Do routers seriously just randomly die??

TheAscension · Jul 26, 2005, 11:32 AM

I've had this d-link DI-514 wi-fi router for nearly a year and just the other day I couldn't connect to it with my laptop. So I went into web management (the ethernet connection was still working fine) and rebooted it from there. After that the wi-fi worked fine until I used my laptop again last night and I had no signal. Keeping in mind that the ethernet is still working fine, I did the same procedure and rebooted it. I then had a signal again but this time only for 5 min before it dropped again.

I then decided to upgrade the firmware. I downloaded the firmware file and applied the firmware through web management (the firmware was up to date but I thought flashing it again would fix it). It seemed to flash fine and told me "device is restarting" and I hit "continue". At this point it just hung. I waited for quite a while but it would not respond. I figured that since it told me the flash had already happened and it was "restarting" I would just manually reboot it (power off/on).

Now all the lights came back on and it seemed to be alright until I tried to get an IP from the DHCP server. It will not serve any IPs now, and even if I use static IPs I cannot communicate with it. The router is completly non-responsive.

Is there a hard reboot that I can do with jumpers or anything??

P.S. I've already tried the restart button for 10 sec. and its also a refurb unit, so no warranty

Necrosis · Jul 26, 2005, 11:48 AM

Hmm not looking good, I had my 614+ do the same exact thing. I think mine was taken by a storm. Now I'm using the sam router as you. It just happens some times.

TheAscension · Jul 27, 2005, 10:46 AM

Thanks for the response, it sucks that I have to just throw away what looks like a nice piece of hardware. I just wish there was some way to flash it again without a computer, or at least short something that will put it to factory default.

pr0digal jenius · Jul 27, 2005, 01:10 PM

that's a bummer, but no...I don't know what else you can try short of telnet, which is a long shot

TheAscension · Jul 27, 2005, 03:40 PM

telnet?

SexPistoL · Jul 27, 2005, 07:46 PM

Did you use the firmware flash that is applicable to the country you are in?

Tipstaff · Jul 28, 2005, 01:26 AM

Could you please stop talking about this? You're jinxing me guys! I've had 4 customers call me in the last 2 days needing a new router as theirs just became uselss paperwieghts.

Wait a sec?!? Um.. on second thought.. keep talking about this. I just realized I'm making money off of it.

Oh, and keep buying Linksys routers. Yeah.. these are great routers. You will never need to buy another one as they will last you for the rest of the year.... um.. your life.. yeah.

Seriously, I've had to replace 8 routers for customers in the last month alone. 5 were Linksys, 1 USRobitcs, 1 DLink, and 1 SMC. And yeah.. routers can just up and die. Consistantly with Linksys you will see 1 Ethernet port die, or the PSU will start to buzz a high pitched noise, then keel over. The older USRs will hard lock causing you to reset it all the time, while a lot of routers (and this isn't specfic to one brand) will screw up something in the router options (such as no longer supporting DHCP, UPNP will stop working, or they will constantly disconnect or reset on their own).

The best piece of advice (short of not buying a Linksys router ever again) is to not stack the router ontop of or below anything. Heat is the number one killer of routers, with electricity being numero 2. A lot of people like to stack their highspeed modems ontop of the router, or below it, but I recommend not doing so as the amount of heat the 2 generate is enough to warm my dinner. Keep them side by side, or give them at least an inch of spacing for ventelation. While it won't stop all problems it can sure as hell increase the life of your router.. and, as a matter of fact, your modem (as my business partner can attest to).

pr0digal jenius · Jul 28, 2005, 09:09 AM

my 2 cents: buy netgear stuff

niceguyrichy · Jul 28, 2005, 09:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pr0digal jenius

my 2 cents: buy netgear stuff

Amen to that.

swimtech · Jul 30, 2005, 09:22 PM

Thanks for the tip fellas - I'd been using Netgear switches at work to link Apple desktops and printers and they worked fine day in and out for 3 years. We had an enterprise-wide network hardware change this past month and I need to purchase a switch (gonna go gigabit this time...) for the same area - was gonna go again with Netgear - your advice is encouraging...

Ryuujinx1 · Jul 30, 2005, 09:38 PM

Routers arent the only thing that randomly die... One of my switches randomly started losing ports until it stopped working all together. kinda sucked but i had a back-up switch.