Irritating. Netgear. Router

[WolfeMacleod]

Moved into the new place, had some internet issues on and off since then.
Last night, kid comes downstairs and says his laptop won't connect to the router. Wireless.
Netgear WNR3500 Rangemax.

I try my laptop. No dice.
Lady says no dice on hers either.

Wierd. We were just watching Netflix via the Xbox and wireless connection an hour earlier...

I get connected early this morning, briefly.

I work at it for half the day. New firmware. Lotsa reboots, unplugs, reset button, etc... Nothing. Then the wired connection won't even work.
I even set it to unsecured.
Trying to get connected, I keep getting told the security key is wrong. Nope, it's correct. I change it several times, set up a new wireless name, etc... round and round.

Only two years old.

Laptop eventually connected to the router, but did not have any internet access.

I figure it's borked. I head out, pick up another router, come home to find the kid connected via his school-supplied Macintrash.
Check my laptop. Sure as sh.t it connects just fine.

What the....??

[porsche4life]

The mac fixed it....

[RANDY P]

check the firmware on the router. Had all kinds of issues with that Netgear myself. 2 years is about as long as it's supposed to live anyhow.

rjp

[slodave]

Hmm. Mine must be a fluke. 8+ years a still 99%. It does choke once in a while and I have to unplug it from the wall. Not really worth buying a new one yet. It also sits about 3' from my micro.

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by RANDY P

check the firmware on the router. Had all kinds of issues with that Netgear myself. 2 years is about as long as it's supposed to live anyhow.

rjp

I did upgrade the firmware after several failed attempts at getting it to work.

BTW, my old Linksys lasted about eight years, and it was only replaced because it couldn't throw a good strong signal all through the house I just moved out of. Stupid plaster walls...

[red-beard]

I've ended up putting multiple access points around the house so that there is a strong signal everywhere.

[lane912]

try replacing the firmwear with DD-WRT
third party open sorce firmwear for routes-

[Joeaksa]

If you tried to connect with the hard wire and no luck then the problem may not be with the router or WiFi portion.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

If you tried to connect with the hard wire and no luck then the problem may not be with the router or WiFi portion.

This would be what I would do as well, but I would have to ask, "Did you remove the router from the picture entirely and connect directly to the ISP's modem?"

If the above test worked, get rid of the router. Many of these home routers are very sensitive to heat and that's normally why you hear about them dying often. People modify the cases with fans and move them to basements to try and help that.

[Superman]

I've been having trouble setting up my Netgear router. I pushed the pin to reboot it. It goes through a process where it determines the type of connection I have, then when it tries to test connectivity, it reports there is no connectivity. At that point, everything has to be rebooted including the modem. After rebooting, the modem works fine again......until the Netgear thing goes through it's process again, then everything needs rebooting again.

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I've ended up putting multiple access points around the house so that there is a strong signal everywhere.

are these on CAT 5/6? or are they working like WiFi relays?

[RANDY P]

I've had 2 netgear G routers neither lasted longer than 2 years.

Just bought a Cisco N draft and it rocks good.

rjp

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by RWebb

are these on CAT 5/6? or are they working like WiFi relays?

Hardwired. My house was built fully wired with CAT6