Netgear Router going nuts...

[JacksterMan]

I've got a Netgear MR814v3 802.11b router.

Purchased about two months ago and on 24/7 with an always-on PPoE 1.5Mbps DSL connection.

This router was really stable on me for the first two months. It was initially hooked up to two PCs running XP. I then added another PC running Win95. All was still well. Then I added a PC running Win98SE about a week ago. It was now at 4 PCs, the router's max without hooking up a switch. About 3 days into having 4 PCs connected, the router started crashing every now and then. I had to restart it every morning. Then it got worse. It crashed every 2-4 hours. The router was on top of a computer case, sitting Horizontally. Thinking that maybe it was overheating, I set it vertically. The router runs much cooler but it still crashes. So I erased all settings and started over. I put in my internet connection settings and set up a DMZ (exposed host) computer. I left the router running 24/7, as I always do, and it didn't crash for about 26 hours. I was just commenting to a friend over google talk about how stable the router had been since I reset it, when google talk lost my connection and couldn't log back in.

Doh!

so it seems the problem started when I added the 4th computer. But the thing is, it is an old computer, it has an AT power supply and when it is off it is the same as if it was unplugged from the router, since the computer is getting no power at all when it is off and the NIC is off (obviously). I'm really stumped. I don't think it's a firmware problem because it has been running the same firmware (5.4_06) since it was bought and the problems started recently. I checked Netgear's site and there is no new firmware. When the router crashes, my little 4-PC network keeps on going strong, just that connection to the internet is dead. Mozilla and IE both keep looking for the DNS server and never find it when i try to go to a website. it is not the modem, I only need to restart the router to regain internet acess. The modem is a Siemens SpeedStream 4100 I got with SBC DSL. Great modem, very stable. Help anyone?

[Sterling_Aug]

Have you flash updated the BIOS in the router?

I have had to do that in the past to fix dropped connection issues.

[JacksterMan]

flash updated the BIOS? are you talking about updating the firmware? It's already running the latest available.

Now the DHCP server is crapping out after a while too. None of the computers get an IP adress. This is turning into a major headache, every time I want to go online I have to go behind the desk, restart the router, and tell the computers to retrieve and IP adress. D@mn you netgear! I'm starting to think about getting a new router, this one was pretty cheap,

The Linksys WRT54G is starting to look pretty sweet....

[Sterling_Aug]

I would strill reflash the update again. It may fix a problem with corruption.

[JacksterMan]

I'll try that and let you know. **Fingers Crossed**

[JacksterMan]

Well I re-flashed it with the firmware it was already running and it has been stable for about 4 hours 30 min. Hopefully it will stay stable. If the router does stay stable (meaning the firmware was corrupted) is it anything to worry about, as is it could be the router's internal memory?

Thanks!

[JacksterMan]

D*mm!

This mf'ing router is laughing at me, I swear. No more then 3 minutes after I posted my last post, I lost my connection to the internet. D*mmit!

[Kandar]

My netgear router started resetting every 3 - 5 minutes and it drove me mental keep having to renew all the computers IP addresses. I solved the problem by Re flashing the firmfare which was already the current version but it had become corupted somehow. :confused:
Re flashing the same version sorted the problem. :)

I use Firefox as my default browser but it did not work very well when it came to flashing the firmware. I eventually used IE rather than Firefox to update the firmware and it went smoothly. :t

[JacksterMan]

I'll have to try that. I used firefox to re-flash, i'll try IE instead.

Thanks!

[JacksterMan]

re-flashed IE = no luck

but then I decided to disable the DMZ (exposed host) server. It's basically a computer expozed to the internet with no protection at all. Due to open port hassles, I set up DMZ to open a Win95 computer I use to regularly host a multiplayer tank war game, bolo. Anyways, I disabled DMZ and now the router has been stable for over 36 hours. Wohooo!

[JacksterMan]

So the Netgear router has been stable for almost 2 days. Guess that means my problem is solved. However, I really need DMZ. Since I thought that the router was officially FUBAR I began looking at the Linksys WRT54G and WRT54GS and I've decided to get myself a router that didn't cost me less than all the cabling I had to buy for it, even if it's working allright now. Also, the Nintendo DS is going online soon and according to Nintendo, the DS and the MR814 don't get along well together (none of the netgear routers do). The DS and the WRT54G are listed as a full compability pair. I love Animal Crossing and it's going online with the DS soon. I can't stand the thought of not being able to play it online.....

UPDATE: It seems if I assign the DS a static IP it will work with the MR814. However it seems it will be hard to get it to work. Still getting a nice Linksys. Nintendo says the DS works with the WRT54G, will it work with the WRT54GS?