New Firmware for Linksys BEFW11S4
Shay Logan
making the box work after the upgrade. The upgrade went fine, but I got not
get out onto the internet after it. After half an hour on the phone with
their tech support it still would not work. I do not know why I did not try
to reset the whole box before, but when I did it work. The tech support
lady told me that they do not recommend upgrading the boxes. Why do they
bother writing new firmware?
Tim Stobb
be reset sometimes once a day. Will try the new firmware myself. No
readme in the zip file either.
On Sun, 21 Oct 2001 21:46:11 GMT, "Shay Logan" <shay_...@usa.net>
wrote:
Happy Canuck
- installed correctly
- got address from @Home
- provided DCHP to PCs
- allowed traffic system to system
- no traffic out onto the internet!!!
I reinstalled 1.37b and it immediately came back up, and yes I tried the
reset and not traffic.
Wonder how well they test new updates?
Bill
"Tim Stobb" <t...@power.net.invalid> wrote in message
news:2nebttgmon73dpiln...@4ax.com...
Dennis Rex
over the wireless link from a laptop. A two second pause after the load,
and I had the link back, Internet connectivity and full access to all LAN
resources.
"Happy Canuck" <happy...@altavista.net> wrote in message
news:VmAC7.361928$j65.93...@news4.rdc1.on.home.com...
George Lake
whats the differance? Where is the README.DOC? Is it an upgrade? what is it?
"Tim Stobb" <t...@power.net.invalid> wrote in message
news:2nebttgmon73dpiln...@4ax.com...
Dennis Rex
in the Wireless tab. There's a new thing at the bottom of the Filters page,
but I don't remember what was added.
"George Lake" <sybe...@mediaone.net> wrote in message
news:nzZC7.27348$R9.79...@typhoon.we.rr.com...
Steve W
TFTP program. It looks like it successfully upgrades and then I look
at the admin page and the firmware version is still 1.37.9b. I tried
doing a hard reset and that didn't help either. Any ideas?
Steve
Dennis Rex
should get a message saying that the flash is being erased and that it may
take some time (about 20 seconds on mine) Then, you'll see a progress bar
for about 10 sec. Lastly, the Successful banner should displayed.
Not to sound like a bad support guy asking if it's plugged in or anything,
but:
1. Are the NEW firmware files the only ones in the directory? I was
thinking that if you had an old and new set mixed together, the wrong bin
file was being applied. Unzip the new firmware to an empty folder.
2. Try clearing the browser cache and log in to the router again. I've seen
similar wierdness, especially when making changes to two routers
consecutively, that was caused by the browser remembering things from the
last session.
3. When you reset the box, I seem to remember that the password reverts to
"admin?" You're using the right PW?
Wish I could offer something more concrete.
"Steve W" <ok...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f12cd3d1.01102...@posting.google.com...
Steve W
the code1018.bin I think is the filename. It's not the browser cache.
I've reset the unit such that I have to reconfigure it so I know a
hard reset is getting done. I have left the password as admin as I
don't allow external network configuration of the router.
Respectfully non-upgraded, :)
Steve
"Dennis Rex" <d...@home.com> wrote in message news:<tS4D7.61527$8a.42...@news1.rsm1.occa.home.com>...
Kochin Chang
and are curious about the new features they added. Do you have any
information on those new features you mentioned? The on-line manual
provides only minimum or no information for those features. I am
specially interested in the Antenna Selection option. Is it something
I can use to boost the signal range and quality?
Thanks.
Kochin Chang
"Dennis Rex" <d...@home.com> wrote in message news:<uGZC7.60754$8a.42...@news1.rsm1.occa.home.com>...
Jake
some new firmware for the BEFW11S4. While I couldn't find anything
about v1.39.2 (Oct 09 2001), I found a page about v1.38.5. I upgraded
from a pre 1.38.5 firmware, so the features in 1.38 were new to me.
One note: make sure to restore factory defaults after upgrading. For
some reason, this firmware upgrade didn't reset the settings, and
there are some changes that might make your old settings inconsistent
(for example Connect on Demand and Keep Alive are now mutually
exclusive.) In fact, I couldn't even get on the net until I reset the
settings.
Anyway. I searched google for "port triggering" and found this site:
http://www.hansenonline.net/Networking/LinksysNews.html
It didn't seem to be online. It seems like a cool site with good
LinkSys BEFW11S4 info, so I hope it comes back online. Thank goodness
for google's cash. Here's a rundown of 1.38.5:
New features in Linksys firmware.
1.38.5
There's three new major additions in the 1.38.5 version of the
firmware. The ability to change the MTU, the addition of Stateful
Packet Inspection, and a port triggering feature. There's also a
number of minor additions, changes and fixes.
MTU size
First, the MTU size can now be modified. The Maximum Transmission Unit
specifies how large a packet can be before it needs to be fragmented.
The default for most network devices is 1500 bytes (including
headers). This probably won't be something that most people need to
change, but some setups might require a smaller or higher MTU. Some
VPN setups I've seen require a smaller value to account for different
header size and troubles with fragmentation of VPN traffic.
Port Triggering
The second addition is the port triggering feature. Unfortunately, the
help-page that comes with the firmware release isn't very good ...
Linksys still claim you have to disable DHCP to use port forwarding
... Anyway, this is an interesting addition. Basically, it's a
conditional port forwarding feature. If the router sees outbound
traffic in the port triggering range, then the incoming port range
will be forwarded to the IP of the computer initiating the traffic.
This is supposed to increase the support for some online games (I only
play Half-Life/TFC online myself, so I don't know which games would
require this feature).
One thing I have noticed is that when I send e-mail, it takes a long
time to get a connection to the external SMTP server. This is because
a number of SMTP servers are using the auth/ident protocol to try to
make sure that you are who you say you are. The result of this check
if often ignored, and you can still send mail even if the connection
fails. And, with a default configuration of the Linksys router, the
attempt will fail. This is where port triggering can come in handy. By
using port 25 as the trigger, and 113 (auth/ident) as the incoming
port range, you can conditionally allow this connection to take place,
thus eliminating this "long" wait. I've tested this, and it works for
me ... The only thing that concerns me is that the auth/ident
connection does not show up in the log.
Stateful Packet Inspection.
The big news with this release is the addition of SPI. Stateful packet
inspection basically means that the router will check each and every
incoming packet to see if it matches an existing connection. If it
doesn't, the packet is dropped. This does in effect cancel any
port-forwarding. If you are not forwarding any ports (including port
triggering), enabling this feature will add more security to your
router. The addition of this feature is a big upgrade--- The router
has now gone from being a simple NAT router to becoming almost a real
firewall.
Other fixes and additions.
- It is now possible to enable/disable multicast pass through. This is
the "bug" I'm referring to on the bugpage, where multicast traffic is
passed through the router and into your LAN. This feature allow you to
disable this.
- Several DNS issues have been fixed.
- Throughput is supposed to have been increased. I don't have any way
of testing this at the moment...
The changes on the Filters page can be seen here. The new features are
underlined in red. These are my recommended settings (for what it's
worth). However, if you are hosting any server, you will have to
disable SPI.
Halfton
that info is on the BEFSRx1's not BEFW11S4, but his descriptions on port
forward & SPI are good if the S4 FW has it
hth
Joe
"Jake" <0hbp...@dea.spamcon.org> wrote in message
news:6d5fd846.01102...@posting.google.com...
> As some of you may know, and previous threads have discussed, there is
> some new firmware for the BEFW11S4. While I couldn't find anything
> about v1.39.2 (Oct 09 2001), I found a page about v1.38.5. I upgraded
> from a pre 1.38.5 firmware, so the features in 1.38 were new to me.
>
> One note: make sure to restore factory defaults after upgrading. For
> some reason, this firmware upgrade didn't reset the settings, and
> there are some changes that might make your old settings inconsistent
> (for example Connect on Demand and Keep Alive are now mutually
> exclusive.) In fact, I couldn't even get on the net until I reset the
> settings.
>
> Anyway. I searched google for "port triggering" and found this site:
>
> http://www.hansenonline.net/Networking/LinksysNews.html
>
snipped
Dennis Rex
firmware on par with the wired versions, with the exception of the ZoneAlarm
and virus support stuff (that looked like marketing vs. function anyway).
MAC filtering, port triggering and other advanced functions are added. The
suggested links on hansenonline are very informative on those features. The
antenna settings are: default, left, right & diversity spread. It appears
that default selects both antennae in a dipole (rabbit ears) arrangement.
Moving them helps hit the weak spots, especially in the vertical plane. Go
in small increments to find the best coverage for your situation. Using the
left or right makes sense if you've connected an external antenna, or want
to lop off your coverage on one side. The diversity setting should, by
definition, select the element with the strongest signal. When I tried it
in an area that had been iffy, I got good signal, then weak, then good. It
seemed to switch back & forth, but not lock in. In strong coverage areas,
I saw no difference using diversity. Maybe it's best for a moving client.
"Kochin Chang" <koc...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:81e232c8.01102...@posting.google.com...
Jake
> My take on this firmware is that Linksys brought the feature set on the S4
> firmware on par with the wired versions, with the exception of the ZoneAlarm
> and virus support stuff (that looked like marketing vs. function anyway).
As a side effect of adding the SPI, Port Triggering, and extra
wireless features, I also feel that they've made this version of the
firmware signficantly more stable.
I used to have problems where my wireless interface would go down. I
didn't realize it sometimes, because I have an airport hub on the same
subnet downstairs, so I'd just roam to it when the Linksys wireless
went down.
I noticed that using the HTTP configuration stuff caused things to
flake out. Resets sometimes occured without my permission. The
wireless interface, when it would go down, would leave the activity
light for the wirless leg on steady.
These were problems I HAD, but since upgrading to the new firmware, I
haven't had any of these problems. MAC filtering has been around for
a while, but I'd like to see in the future an option for an "allow
list" rather than the current "disallow list". The newly added port
triggering is real nice for forwarding IDENT ports 113 when necessary.
(If you have ZoneAlarm running, the port forwarding even stealths 113
properly. ZA is smart enough to "deny" 113 requests to servers you
connect to, but stealth all others)
Anyway, my point is that I find that this update has fixed some
stability problems with the BEFW11S4. Not sure if anyone else has
similar experience or agrees.
Bob Mariotti
>stability problems with the BEFW11S4. Not sure if anyone else has
>similar experience or agrees.
Having had the new 1.39.2 fw up for about a week now I'd say that it
has solved the most irritating problem - lock-ups and lost
connections. I haven't had to reset my S4 since upgrading and it used
to be a 2-3 times daily routine.
Others with this product should upgrade ASAP.
OsiTech.Net
changes password to default, changes my ip range, e.t.c.
Luckily I kept the old firmware so I backflashed.
--
Emmanuel
----------------------------------------------------
Inland Empire Community
web, newsgroups and ftp
http://4.40.44.70
"Jake" <0hbp...@dea.spamcon.org> wrote in message
news:6d5fd846.01102...@posting.google.com...
Dennis Rex
setting or password. Neither has ever failed to function after any of these
updates.
"OsiTech.Net" <esos...@ositech.net> wrote in message
news:cD1F7.1324$%G1.7...@paloalto-snr2.gtei.net...
George Lake
I have nerever had any of the problems that I have read here. The only
problem I have is what when I have Wire and Wireless on the unit it hanges.
"Dennis Rex" <d...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Oq2F7.69603$8a.49...@news1.rsm1.occa.home.com...
wk
I'm using WIN98SE with a WPC11 for wireless and a second wired WIN95 PC.
My ISP is Bell Sympatico (ADSL using black Nortel modem). 40 bit
WEP is enabled.
With firmware 1.37.2 and 1.37.9b I had a flakey internet connection
and occasional complete hangs. For some reason the internet
connection became unusable after July 10: the router could not log
in most of the time and when it did succeed it would only stay up for
a few minutes to an hour.
Linksys routers have been known to have problems
with my ISP (Bell Sympatico) so I didn't worry too much
about it. I simply stopped using the router aspect of the device.
The wireless and switch aspect still worked fine and that's all
I needed.
Since upgrading the firmware of the router to 1.39.2 three days ago
everything has been solid.
I did follow your advice and held the reset button in for 10
or 15 seconds after the upgrade. It was a nuisance to have
to re-enter all the settings, but I'm very happy with the results.
wk
Jake
myself.
As best I can find, resets occur when you enable/disable the logging
function. Its happens intermittently, but the logging function seems
to be able to cause the problem. Those running this router and
firmware, and willing to loose your settings, try enabling and
disabling the logging function a few times, and changing the IP to
which the SNMP messages are sent, see if you lose your settings. I'd
be interested to know if this is a problem with mine alone.
I've found in the past that the BEFW11S4 is flakey when you use the
HTTP interface. I've found that with the new firmware, its better. I
have some scripts I've written that hit the status page and the DHCP
list pretty often and hard, and those don't seem to cause any
problems. However, when I play with the logging function, I find
myself resetting things once in a while.
Jake
"Dennis Rex" <d...@home.com> wrote in message news:<Oq2F7.69603$8a.49...@news1.rsm1.occa.home.com>...
OsiTech.Net
I am experiencing the exact same issue that you are having. When I first
posted I expected to get the usual (mine works okay) from those that are
tooling along with the one laptop connection.
I guess the firmware was not tested for those like us that are using the box
to its full potential such as VPN, web serving, e.t.c..
Emmanuel who even though he knows Linksys doesn't give a crap but is hoping
for a revised firmware none the less.
--
Emmanuel
----------------------------------------------------
Inland Empire Community
web, newsgroups and ftp
http://4.40.44.70
"Jake" <0hbp...@dea.spamcon.org> wrote in message
news:6d5fd846.01110...@posting.google.com...
Dennis Rex
factors determine when and if a software problem will surface. However, I
use this device daily with four systems (2 laptops), W2K, ME & 98, VPN,
heavy email usage (Outlook, big ppts), internal file transfers, network
backup and printing. I also peruse the logs daily. I have run the S4 in
the above environment as a cable modem gateway, and as a router connected
through a BEFSR41. I have successfully used the port forwarding and DMZ
features for games and NetMeeting. While I do not serve up web pages or
news, I think it's fair to say that I have put it through its paces. That
my experience has been positive might be as much luck as anything else, but
I wanted to offer an alternative POV.
BTW, et cetera is abbreviated etc.
"OsiTech.Net" <esos...@ositech.net> wrote in message
news:z%hF7.640$607.2...@dfiatx1-snr1.gtei.net...
Mr DB
> There is a new firmware release for the BEFW11S4, but I did have trouble
> making the box work after the upgrade. The upgrade went fine, but I got not
> get out onto the internet after it.
I had a similar problem, but remembered reading a solution on a board
somewhere (dslreports?). The cause seems to be that the flash corrupts
some settings. In particular I had to clear the following:
1) connect via http to the router
2) Click on the "Advanced" tab
3) The "Filters" page should show
4) Zero out everything in the "Filtered IP Private Range" -- there
were a bunch of values filled in here that I never set
5) Click "Apply" and then "Continue"
The box rebooted and everything worked fine after that. (Too soon to
tell if its fixed the 2-3 min hangs and twice weekly hangs - though I
haven't locked up admin mode yet which used to happen every time I
used it).
OsiTech.Net
all is well so far.
I am hoping that I did not leave any hanging participles in this posting -
lol.
"Mr DB" <mrd...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7ad1b2de.01110...@posting.google.com...
OsiTech.Net
my issue with my firewall resetting my password, resetting my ip addresses,
e.t.c.
--
Emmanuel
----------------------------------------------------
Inland Empire Community
web, newsgroups and ftp
http://4.40.44.70
"Dennis Rex" <d...@home.com> wrote in message
news:qCiF7.71400$8a.50...@news1.rsm1.occa.home.com...
Steve W
seems much more stable. It hasn't locked up at all in the past few
days since i updated. In addition, incoming VPN to a machine on the
local LAN now works. Good job, Linksys!
Now if they just started supporting power management for wireless
cards :)
-- Steve
Dennis Rex
on a WPC11/laptop and it seems to work fine. Is that the feature you're
describing, or standby, suspend? (I've never had consistent luck with
standby, wireless or no.) Just looking to clarify.
"Steve W" <ok...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f12cd3d1.0111...@posting.google.com...
Steve W
management, it would not work. I would get massive packet loss. From
what I read, the router did not support power management for wireless
cards. Now, it seems it does as I tried last night with my Wavelan
(Orinoco) cards and it worked fine.
"Dennis Rex" <dd...@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<2HzG7.77986$8a.54...@news1.rsm1.occa.home.com>...