connection problems with wired router

This problem is driving me crazy. Here's the setup. I have my cable modem hooked to a Linksys BEFSR41 router. Hooked to that router is three systems (2- XP and 1- 98) and another Linksys router. The second router has two cables for game systems and/or laptop. Everything worked great until I added a new cable to the second router.

The new cable ran to my son's room so that he could use his laptop. The cable length is only 100', well below the max length from what I understand. I am now running into connection problems. Sometimes everything works and sometimes I can't even connect. If I get connected, it is for just a short time, about 15 minutes, most of the time.

I can hook the modem directly into a system and it connects fine and stays connected for as long as I need it. That tells me that the problem is not with the modem or provider. The only way I can get the connection going again is to unhook all the cables (in the first router), unplug the power from the router, and then reconnect everything. That gets me going for a short time.

I removed the new cable and still have the same problems. Not sure what else to try at this point. Any thoughts? Router going bad? I wouldn't think adding a system to the second router would cause these problems. Thanks.

Mike

The connection disappeared in the time it took to write my post. Ugh!

 

Hi Mike

Intermittent connectivity is how my old Linksys router began a slow death to network heaven. Currently running a Netgear router (connects 3x computers [one of these connects via 100 foot cable], plus 1x network printer and WIFI connected Wii) which allows export/import of router rules . If this option is provided in your Linksys routers, export current rules for each router for safe keeping.
TESTING
It appears router2 is showing weakness. Remove it from configuration. This should free up a port on router1. Run the 100 footer to son's computer for a couple of days to check for reliable connection. If it does, you could replace router1 with router2 and try to force failure in router2 ... or just replace router2.

 

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this. I haven't forgotten about it. Hopefully, tomorrow I can find the time to try out the suggestions and see if things work. I am able to leave just my system hooked up through the router and get online. No troubles that way. I'll update soon (I hope).

Mike

 

Sometimes, you just have to say, well okay then. I ended up working on my problem late last night. I assigned the second router 192.168.1.2 and hooked everything back up. Now this is the strange part. The laptop through the second router stayed connected for about an hour (much longer then before). On the first router, my system worked, but the other two didn't. I checked settings and could not find an answer. I gave up for the night and shut all systems down.

Today, all systems work fine. They've been connected most of the day and I have not lost my connections. Why two didn't want to work last night is still confusing to me. At this point, if they all work, I'm happy. I hope things keep working. Thanks for the suggestions.

Mike

 

Good point. The two systems that didn't work at first were off at the time I changed the IP address. I didn't figure I needed to reboot them because of that. Maybe I did.

Mike

 

Well, I lost my connection again yesterday. Same problems as before. This time I took both routers, reset them, and set them up again. So far, so good. If that doesn't help, I will find an 8 port router and go to one instead of two.

Mike

 

seems confusing.
You should not have the routers hooked one to another - nothing but trouble.
More than one routing table - confusion city, erratic results and some sites will not ( for example banking ) will not let you in.
If you must make life complex and use all of these routers the dhcp of the remote routers must be turned off.
The connection is from the lan port of router number one to the lan port of another router - NOT to the single WAN port NOT
In effect you are then using the previous 2nd router as a dumb hub not as a router.
Router number one will now think take over the connections in router number 2 as its own handing out ip numbers acting as if it is a 7 ( or 6 depends how you count) hard wired port router.
It is no wonder you are having trouble and erratic results. Poor little routers and the connection being confused to death.

I cannot believe how complex you made the setup and all of the unneccessary effot .

 

visionof,

Not complex at all. I have had that setup for years. I would say one hiccup in that time is acceptable. Linksys says that these routers can be connected together to the point of having 254 PCs connected at once. Each router has it's own LAN IP address. The DHCP Server setting is disabled on all routers besides the first one. The second router is then connected to the first router by use of the Uplink port on the second router. As you mention, not the LAN port.

My initial fix didn't hold because I only reconfigured the second router (I'm assuming). Once both routers were reset and setup, I've been fine. As I mentioned, I have had this setup for years with no problems. It is not a complex setup and Linksys fully supports the use of multiple routers.

Mike

 

Tony,

My first router just turned 5. I hope that's not a bad sign. The second one I bought used, so I'm not sure how old that one is. Hopefully, they will keep running for a couple more years.

Mike

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Mike