New Router Needed? HELP!

All day I've been connecting and disconnecting both the modem and router. It gives me a "limited" message. I read this probably means I need a new router.

There is a firmware update, but this looks more serious. And I can't download it anyway.

Any suggestions? Before I buy a new one?

rjm

All day I've been connecting and disconnecting both the modem and router. It gives me a "limited" message. I read this probably means I need a new router.

There is a firmware update, but this looks more serious. And I can't download it anyway.

Any suggestions? Before I buy a new one?

rjm

Take a peek at this page and see if any of the advice helps:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/21827-42-limited-connectivity

Thanks, Doc. It's getting out of my league at this point.

If it's still bad tomorrow, must call Time-Warner. The TV is unaffected. Something is really wrong. I'm on my phone: 4G now. Gotta do something!

Thanks again.

rjm

Last edited by rjm on Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

Thanks, Doc. It's getting out of my league at this point.

It's still bad tomorrow, must call Time-Warner. The TV is unaffected. Something is really wrong. I'm on my phone: 4G now. Gotta do something!

Thanks again.

rjm

Try some of the simple steps and see if they help.

Thanks, Doc. It's getting out of my league at this point.

It's still bad tomorrow, must call Time-Warner. The TV is unaffected. Something is really wrong. I'm on my phone: 4G now. Gotta do something!

Thanks again.

rjm

Try some of the simple steps and see if they help.

I'll check the modem directly. Check the cords, unplug it from the wall, see if it's overheated, but I have a feeling it "suffered a catastrophic failure" as one site put it

Has the symptoms. It's well over a year old and the last firmware update was September-2011.

Not good.

Bummer. Thanks so much! I will try.

rjm

Last edited by rjm on Mon Mar 18, 2013 10:00 am, edited 2 times in total.

BTW, it appears as though Software Forum posts don't show up in tapatalk. Easier to edit in there. I'll switch to mobile view meantime.

rjm

Wow - only a year? My AT&T DSL modem lasted over 10 years and was still going strong until we upgraded to U-Verse 17 mbps service. The Linksys router I purchased lasted for at least 5 years.

Good luck! Those issues are never fun. And I used to do tech support for a living.

Why not do a full reboot? Turn off the power to both the router and modem, unplug the router and modem for 30 seconds, plug both back in, and reboot both. That usually solved 99.9% of my connectivity issues.

Hi Brian,

Did all those things. Worked sporadically, then stopped.

Just now I plugged it directly into the modem. I will be seeing the Cable Guy. It's the modem!

This really was the best router at the time. Now I know: it's the modem.

Well, it won't cost me a new router.

I shall return. On 4G. Until this is resolved. {boo hoo}

See you ... soon. Sigh.

rjm

It's working! It was the cable company.

Sunday night. I panicked. Monday morning. It's working.

Never mind. {embarrassed}

And thanks!

rjm

It's working! It was the cable company.

Sunday night. I panicked. Monday morning. It's working.

Never mind. {embarrassed}

And thanks!

rjm

All's well that ends well.

It's working! It was the cable company.

Sunday night. I panicked. Monday morning. It's working.

Never mind. {embarrassed}

And thanks!

rjm

All's well that ends well.

Oh, there's a sequel. It happened again tonight. So I found the "live chat" help with Time-Warner, and the guy got me to do what I did last night: connect the computer to the modem. He sent a signal. It worked!

So, what did he say? "I regret to inform you, that because your router was not purchased from Time-Warner, we cannot help you." He said that Linksys would help me. But, he had ALREADY helped me! (He's not allowed to admit that, I guess, if you don't use their router. It was a crummy router that finally arrived, and I had bought dual band really great one. It's fine.)

I needed them to send out that signal. And it was a bear to run from a plugged in phone (it ran out of charge!) to a computer on the floor in front of the modem . . . back and forth. I have a cold, went to the doctor today and had a slight fever. But I had to get this fixed! Only happened at night, after 8 PM. Like when the night shift is on, and so the businesses don't bug them.

So, I think: all's well that end's well, indeed! (I hope my Kindle works: we'll see. THAT'S the test! It really does tell you exactly what's wrong, the little bitty thing. "You're WiFi is connected, but you are not connected to the Internet. Contact your ISP." Love that Paperwhite!)

Thanks again, Doc! I needed the support, because it was SO frustrating! But I finally did it: contacted them, and the guy helped me. But made sure he said all the "right" things. "I regret to inform you" AFTER I told him it worked! LOL!

Funny world we live in.



rjm

Hahaha. Tech support sure is funny

Glad you got everything working again. YAY!!

Hahaha. Tech support sure is funny

Glad you got everything working again. YAY!!

Actually, a couple hours later, it went out again. Now, and I did nothing at all, it's back again! I'm on my Kindle Paperwhite: WiFi only.

This is like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Time-Warner is trying to drive me insane.

rjm
P.S. -- My dad offered to call them: "I'll get results; they won't treat a man like that! Just let me do it." All manly and everything. "But you don't know how the Internet works," I opined. "Doesn't matter." I won't let him call. {chuckle}

-- So, Brian, you've had high speed for 10 to fifteen years? Wow. I had dial-up in Dec. 2011, when the cable guy installed the modem. True fact!

So it is your Linksys ? or the cable modem? I had this problem where the Linksys router would drop the connection all the time, updating the firmware fixed the problem.

All day I've been connecting and disconnecting both the modem and router. It gives me a "limited" message. I read this probably means I need a new router.

There is a firmware update, but this looks more serious. And I can't download it anyway.

Any suggestions? Before I buy a new one? <----YES.

rjm

I contacted them through Twitter private messages, and a guy came around yesterday. He tested other signals in the area and traced a problem here.

Knocked on the door, and his gadget told him to go to a room upstairs. Turns out an extension cable connected to a small TV was wreaking havoc! A Radio Shack cable. Hard to believe!

He found a long cable in the truck and replaced it.

He'll be around next week to ping the modem, but so far so good! (I don't want to jinx it.)

How about that?

rjm (both router and modem are in good health!)

I contacted them through Twitter private messages, and a guy came around yesterday. He tested other signals in the area and traced a problem here.

Knocked on the door, and his gadget told him to go to a room upstairs. Turns out an extension cable connected to a small TV was wreaking havoc! A Radio Shack cable. Hard to believe!

He found a long cable in the truck and replaced it.

He'll be around next week to ping the modem, but so far so good! (I don't want to jinx it.)

How about that?

rjm (both router and modem are in good health!)

Wow. NICE! Now you don't have to buy a new router.