Linksys WRT610N garbage! Need new router!

Had this router for about 2-3years now. We got it $150 off, and it was 149.99 at the time we bought it. The router was great at first, but it has turned to now.

The internet access periodically disconnects, depending on the time of day, or sometimes it will just do it every 15minutes. We have to unplug, and replug it in to get internet access, but recently that was not working. Now we have to release the IP, and renew the IP and then unplug and plug it in.


We need a new router that isn't expensive, and is the BEST bang for the buck.

Budget is between 50-100 i would say.
Need something that is reliable.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

Worth considering:

Linksys E2000 (350MHz CPU, 32MB RAM, 300mbps Wi-Fi dual band- not simultaneous dual band though, gigabit Ethernet) ~$75

Netgear WNR3500L (480MHz CPU, 64MB RAM, 2.4GHz 300mbps Wi-Fi, gigabit Ethernet, USB) ~$80

TP-Link TL-WR1043ND (400MHz CPU, 32MB RAM, 2.4GHz 300mbps Wi-Fi, three detachable antennas, gigabit Ethernet, USB) ~$70

All three routers are supported by DD-WRT

 

Upgrade to a current build of DD-WRT... I had the same problems at the beginning and now my 610 is super stable and fast... NO PROBLEMS whatsoever anymore...

And don't forget to follow the exact procedures for flashing DD-WRT...
Hard reset or 30/30/30 - DD-WRT Wiki

DD-WRT current builds:
ftp://dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24-K26/svn15943-snow/
This should help you bigtime!

 

I have to agree with hippotek... I faced some of the same problems you have over the year or so that I first had this router. DD-WRT was very easy to install and setup and improved a lot. Chances are you can improve more if you tweak it right.

Then again it could really just be hw failure, but at least this way you can check for free at the expense of some free time!

 

ok maybe u guys can help me i flashed my wrt610n v1 with dd-wrt v1 mega build dated 11-9-10 but curious which flash u guys think is the best MEGA build to flash this router with?

Firmware: DD-WRT v24-sp2 (11/09/10) mega wrt610n v1 flash

 

How about getting a Intel D510MO load Windows 7/Linux on it, throw in a TB Harddisk Throw in a WiFi N adapter. Run Virtual Router on it.

 

any new sources of 2.4Gz interference in the neighborhood lately?

 

I would also be looking at your modem.
I have seen modems fail at least as often as routers. It could also be your ISP having a server on it's last legs (I see this quite often actually).


Try direct connecting a single computer to the modem for a while and see if you still have the issue.

 

try flashing to dd-wrt i can help u if u need it let me know?

 

leslieann makes a good point.

 

Alright appreciate the responses, i had to study for my exams which i just finished today, so i had no time to focus on flashing this.

I will attempt to flash it today

So i am looking to flash the newest build of dd-wrt?
Is it this one: dd-wrt.v24-15943_NEWD-2_K2.6_big-e2k-e3k.bin

I am confused by the instructions on Hard reset or 30/30/30 - DD-WRT Wiki

doesn't make much sense.

 

STOP! (Hammer time )

No, don't use that one. While you technically have a Cisco E3000 the firmware is configured differently so you have to use the WRT610 ones. MAKE SURE it's a Version 2 before proceding, if not you'll need to get the V1 of the files from below instead.

ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24...-wrt.v24-15943_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_wrt610nv2.bin

Here read the WIKI before you TOUCH ANYTHING!!! You'll end up with a bricked router like I did.

Linksys WRT610N v2.0 - DD-WRT Wiki

Also review the peacock thread:

DD-WRT Forum :: View topic - Peacock Thread-FAQ: EVERYTHING you NEED to know! Really!!

And then you flash!

 

A friend of mine had a number of issues with his 610N. It kept resetting, losing his settings, dropping connections, so I recommended he flash it with DD-WRT. Needless to say, the router has been rock solid ever since and handles traffic from 5+ computers/laptops and a couple of consoles and mobile devices like a champion with excellent throughput. No need to buy a new router when you have one that will work well with different firmware.

 

hey its little arks brother here, i was reading through the guide you sent me. so basically i follow this guide:
Linksys WRT610N v2.0 - DD-WRT Wiki

and flash this file ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24...-wrt.v24-15943_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_wrt610nv2.bin

or do i follow this guide
DD-WRT Forum :: View topic - Peacock Thread-FAQ: EVERYTHING you NEED to know! Really!!
and use the firmware you linked me to earlier (same as above) this one.. ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/others/eko/V24...-wrt.v24-15943_NEWD-2_K2.6_mini_wrt610nv2.bin

and is it just one file im flashing? which is the one you linked me to? im a bit confused about the 2 websites and 2 different processes to do this.

 

On many routers you have to flash a special micro dd-wrt first to get it to take the big one. Also, put a switch / hub between your computer and the wireless router you're flashing so your laptop keeps its ethernet interface up and running.

 

bumpp could use some help with answering the above quote i posted....?

 

If you were to stretch the budget a tad, the Netgear 3700 has been very good to me.

 

Unless you've already installed everything only use the information from the WIKI as each router as its own wiki page with the right instructions and links.

 

What Ayle said ++

 

Peacock's thread is more verbose but it all boils down to the samething. Just plug in the cable to the router and then download the file above and just go to the firmware upgrade page in the admin interface (192.168.1.1) and click browse then upgrade. After a while it will upload then wipe everything so you'll have to setup again.

Don't unplug anything thinking it's stuck because it will just sit there for a while.

After that's all done, setup your settings again and don't try to go crazy looking at all the settings and figuring out what they do. You can read up on that later of things to try but just test first to makesure your network is now better with DD-WRT than before.

 

Well. I just flashed it with what you guys told me, and it went down about an hour later while nothing was being run...

What's the deal? is it just garbage?

 

Yes. If router worked fine for months/years and then suddenly stopped working properly without any justifiable reason (like new firmware or something) it cannot be simply attributed to firmware just going berserk for no reason.
Your router is most likely nearing its end. The only other chance is either some kind of interference or overheating- move it somewhere else and make sure it has some room to breathe underneath it.
If it still goes down- write it off.

 

soo we have flashed the router and so far it has disconnected ONCE already.....im gonna see how it does for a few days and report back.

 

I advise to always have a hub between you and the switch during an upgrade so your machine's networking doesn't try to renegotiate etc while the wireless router is rebooting.

 

A hub will do nothing to stop that, think of a hub as a party line. A switch will allow traffic to continue if not needing to go out through router. The only real way is to have only the pc doing the upgrade connected and no others. Never been seen a problem with my netgear and 10+ items connected through a switch. But if your doing a dd-wrt or tomato firmware flash you want to be the only one connected.

 

Yes it will. If you are plugged directly into the router and it reboots, your interface will lose it's ethernet connection and may start trying to restart it. Trust me, I've had more than one router that would NOT take a flash properly because of this very issue. It's about the ethernet carrier, not about dhcp or whatnot (you should be on a static ip when flashing)

 

I agree with blue68f100 on this one.
Can't see any point in doing what you've recommended.

 

I could see this 20+years ago but not with todays technology. I would bet that 99%+ of the users upgrading firmware do not even have a HUB. If this was the case mfg would require you to send them in for firmware upgrades to fix there own mistakes would be very expensive. I have 1 piece of hardware that the procedure is written to push firmware to multiple devices at once calling for using a hub. Guess what doing a single device works just fine on a switch. I have a hub, I'm not sure how many users have them. It collects dust 99.9999% of time. Now if you want to snoop packets they work just fine.

If you notice on firmware updates most mfg use a count down timer then reconnects you to it once it has completed the process. Now if your trying to do it over the AP your are just asking for problems. They will definitely knock you off unless your using a separate AP connected via wire.

Now when if comes to updating PC BIOS's I have a programmer. I make sure I have a current copy before doing the update. I have had many over the years go south, the programmer allows me to recover and manually update them.

 

Well, in linux with static IP the flash to my netgear WNR3500L would fail every time without a hub or switch between the laptop and the router, and it was because it was direct to the router it was losing the ethernet signal and causing the connection to reset.

By the way my original comment was:

"I advise to always have a hub between you and the switch during an upgrade so your machine's networking doesn't try to renegotiate etc while the wireless router is rebooting."

and by "switch" I was referring to the wireless router, not an external switch. You can have either a hub or a switch between you and the router, but you should have one or the other.

See my other reply, when I first responded I thought I had written "hub between the computer and router" and miswrote switch there.

 

Another reason not to use Static IP address.

In 20+yrs of doing this, I have never run it to the problems you describe. But I do not use Static IP's except on Hardware device like servers, and printers. If you have read the manual, does it say anywhere to use a external switch/hub or static IP or DHCP when doing firmware updates.

I was a beta tester for Netgear when they came out with the FVS338 router. The only thing we were required to do was to reset the router back to factory conditions before the upgraded and, reboot afterwards before putting our custom setting in.

 

Actually almost every wiki page on dd-wrt forums recommends setting a static IP address.

 

Flashing dd-wrt has always been a different animal. But once it's installed you no longer need to use a static IP if your use the internal updater.

 

It's not getting anywhere and it has nothing to do with the topic of the thread so please just end it.

 

Downloads, Sorry for the drift.

This thread drifted when he stated he was having problems flashing to dd-wrt. I have had some difficult in flashing some routers, but never bricked one. But the Static IP is only required on the initial dd-wrt flash. Once installed you can use the admin section to upload newer firmware if needed, dhcp or static without issues.

 

Sorry for drifting off, but there is some useful info coming from the convo, and it is civil, so there's that.

Here's the odd thing. I had to add a switch between the laptop and router in order to go from micro to mega. Going from the factory netgear to micro didn't need that. But going to mega it would timeout every time without a switch or hub between the laptop and router.