a new box with internal antennas. Since my wireless range needs are rather small, I didn’t mind the internal antennas, and (strangely) this model is slightly cheaper than the WRT54G.

modemSo, now my home is being served by this device. I’m downloading some big files (like, say, the Ubuntu Linux LiveCD ISO via Bittorrent) to put some stress on the device. We’ll see how it turns out.

Basically:

  • If it resets like the Netgear did, we know the problem isn’t the router.
  • If it doesn’t reset, then the problem was the Netgear itself (although it’s still technically possible that the Netgear was simply more susceptible to some outside interference – but let’s be realistic, Occam’s Razor and all that).

I’m keeping my fingers crossed – here’s hoping I can start this new year with a router that doesn’t reset itself spontanously several times each day!!

Icons courtesy of the Crystal Icon Set.

UPDATE: The Conclusion of the Saga

By Keith Survell

Geek, professional programmer, amateur photographer, crazy rabbit guy, only slightly obsessed with cute things.

2 comments

  1. hello there, simply wanted to mention thanks alot for this article, it assisted me perceive something I hadnt given a lot of attention to it beforehand.

    1. Your comment doesn’t make a lot of sense there, John – and the fact that you entered a URL to a Melbourne Antenna Installer makes me wonder if you’re trying to spam my blog with links back to your own site.

      Fortunately, any links in comments are ignored by Google and other search engines, so you’re not gaining anything by posting here.

      And if I’ve somehow misinterpreted you… sorry! But your comment is uncomfortably similar to many spam comments I’ve seen in the same style!

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