My Netgear decided to quit today.

With a couple of hiccups, reboots, and power cycles, my Netgear WGR614v4
seems to have given up. It still has power and lights... It just doesn't
communicate any more.

I replaced it with a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b. I was surprised I could find
both it and the power supply in the garage.

I wonder what I should buy for a new router? I don't think I care about
"N". My needs are simple. Less than five WiFi devices in total, probably
one or two active, two or three wired ports, WiFi coverage has been very
good in the areas I care about, with a freeantennas reflector.

Maybe I should measure the power output of the Netgear wall wart. Maybe
it's lighting the lights, but not providing a good level of power.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

dold@83.usenet.us.com hath wroth:

>With a couple of hiccups, reboots, and power cycles, my Netgear WGR614v4
>seems to have given up. It still has power and lights... It just doesn't
>communicate any more.

Did you try to reset it with the reset button? Check the wall wart to
make sure it's putting out volts. I have about 10 of those in various
locations. So far only one failure that was apparently due to a power
glitch as to wiped a bunch of other electronics at the site.

>I replaced it with a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b. I was surprised I could find
>both it and the power supply in the garage.

Ugh, a giant step backwards.

>I wonder what I should buy for a new router?

Yes. It only supports WEP, not WPA. As I recall, you have the V2
mutation which at least didn't hang regularly like the v4 mutation.

>I don't think I care about
>"N". My needs are simple. Less than five WiFi devices in total, probably
>one or two active, two or three wired ports, WiFi coverage has been very
>good in the areas I care about, with a freeantennas reflector.

I would recommend a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware.
The WHR-G125 has a somewhat better radio chipset, but also has a
non-removeable antenna problem. See comments at:
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices>

>Maybe I should measure the power output of the Netgear wall wart. Maybe
>it's lighting the lights, but not providing a good level of power.

Yep. One measurement is worth quite a bit of guesswork. Measure it
under load, which may require some clip leads and loose connector.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@cruzio.com> wrote:
> Did you try to reset it with the reset button?

I'm going to try that next.

> >I replaced it with a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b. I was surprised I could find
> >both it and the power supply in the garage.

> Ugh, a giant step backwards.

That's why it was in the pile-o-stuff, standing by.

> Yes. It only supports WEP, not WPA. As I recall, you have the V2
> mutation which at least didn't hang regularly like the v4 mutation.

In between. I have the v3, it never hangs ;-)

> I would recommend a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware.

That's what I'm after... the recommendation du jour.
I don't get out much, so I don't see what's on the shelves at Fry's any
more, and I really haven't paid attention here, because I didn't think I
was in the market for a new one ;-)

Can I skip the aftermarket firmware, or is that part of the recommendation?

> The WHR-G125 has a somewhat better radio chipset, but also has a
> non-removeable antenna problem. See comments at:
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices>

I don't care about removable. This will sit in the house with a reflector
on it.

> >Maybe I should measure the power output of the Netgear wall wart. Maybe
> >it's lighting the lights, but not providing a good level of power.

> Yep. One measurement is worth quite a bit of guesswork. Measure it
> under load, which may require some clip leads and loose connector.

Lights are on, so it's got some power, but it might be low, which I
suppose I can get inside to measure.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

dold@83.usenet.us.com hath wroth:

>That's why it was in the pile-o-stuff, standing by.

I have 3 BEFW11S4 boxes in the pile. I think I was suppose to test
some beta firmware, but got interrupted and never went back to testing
them.

>> I would recommend a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware.

>That's what I'm after... the recommendation du jour.

There are better wireless routers, but that's the best I've found for
the price. One minor gotcha. The wall wart for the WHR-HP-G54 is
5VDC which can easily be replaced. However, the later models are all
3.3VDC which seems to be a problem finding replacements. Don't lose
the wall wart.

>I don't get out much, so I don't see what's on the shelves at Fry's any
>more, and I really haven't paid attention here, because I didn't think I
>was in the market for a new one ;-)

I haven't been to Fry's for quite a while. That explains why I still
have money in the bank. Circuit City stocks Buffalo.

>Can I skip the aftermarket firmware, or is that part of the recommendation?

I've only tried the stock firmware once. It was a simple home
installation and I had no problems. However, I'm into features and
goodies. I prefer to think of the WHR-HP-G54 as simply a platform to
run the firmware. If Buffalo blunders down the same path that Linksys
seems to be staggering, where they go out of their way to ignore or
inconvenience the Linux open source users, I'll probably find another
vendor that supplies adequate hardware. In other words, you probably
don't need the Linux firmware, but I strongly recommend you at least
try it.

See what's available. V23 SP2:
<http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V23final/index.html>

>> The WHR-G125 has a somewhat better radio chipset, but also has a
>> non-removeable antenna problem. See comments at:
>> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices>
>
>I don't care about removable. This will sit in the house with a reflector
>on it.

The WHR-G125 is made to sit flat on the table, with the antenna coming
out of one side. It's not as nice for reflectors as the "tower"
derrangement in the WHR-HP-G54. Incidentally, there's also a
WHR-HP-G125 which I've only played with briefly. Much faster CPU
which is a plus with fancy filtering rules. One catch is that both
G125 versions use the very beta DD-WRT v24 software instead of
somewhat more stable v23 SP3 version. I setup one at a local coffee
shop to replace one that PG&E vaporized last week. Too soon to tell
if there are any surprises.

>Lights are on, so it's got some power, but it might be low, which I
>suppose I can get inside to measure.

Don't forget the magic incantation: "Let there be lights". It's
worked well for 5767 years.

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:

>
> I would recommend a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware.
>


Jeff, I am running DD-WRT v23 SP2, I do not see the SP3 listed where did
you find it and what does it offer. Is it worth the upgrade or should
one wait for V24?


Danny,

Danny Kile <kiledanny@NOSPAMnetscape.net> hath wroth:

>Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>> I would recommend a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware.

>Jeff, I am running DD-WRT v23 SP2, I do not see the SP3 listed where did
>you find it and what does it offer. Is it worth the upgrade or should
>one wait for V24?

I've played with v24 on several WHR-G125 routers. It works and seems
functional, but I'm not using many features or have had time to beat
it up on the bench. At first glance, v24 appears to be still very
beta.

v23 is somewhat better. I don't need the features in v24, so I've
been using it to see what breaks. It's listed under:
beta -> Generic
firmware starting at:
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads.php>
or:
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down.php?path=downloads%2Fbeta%2FGENERIC+BROADCOM+ %28Linksys%2CAsus+etc.%29%2Fdd-wrt.v23+SP3/>
I've been using
nokaid-std-generic and vpn-generic
Be very careful with the dates to be sure you're getting the latest.

One change with sp3 that bugged me was that many options to the "wl"
command have been removed in order to recover as much RAM as possible.
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/bugtracker/view.php?id=2527>

I couldn't find a feature list comparing v23 SP2, v23 SP3, and v24.
<http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_%22DD-WRT%22%3F>
The features for SP3 and v24 keep changing slightly. Perhaps these
out of date emulators might be useful:

V23 SP2
<http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V23final/index.html>

V24
<http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V24BetaVPN/index.html>

V24 VPN
<http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V24BetaVPN/index.html>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> Danny Kile <kiledanny@NOSPAMnetscape.net> hath wroth:
>
>> Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>>> I would recommend a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with DD-WRT v23 SP3 firmware.
>
>> Jeff, I am running DD-WRT v23 SP2, I do not see the SP3 listed where did
>> you find it and what does it offer. Is it worth the upgrade or should
>> one wait for V24?
>
> I've played with v24 on several WHR-G125 routers. It works and seems
> functional, but I'm not using many features or have had time to beat
> it up on the bench. At first glance, v24 appears to be still very
> beta.
>
> v23 is somewhat better. I don't need the features in v24, so I've
> been using it to see what breaks. It's listed under:
> beta -> Generic
> firmware starting at:
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/downloads.php>
> or:
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/down.php?path=downloads%2Fbeta%2FGENERIC+BROADCOM+ %28Linksys%2CAsus+etc.%29%2Fdd-wrt.v23+SP3/>
> I've been using
> nokaid-std-generic and vpn-generic
> Be very careful with the dates to be sure you're getting the latest.
>
> One change with sp3 that bugged me was that many options to the "wl"
> command have been removed in order to recover as much RAM as possible.
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/bugtracker/view.php?id=2527>
>
> I couldn't find a feature list comparing v23 SP2, v23 SP3, and v24.
> <http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/What_is_%22DD-WRT%22%3F>
> The features for SP3 and v24 keep changing slightly. Perhaps these
> out of date emulators might be useful:
>
> V23 SP2
> <http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V23final/index.html>
>
> V24
> <http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V24BetaVPN/index.html>
>
> V24 VPN
> <http://www.informatione.gmxhome.de/DDWRT/Standard/V24BetaVPN/index.html>
>

Thank you, for the info.

Danny,

dold@83.usenet.us.com wrote:

> With a couple of hiccups, reboots, and power cycles, my Netgear WGR614v4
> seems to have given up. It still has power and lights... It just doesn't
> communicate any more.
>
> I replaced it with a Linksys BEFW11S4 802.11b. I was surprised I could
> find both it and the power supply in the garage.
>
> I wonder what I should buy for a new router? I don't think I care about
> "N". My needs are simple. Less than five WiFi devices in total, probably
> one or two active, two or three wired ports, WiFi coverage has been very
> good in the areas I care about, with a freeantennas reflector.
>
> Maybe I should measure the power output of the Netgear wall wart. Maybe
> it's lighting the lights, but not providing a good level of power.
>

Is it the router or the power supply that died?
I had such a problem with a DI-714P+ and it came out to be a dying switching
PS.

F8BOE <f8boe@bluemail.ch> wrote:
> dold@83.usenet.us.com wrote:

> > With a couple of hiccups, reboots, and power cycles, my Netgear WGR614v4
> > seems to have given up. It still has power and lights... It just doesn't
> > communicate any more.

> Is it the router or the power supply that died?
> I had such a problem with a DI-714P+ and it came out to be a dying switching
> PS.

The jury is still out. I replaced it with a "b" router, but after doing a
"factory reset", I have it daisy chained behind the "b" router, and it
seems to be behaving itself. I might swap it back into place today. I
popped the cover off and measured 12.44VDC and .22VAC on the power supply.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5