I set up a NetGear WGR614 wireless router (802.11 b and g) on my home network yesterday. So far, things have gone very smoothly. The biggest problem was reacquiring valid IP addresses on the Mac, Linux, and Windows boxes. I previously used a Linksys BEFSR41 as a router and a DHCP server. It uses a 192.168.1.x subnet, while the NetGear router uses a 192.168.0.x subnet. Therefore, when I switched out the routers, I had to force all my computers to release their previous IP addresses and request new ones.
In hindsight, I now wonder why I wasted so much time and money on Linksys gear before. When all I had was the Linksys BEFSR41, a Power Mac G3 desktop, and an IBM ThinkPad T23, everything was fine. Then I added a Dell Dimension PC running Windows XP. If the Dell and the Mac were connected to the Linksys router (not necessarily even turned on; just connected by Ethernet cables), then in anywhere from a few seconds to about thirty minutes, the Linksys router would lockup. Even after powering it off and back on, it might take 20-30 minutes before the router would respond. I could use the ThinkPad and the Mac together with no problem. I could use the Dell and the ThinkPad together with no problem. But, if the Dell and the Mac were connected at the same time, the Linksys router would try to commit suicide.
I sent email to Linksys customer support describing the problem in great detail. No response. I tried again. no response. I guess that’s their strategy for saving money on customer support.
Despite this painful experience, I bought a Linksys WAP11 access point. When used with the ThinkPad, it worked great. Then, we bought a Powerbook G4. After hours and hours of tweaking the network configuration for the PowerBook, I finally got it to connect to the WAP11.
But, the signal strength sucked. Our house isn’t very big, but I couldn’t even sit in the living room (about 40 feet, albeit through lath and plaster walls) from the WAP11. Sure, the titanium cased Powerbook is known for poor wireless range, but this was ridiculous. Even worse, the WAP11 would randomly lock up after anywhere from a few minutes to a few days after using the Powerbook. Fixing it required unplugging and replugging the power cable for the WAP11.
Then I read about the Linksys Wireless Signal Booster. Despite my nightmarish experiences so far with Linksys networking gear, I foolishly bought the Linksys WSB24. Of the three pieces of Linksys gear, this one was actually the most reliable. That is, it didn’t crash several times per week. However, it added only about 15 feet to the distance I could wirelessly roam from the WAP11. That additional distance was definitely not worth the $80 I paid for it.
The NetGear WGR614 is an absolute dream compared to my pile of Linksys junk. Not only is it far more reliable, but the signal strength is as good or better than the combo of the WAP11 and the signal booster. Also, web browsing with the Powerbook is 2-3 times faster. I always wondered why the PowerBook was so slow when connected wirelessly instead of wired. I thought it was a problem with the Airport card. No, as I should have known all along, it was yet another indication of how crappy the Linksys products are. Also, instead of hours of fighting with the Linksys and Mac OS X networking configurations to get the Powerbook to connect to the WAP11, it took me less than a minute to get the Powerbook to connect reliably and securely to the WGR614.
Reminder for later: to get a new DHCP allocated IP address on Red Hat 9 Linux (assuming eth0 is the primary network interface) without having to reboot, do the following as root:
#killall dhcpd #/sbin/dhclient eth0
Interestingly I have had the opposite experience. I have always used Linksys and been very happy with it – starting with the BFW1154 WAP/Router – which we use both wired and wirelessly (and even from TiVo). We also used the booster and it solved the problem we were having.
On the other hand, Molly has an NT4 laptop (company machine, we are not allowed to upgrade) and we tried a Netgear card for wireless connectivity – and the machine refused to recognize the card. (Although, to be fair, it is probably the machine and Linksys doesn’t have any products that support NT4).
Perhaps the key difference is that currently all my machines are Windows (but the next box will be Linux). Interestly, it is usually “Windows machine”, but “Linux box”.
Enjoy,
RB
Wow, Windows NT 4 on a laptop. That brings back nightmares. Not being allowed to use at least Win 2K on a laptop is inhumane torture.
I’d like to upgrade my work laptop from Win 2K to XP Pro, but my past experience with Windows upgrades has been very bad. My Win 2K install is limping along adequately for now, so I don’t think the benefit would outweigh the amount of time it would take to reinstall everything.
My rule for upgrades is simple. I wait until my current Windows system becomes reasonably hosed (which will happen every few years) and take that as a signal from the gods that it is time to upgrade. I would never upgrade a working system, that is simply courting disaster. Right now our machines are on XP and XP Pro and everything is humming along (except of that inhumane torture referred to earlier).
I think your problems with the Linksys gear had nothing to do with the manufacturer, more to do with you configuration of the hardware. I use a Linksys wireless router, and I must admit that with the default configuration the signal strength was poor. But I changed the channel on which the system was operating on, and voila! the signal strength was much better.
Also, if the subnet was wrong, why not change it?!
While I can’t say that I did a comprehensive test of the Linksys WAP11 with different channels, I did try three or four different ones. I didn’t detect a significant difference in the signal strength as I switched between the different channels. Maybe I should have tried a couple more channels. I did try lots of different physical locations for the router and different angles for its antennas. After testing a lot of combinations, I finally found a setup that worked pretty well throughout most of my house.
The NetGear wireless router on its default channel had a slightly stronger signal than the WAP11 + signal booster combo on all the channels I tried on the WAP11. I’ll have to try other channels on the NetGear router to see if I can get an even better signal.
Signal strength actually wasn’t one of the major issues. With the Linksys signal booster attached, the signal was tolerable. If that had been the only problem, I probably would have kept it. However, the fact that the WAP11 often locked up several times per day and the poor support I received from Linksys sealed its fate.
The subnet wasn’t wrong. It’s just that the Linksys router (192.168.1.x) and the NetGear router (192.168.0.x) use different subnets by default. After I switched routers, I had to get my machines to release their 192.168.1.x addresses before I could get them to lease a new 192.168.0.x IP address. They kept trying to contact the DHCP server on the removed Linksys router at 192.168.1.1 to renew their lease.
Jeremy Zawodny shares my WAP11 hatred. So do lots of the other people who commented on his post.
I’m still extremely happy with my NetGear WGR614. I still haven’t had a single serious problem with it. Unlike one of the previous commenters on his site experienced, I haven’t had any problems with the WGR614 overheating and I don’t have it standing up vertically, either.
I’ve been thinking about giving away my Linksys gear to someone else, but I can’t think of anyone I hate that much. I nearly gave the junk away a couple times, but decided better of it.
Well, I can’t say I’m interested in the rest, but I’ll take the signal booster off your hands happily… Contact me at [email protected]. Just take out the nospam…
Sold!!! That was a lot easier than dealing with EBay. Maybe I’ll start selling off all the other computer and electronic stuff I no longer use by advertising them on my blog.
Thank you Thank you Thank you for posting about your problem with the Dell, Mac G3, and Linksys Router! I’ve been going crazy for three days trying to figure out what I did wrong! I’ve had the EXACT same problem – right down to NO response to my email to Linksys. (Which I think is downright bad business) Even a “we don’t know what caused this” answer is better than complete snubbery!
I think the problem is with the Mac G3, not the router.
I started having the same problems with my NetGear router about two
weeks ago. After I got back from vacation a couple days ago, I decided
to take a look at all the connections on my network. I discovered that I
had reconnected the G3 to the NetGear when I was trying to download a
new version of some software for the G3. As soon as I disconnected the
G3, the problem went away and has not come back.
The bizarre thing is that the G3 didn’t even have to be turned on. Just
being plugged in was enough to cause the problem. There must be
something odd about how the ethernet connection is terminated on the
G3’s internal network card.
Is your G3’s IP address assigned static or dynamic?
Linksys responded a couple days ago saying I should assign a static address for my G3 and see if that fixed the problem.
I bought a Linksys Wirelss Network router (can’t remember the model name now), or was rather recommeded to buy it it by PC World and was eager to set it up. When it actually came to setting it up, i had some difficulty. Linksys is not compatible with AOL! Thanks for telling me…Anyway, I got a refund and everything and was recommended by AOL that I get a netgear wirless network router and since it’s been set up (was quite easy to set up) it has been working perfectly. However, the only thing that I notice is that sometimes where there are power surges, the router keeps disconnecting me, but these are rare occasions. One other thing is the signal downstairs (it is set up upstairs) is pretty poor (on low to very low in some places.) Can anyone recommend a signal booster that I can buy? Thanks.
what about changing the linksys to the 192.168.0.x subnet if you like that one sso much or want to be different
The subnet wasn’t the issue. Either router works fine with whatever subnet I choose. It’s just that changing subnets on a router while using DHCP will cause the machines that have leased an address to not be able to get past the router. Expiring their leases forces them to acquire a new address, which will then be assigned in the new subnet.
I ended up giving away the Linksys router, so I don’t have it to experiment with (or be tortured by) anymore. I actually have had similar disconnect problems with the Netgear router in the time I have owned it, but overall it has been far more reliable than the Linksys. If only my Earthlink/Covad DSL connection were as relaible as my router.
You can set EITHER of those brands up to work in any subnet you want, as long as said subnet isn’t a huge one (no /16 or /8 networks, you can’t have 10.*, but subnets within them such as 10.20.30.* are fine too.
For networks with static IPs, its easier to change one computer, configure the router properly, hit save, change that computer back, then verify you can get back into the router… problem solved without leaving your desk.
For truly DHCP based systems, its all sort of silly anyways since every time you reset the router, let alone replace it, you ought to force all the computers to renew their DHCP addresses, or the router will not know that that computer is the true owner of that address, and may reissue it.
I’ve also had major issues with Linksys Access Points. Poor signal strength, constant lockups, and extremely poor support are the norm. The problem is not even isolated. Most of my friends who have Linksys products have similar experiences. What I’ve noticed is that once they switch to Netgear products, their signal is a lot better, their internet experience is a lot faster, and their access point does not crash anymore. However, I do have friends who are committed to Linksys for whatever reason, and they just keep buying newer and newer versions hoping that their problems will go away. I feel sorry for them. In the meanwhile, I have switched to Netgear and networking at home has become pure bliss.