Linksys WRT54GS wireless router occasionally drops to 1.0 Mbps and stays there.

[JW]

As the Subject says: I have a Linksys WRT54GS v.2 wireless router which
occasionally drops to 1.0 Mbps and stays there. Signal strength still
shows excellent. Can't even ping the router via a wireless connection when
it happens. Great fun when I'm throwing a bid in at the last moment on
eBay. :(

I have to unplug the thing for it to recover.

Happens once a day or so, but sometimes not for several days or more.
Wired connections work fine.

Firmware version: v4.71.4

There seems to be a number of complaints out there on this, but no
solutions.
http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/wrt54gs-wireless-connection-speed-dropping.6854/
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r13974684-Wireless-WRT54GS-Speed-54Mbps-down-to-1-0-Mbps
https://community.linksys.com/t5/Wireless-Routers/Speed-drops-to-1-0-mbps/td-p/15913

Checking the update page, there's no firmware updates. Funny, there used
to be... Maybe they pulled the plug on this model?
http://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=148629

Thanks.

[whit3rd]

On Wednesday, August 24, 2016 at 10:09:15 AM UTC-7, JW wrote:
> As the Subject says: I have a Linksys WRT54GS v.2 wireless router which
> occasionally drops to 1.0 Mbps and stays there. Signal strength still
> shows excellent. Can't even ping the router via a wireless connection when
> it happens.

The channels available for WiFi are all unlicensed; if there's a strong second
WiFi user (or other device in the 2.4 GHz band) its broadcast could swamp
yours, except for pauses between transfers.

Signal strength might be excellent, but the road is crowded.

[jack...@gmail.com]

Il giorno mercoledì 24 agosto 2016 19:09:15 UTC+2, JW ha scritto:

> Checking the update page, there's no firmware updates. Funny, there used
> to be... Maybe they pulled the plug on this model?
> http://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=148629

there are firmware update, just not from Linksys:

http://www.dd-wrt.com/site/index

Bye Jack

[JW]

On Thu, 25 Aug 2016 06:07:24 -0700 (PDT) jack...@gmail.com wrote in
Message id: <844110d9-5a77-405e...@googlegroups.com>:

Thanks. Looks like I have already have the last version ever released by
Linksys.
http://dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Linksys_WRT54GS_v2.0

[JW]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 13:05:43 -0700 (PDT) whit3rd <whi...@gmail.com> wrote
in Message id: <adcd02ba-36a7-40e2...@googlegroups.com>:

Thanks, I don't think it's that given the symptoms (requires power cycle)

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Wed, 24 Aug 2016 13:07:06 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:

>As the Subject says: I have a Linksys WRT54GS v.2 wireless router which
>occasionally drops to 1.0 Mbps and stays there. Signal strength still
>shows excellent. Can't even ping the router via a wireless connection when
>it happens. Great fun when I'm throwing a bid in at the last moment on
>eBay. :(
>
>I have to unplug the thing for it to recover.
>
>Happens once a day or so, but sometimes not for several days or more.
>Wired connections work fine.
>
>Firmware version: v4.71.4

Current firmware is:
WRT54GS_4.71.4.001_fw,2.bin
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=643052>
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/download.php?id=20701&sid=e2141ada1089e4d9835e4103538b2801>

>There seems to be a number of complaints out there on this, but no
>solutions.
>http://www.linksysinfo.org/index.php?threads/wrt54gs-wireless-connection-speed-dropping.6854/
>http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r13974684-Wireless-WRT54GS-Speed-54Mbps-down-to-1-0-Mbps
>https://community.linksys.com/t5/Wireless-Routers/Speed-drops-to-1-0-mbps/td-p/15913
>
>Checking the update page, there's no firmware updates. Funny, there used
>to be... Maybe they pulled the plug on this model?
>http://www.linksys.com/us/support-article?articleNum=148629
>
>Thanks.

It's been many years since I've seen that phenomenon and it's quite
real. It's a bug in the firmware that runs the radio section. The
problem is that the easily replaceable firmware such as DD-WRT
operates mostly on layer 3, while the wireless card operates on layer
2. For alternative firmware, the layer 2 stuff is supplied by Linksys
in the form of a linkable library that can't be tweaked. This might
be why firmware transplants haven't done anything to fix the problem
and why only some WRT54G and GS v2 boxes have the problem.

It's been many years since the WRT54GS was in fashion. There has been
considerable progress in wireless chips, antennas, router features,
acronyms, and aerodynamic packaging. You might want to consider a
newer wireless router.

--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

[JW]

On Thu, 25 Aug 2016 15:27:30 -0700 Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote in Message id: <j6rurbhehos9iuu9s...@4ax.com>:

Thank you for that Jeff. I think you may be right. Have any good
reasonably priced recommendations?

[ScottWW]

>"JW" wrote in message news:hi2urb9vk08rk6q85...@4ax.com...

I had a WRT54G that required frequent resets right out of the box. The
firmware was up-to-date. Reverting back one version made it much more
stable. Ultimately though, I had to replace it.
Scott

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 05:23:52 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:

>Thank you for that Jeff. I think you may be right. Have any good
>reasonably priced recommendations?

Maybe, but I need to know what you're doing with it, the speed of the
internet connection, number of simultaneous connections, and whether
you plan to use alternative firmware. Some clue as to the environment
(business, coffee shop, outdoors, home, industrial, doorstop, etc). Do
you need gigabit ethernet or will 10/100Mbits/sec suffice? USB 2.0,
3.0, or none? What you consider reasonably priced?

If you want really cheap, I've been buying refurbished Linksys EA2700
wireless routers from the Belkin (they own Linksys) eBay store:
<http://stores.ebay.com/linksysofficialstore/Wireless-Routers-/_i.html?_sacat=44995>
<http://www.ebay.com/itm/Linksys-N600-Dual-Band-Wi-Fi-Router-Manfacturer-Refurbished-/301761478977>
for $25 including shipping. Can't get much cheaper than that for a
dual band router with gigabit ethernet interface. However, the router
has a few odd problem.
1. The wireless range is lousy.
2. The wall warts blow up after about 2 years of service.
3. I can't stack anything on top of it due to the rounded top.
4. No flashing lights for user diagnostics.
However, wireless speed is good, measured up to 60 Mbits/sec.
<http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/FLUG-talk-2015-02-28/802.11gn%20direct.jpg>
I use these for lighting up small areas that do NOT require going
through walls or covering long distances. I also stock spare power
supplies.

For home users, the other end of the scale is an Asus RT-AC68Uv2.
<https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTAC68U/>
About $130. I don't care much about the AC speeds, but the range is
much better thanks to three 2.4GHz and three 4GHz power amps inside.
However, I've only installed one of these, and haven't had time to do
any kind of performance analysis. My seat of the pants evaluation is
that I like what I see (except for the price).
<http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32609-asus-rt-ac68p-dual-band-wireless-ac1900-gigabit-router-reviewed>
<http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32239-ac1900-first-look-netgear-r7000-a-asus-rt-ac68u>
<http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/router-chooser/detail/1235/asus-rtac68u>
<http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/router/result/1235-asus-rtac68u>
It's on the DD-WRT supported list:
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices#Asus>
but I haven't tried it yet.

Note: I'm a big fan of having the wireless access point(s) seperate
from the router, but cost and complexity prevent me from selling that
to home users.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 08:19:08 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote:

>For home users, the other end of the scale is an Asus RT-AC68Uv2.
><https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTAC68U/>

Oops. I goofed. That should be for an RT-AC68P, not U.
<http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTAC68P/>
The FCC site has it listed as RT-AC68V2.
<http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32609-asus-rt-ac68p-dual-band-wireless-ac1900-gigabit-router-reviewed>

The links I previously mentioned are all for the V1 router RT-AC68U.
There are some substantial hardware differences between v1 and v2. V1
is an RT-AC68U, while V2 is an RT-AC68P.
<https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC68P>
Some sales web sites are mixing these two with little control over
which one will arrive. Anyway, look for the "P", not "U". This one
worked for me:
<http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320228>
Sorry(tm) and caveat emptor.

There is also Asus specific alternative firmware available:
<http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about>

I haven't tried it yet.

[JW]

On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 08:45:27 -0700 Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote in Message id: <6on0sbdgqjv8o0bfb...@4ax.com>:

>On Fri, 26 Aug 2016 08:19:08 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
>wrote:
>
>>For home users, the other end of the scale is an Asus RT-AC68Uv2.
>><https://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTAC68U/>
>
>Oops. I goofed. That should be for an RT-AC68P, not U.
><http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTAC68P/>
>The FCC site has it listed as RT-AC68V2.
><http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32609-asus-rt-ac68p-dual-band-wireless-ac1900-gigabit-router-reviewed>
>
>The links I previously mentioned are all for the V1 router RT-AC68U.
>There are some substantial hardware differences between v1 and v2. V1
>is an RT-AC68U, while V2 is an RT-AC68P.
><https://wikidevi.com/wiki/ASUS_RT-AC68P>
>Some sales web sites are mixing these two with little control over
>which one will arrive. Anyway, look for the "P", not "U". This one
>worked for me:
><http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320228>
>Sorry(tm) and caveat emptor.
>
>There is also Asus specific alternative firmware available:
><http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/about>
>I haven't tried it yet.

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for all that detailed information. I think I'll go for the Asus
RT-AC68P. Appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

[Andy Burns]

JW wrote:

> Jeff Liebermann wrote

>
>> It's been many years since the WRT54GS was in fashion. There has been
>> considerable progress in wireless chips, antennas, router features
>

> Thank you for that Jeff. I think you may be right. Have any good
> reasonably priced recommendations?

I ran a Linksys WRT54GS for many years (with openWRT) eventually I
wanted gigabit and dual band so I replaced it with a Netgear WNDR3800
(also with openWRT) they seem more plentiful second-hand in the US than
the UK.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 27 Aug 2016 06:23:38 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:

>Thanks for all that detailed information. I think I'll go for the Asus
>RT-AC68P. Appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

I would be interested in how well (or badly) it works, especially if
the range is an improvement over the WRT54GSv2. I'm now debating
whether to buy one for testing, and then put it on the shelf for the
next customer. However, I've been getting reliable 2 day delivery
from Newegg so there's no reason for me to inventory any of them.
Decisions, decisions...

Incidentally, notice that the prices I've been posting are mostly for
refurbished equipment. I've been buying refurbished from Linksys,
Asus, Brother (via Staples), and others for years with very few
problems (a crunched toner cartridge and a missing power supply). With
a typical discount of 50%, it's difficult to resist the temptation to
buy only refurbished. However, watch out for the distinction between
"factory refurbished" which is legitimate, and "vendor refurbished"
which can be anything from an authorized service center to a hole in
the wall reselling used equipment.

[JW]

On Sat, 27 Aug 2016 10:47:45 -0700 Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote in Message id: <nmj3sbton9omhrcdb...@4ax.com>:

>On Sat, 27 Aug 2016 06:23:38 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:
>
>>Thanks for all that detailed information. I think I'll go for the Asus
>>RT-AC68P. Appreciate you taking the time to help me out.
>
>I would be interested in how well (or badly) it works, especially if
>the range is an improvement over the WRT54GSv2.

I will do that. I'll have to use my smart phone, as my laptop has a dead
battery so I can't stray far from an outlet. I have an LG Escape2 phone
and I found a free app to measure signal strength. Cool.
I should have the router this week and I'll do the before and after test.

>I'm now debating
>whether to buy one for testing, and then put it on the shelf for the
>next customer. However, I've been getting reliable 2 day delivery
>from Newegg so there's no reason for me to inventory any of them.
>Decisions, decisions...
>
>Incidentally, notice that the prices I've been posting are mostly for
>refurbished equipment. I've been buying refurbished from Linksys,
>Asus, Brother (via Staples), and others for years with very few
>problems (a crunched toner cartridge and a missing power supply). With
>a typical discount of 50%, it's difficult to resist the temptation to
>buy only refurbished. However, watch out for the distinction between
>"factory refurbished" which is legitimate, and "vendor refurbished"
>which can be anything from an authorized service center to a hole in
>the wall reselling used equipment.

Got it.

[JW]

On Mon, 29 Aug 2016 10:18:01 -0400 JW <no...@dev.null> wrote in Message id:
<a6g8sbh46738ognk3...@4ax.com>:

>On Sat, 27 Aug 2016 10:47:45 -0700 Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
>wrote in Message id: <nmj3sbton9omhrcdb...@4ax.com>:
>
>>On Sat, 27 Aug 2016 06:23:38 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:
>>
>>>Thanks for all that detailed information. I think I'll go for the Asus
>>>RT-AC68P. Appreciate you taking the time to help me out.
>>
>>I would be interested in how well (or badly) it works, especially if
>>the range is an improvement over the WRT54GSv2.
>
>I will do that. I'll have to use my smart phone, as my laptop has a dead
>battery so I can't stray far from an outlet. I have an LG Escape2 phone
>and I found a free app to measure signal strength. Cool.
>I should have the router this week and I'll do the before and after test.

Got the new router and have it all set up. Previously with the old router,
I was able to stray about 150' from the house before the power level
dropped to -90dBm and speed to 1Mbps. I now get about 250' before the same
occurs. Typical power levels with the new router are about 12dBm higher
than with the old router from the same distances.

I'm currently running all the devices on the network at 2.4GHz. I'll
probably leave it that way as I think only my phone is capable of dual
band operation, and according to the Internet (so it must be true) 2.4Ghz
has better range and penetration through walls than 5GHz.

Seems to be working great so far. Thanks for your advice Jeff.

[Andy Burns]

JW wrote:

> I'm currently running all the devices on the network at 2.4GHz. I'll
> probably leave it that way as I think only my phone is capable of dual
> band operation, and according to the Internet (so it must be true) 2.4Ghz
> has better range and penetration through walls than 5GHz.

That's generally true, and if you're using 5GHz indoors it's usually a
good thing as it tends to keep everyone else's signal out (not that it's
so crowded to begin with, but usage is growing).

[JW]

On Wed, 31 Aug 2016 11:12:41 -0400 JW <no...@dev.null> wrote in Message id:
<u4sdsbdj0jpf49mrt...@4ax.com>:

So weeks later still happy with this router. On devices capable of only
54Mb/s It never drops below that number. Never any disconnects either. One
of our newer laptops gets 300Mb/s on a regular basis.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sat, 17 Sep 2016 15:33:20 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:

>>I'm currently running all the devices on the network at 2.4GHz. I'll
>>probably leave it that way as I think only my phone is capable of dual
>>band operation, and according to the Internet (so it must be true) 2.4Ghz
>>has better range and penetration through walls than 5GHz.

"So let it be written, so it shall be done" (Yul Brenner as pharaoh
in CB DeMille's version of the Ten Commandments).

2.4GHz penetrates somewhat better than 5GHz. The "somewhat" depends
on the material, where the reflections go, polarization, and the
political agenda of whomever is paying for the research.

"Propagation Losses Through Common Building Materials 2.4 GHz vs 5
GHz"
<http://www.am1.us/Protected_Papers/E10589_Propagation_Losses_2_and_5GHz.pdf>
See Table 3 on Pg 9. However, if you want speed, 802.11ac works on
5GHz only.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac>

>>Seems to be working great so far. Thanks for your advice Jeff.

Y'er welcome. I just inherited a small collection of Netgear wireless
routers. Much as I would like to buy a new Asus RT-AC68P for myself,
I really don't need any more wireless routers. Maybe later and good
to know that it works.

>So weeks later still happy with this router. On devices capable of only
>54Mb/s It never drops below that number. Never any disconnects either. One
>of our newer laptops gets 300Mb/s on a regular basis.

If you're actually getting 300 Mbits/sec throughput, it's probably
doing it using 802.11ac on 5GHz and not on 2.4GHz.

[JW]

On Sat, 17 Sep 2016 15:08:39 -0700 Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote in Message id: <5nertblnsorhtf325...@4ax.com>:

Yep, just checked and that one is 5GHz. The utility that's built into the
thing is pretty cool. It shows all the clients that are connected, their
IP addresses, their MAC addresses, throughout, and connect frequency. It
also has a traffic analyzer and monitor plus tons of other stuff to play
with. Even keeps statistics on how much data is transferred on a
daily/weekly/monthly basis.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Sun, 18 Sep 2016 06:48:51 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:

>Yep, just checked and that one is 5GHz. The utility that's built into the
>thing is pretty cool. It shows all the clients that are connected, their
>IP addresses, their MAC addresses, throughout, and connect frequency. It
>also has a traffic analyzer and monitor plus tons of other stuff to play
>with. Even keeps statistics on how much data is transferred on a
>daily/weekly/monthly basis.

Out of morbid curiosity, does the Acer utility show the connection
speed in both directions? In infrastructure mode, the connection
speed (actually the associations speed) is set by the wireless access
point and can be different in each direction. I've seen lots of
sniffers and monitors, but they always seem to show the connect speed
only in one direction, usually from the AP to the Client radio.

[JW]

On Sun, 18 Sep 2016 10:52:37 -0700 Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote in Message id: <kukttbt2qtb0gb9r9...@4ax.com>:

>On Sun, 18 Sep 2016 06:48:51 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:
>
>>Yep, just checked and that one is 5GHz. The utility that's built into the
>>thing is pretty cool. It shows all the clients that are connected, their
>>IP addresses, their MAC addresses, throughout, and connect frequency. It
>>also has a traffic analyzer and monitor plus tons of other stuff to play
>>with. Even keeps statistics on how much data is transferred on a
>>daily/weekly/monthly basis.
>
>Out of morbid curiosity, does the Acer utility show the connection

Asus. :)

>speed in both directions? In infrastructure mode, the connection
>speed (actually the associations speed) is set by the wireless access
>point and can be different in each direction. I've seen lots of
>sniffers and monitors, but they always seem to show the connect speed
>only in one direction, usually from the AP to the Client radio.

Yes, it shows speed in both directions: TX and RX.

[Jeff Liebermann]

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 05:55:51 -0400, JW <no...@dev.null> wrote:

>Asus. :)

Sorry. The names are sufficiently similar that I often get them
confused.

>Yes, it shows speed in both directions: TX and RX.

Very cool. That would give me a tool to test for local interference
at one end of a wireless link without sniffing the traffic. If a
client receiver is hearing RF junk from a local source of
interference, the data rate from the wireless access point to the
local receiver will probably be much lower in that direction. In the
other direction, where the receiver does not hear any interference,
the data rate will be higher. Acer, err... Asus, did that one
correctly.