Common Linksys Wireless Router Problems, How to Fix Them

Despite being an excellent piece of technology, it’s common for a Linksys wireless router to run into troubles owing to miscellaneous reasons. You might at times find it difficult to connect to your wireless network or browse the Internet wirelessly. You may often experience  that the wireless connection drops frequently or the download\upload speed is very slow. You can definitely fix these common Linksys wireless router problems in no time and get your wireless connection up and running again. Follow the steps given below:

1. If you did not make any changes to your wireless network configurations lately, then simply power cycle your router and computer. If an Internet modem is connected in between, reboot it also. A power cycle should resolve a temporary network glitch due to which the chaos started. If power cycling does not fix your issue, move onto next step. You can also reconfigure your Linksys router settings if you want to.

2. Isolate the issue by verifying if it is only one computer, which is facing issues or if other computers too have been affected. If it is only one computer that is facing the connection drop or poor signal strength, update its adapter drivers. Go to the CiscoHomeSupport website, enter your Linksys product model, and download the file. Save the downloaded file and unzip its contents to another file.

Afterwards, go to Device Manager, locate and select the Linksys wireless adapter, right click on it, and choose Update Driver. Browse to the downloaded file, select it, and update the adapter. Exit all the windows and reconnect to wireless network on this particular computer. Verify whether the issue has been resolved or not.

3. If all the computers seem to have been affected, then first verify that you have an active Internet connection. To do so, disconnect your computer from the Linksys router and connect it directly to your DSL modem using the Ethernet cable to make a wired connection. Connect to the Internet and open your web browser. If the Internet isn’t working, contact your ISP. If there is a temporary network congestion, you will have to wait until it is gone away. If the Internet is working fine, you must verify and/or change your existing wireless connection settings in the router.

4. Change the channel number. To do so, open your internet browser, type ‘192.168.1.1’ in the address bar, and hit the Enter key on the keyboard. When prompted, enter the login details viz. username and password and hit Enter. Once logged in, highlight the Wireless tab and then click on the Basic Wireless Settings sub tab. click on the drop-down arrow next to Channel and select any of 1, 11, or 6 from the listed numbers.

These are preferred channel numbers in the U.S. for a wireless network as they do not overlap. However, it is recommended that you should try each channel number individually for the best wireless range and connectivity. Choose only that channel number at which your wireless connection works most steadily. Click on the Save Settings button to save the changes and exit the router interface.

5. If you are facing a slow download issue, turn off IPv6, a built-in feature in your computer. To do so, right click on the Local Area Connection icon in your system tray and choose Open Network Connections. Right click on Local Area Connection and choose Properties. Under the General or Networking tab, look for Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and uncheck the box next to it. Press the OK button to exit the window. This should fix any slow download problem in your wireless connection.

6. You can also upgrade the firmware if it has not never been done. To do so, you will need to download the latest firmware upgrade file from CiscoHomeSupport. Save the file and extract its contents to another file. Thereafter, login to the router and browse to the Administration tab and then Firmware Upgrade. Press the Browse button, locate the saved .bin file, and then hit the Start Upgrade button. Do not exit this window and/or turn off your computer while the upgrade is in progress. It is quite normal for your router to reboot several times during the upgrade. You must save your current configurations before performing the firmware upgrade. Otherwise, you will lose them.

7. If nothing works, hard reset your router. You must save your existing settings before performing the hard reset as it will wipe them out. Once you have saved the settings, take a thin, sharp pin and insert it into the Reset button of the router. It is a very small hole underneath the router. Hold the button for 15-20 seconds and then release it. Wait for the router to boot fully. When done, reconfigure your wireless settings.

How to Convert a Linksys Wireless Router into an Access Point

Linksys router is a great device for networking, connecting to wireless connection, or in terms of performance. The device allows configuration of different features like access point, Client Bridge, or repeater among others to help make the most out of a wired or or wireless connection. Access Point is one of such features that Linksys wireless router has. An Access Point is very useful in broadcasting wirelessly on a wired network or extending a wireless network's range. So, if you have two Linksys wireless routers, you can set either of them as an access point and get going. Have a glance at the steps below:

Things you will need:

a. Linksys router's login details viz. username and password

b. IP address

c. DHCP address

d. DNS address

e. Wireless network name (SSID)

f. Channel number

g. Security type (WEP or WPA)

h. Wireless encryption/security key

1. You will first need to find out the IP address and other configurations of your router. To do so, click Start and navigate to Run. Type ‘cmd’ (without quotes) in the Run window, click OK. This will bring up the Command Prompt window. Type ‘ipconfig’ and then hit the Enter key on the keyboard. Make a note of all the information like IP address, subnet mask, and DNS address etc. and keep it aside for use in next steps.



Yellow Ethernet Cable



2. Now connect your computer directly to the Linksys router using an Ethernet cable. Disconnect the modem if it is connected in between as well as the network cable from your present network. Plug one end of the Ethernet cable into the back of the router’s 4 LAN ports and the other into the computer as shown in the pic 



Linksys Router Login Page



3. Open up Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer whichever web browser you have. Type ‘192.168.1.1’ (without quotes and as is) in the address bar and press the Enter button on the keyboard. You will see a login screen like this. Enter the username and password in the respective fields and click OK. The default username and password for Linksys routers are 'admin' and 'admin' or 'password' respectively. However, you must refer to your router docs before entering anything in the fields. The information may differ according to the router model.



4. When logged into the router setup utility, highlight the Wireless tab and then the Basic Wireless Settings. Check the Wireless Network Mode (it should be mixed or b or g). The Wireless Network Name (SSID) should be changed to something else that is hard to recognize but not Linksys. Change the channel number if you desire to. Wireless SSID Broadcast should be enabled.

5. Click the Wireless Security sub tab and change the configurations here too. Click on the drop-down menu next to Security Mode and choose WPA Personal. Assign a security key (pass code) in the WPA Shared Key box and then hit the Save Settings button.

 

6. Now click the Setup tab and navigate to Basic Setup. Under Network Setup, change the Local IP Address to something else other than the original IP address (which was there in the ipconfig information). Do the same with Subnet Mask, change it to something not similar to the original one.

7. Disable the DHCP Server by selecting the Disable button. The DHCP functionality is being disabled due to the fact that your other router will use DHCP addresses. Press the Save Settings button again to let the router reboot. If the router doesn’t reboot automatically, then do it manually. Reboot your computer and the other Linksys router also. Connect the network cable from your current network and restart your computer. Your router-computer connection should be like the one in the picture.

Now you can login to your latest wireless access point and go wireless.

Linksys Routers: An Overview

Routers are one of the most useful computer peripherals that users connect to access Internet on multiple computers, sharing files, or playing games
among other things. Linksys routers are undoubtedly the first choice of most of the users when it comes to using wireless devices. Linksys routers offer all-in-one solution for different computing, internet needs of users. This router can provide lightening fast speed, much better than a Dialup connection without engaging your phone. Linksys knows no limits when it comes to sharing connections or network at a time. The router helps in fastening the network, the sharing of files, printers and hard drive among others. Moreover, you can choose to play multiplayer games with the help of this router.

The router is capable of connecting four computers attached directly. The size of the network can be altered and any number of hubs or switches can be connected to create whatever size is required for a network. This enables you to share your whole network within a single high-speed Internet connection.

There are certain significant features of Linksys Routers. These features make Linksys router the best amongst its counterparts. These significant features are:

1. The Linksys router facilitates port filtering, MAC and IP address filtering, DM2 hosting and NAT technology etc. It also provides the advanced security to its users.

2. It is very easy to setup and configure a Linksys router with a Personal Computer or a laptop.

3. It has 4 LAN ports which are of the advanced technology and 1 ASDL port. The 4 LAN ports are 10/100 Auto MDI0x and are equipped with the latest technology.

4. The router supports PPPoE, PPPoA and RFC1483 connections. These are the most advanced connection features found in next generation routers.

5. It provides upto 25 Mbps speed and ADSL/2+ compliant- SPI firewall with Denial of Service attach prevention. This is the reason why the speed is very high. Therefore people across the world have been quite keen to get this router.

6. The security events are minutely observed and hence there are minimal changes of security threat when it comes to Hacking. Linksys router enables web-based and Email logging of security events.

7. It also supports 5 VPN Tunnels for IPSec and VPN Pass-through for IPSec. Moreover, it also supports for PPTP and L2TP products.

8. It has a manufacturer warranty for two years and hence is safe to use.

Now with the manufacturer’s warranty, there are no worries regarding the quality. Even if you face any problems with the Linksys router, you can always seek help from the Linksys router support offered by the various online technical support companies. V tech-squad has a special sell for troubleshooting all your Linksys router setup related problems including Wi-Fi setup, networking, security, and upgrade etc. If you are facing problem with your linksys router Configuration, You can reach V tech-squad online technical support at their Toll Free No +1-877-452-9201 For US/CA.