Problems with Netgear.

Hi all,
First I want to say great site. I have been looking for a good networking site. My problem is with my Netgear equipment. I did some research before I bought it and found like with anything you are going to get negative and positive feedback about the products but I felt the positive feedback along with the price out weighed any negative feedback I read about Netgear. The product works with a little help now and then. My main complaint is with customer service and the fact that no one at Netgear can seem to tell me what is causing the problems on my network. I am hoping that someone here has either experienced the same problem and has a fix or at least come up with one with me. So without further delay, here we go.
***Components***
1. Dell xps750 DT
2. IBM T-22 LT
3. Netgear wireless nic WG511
4. Netgear wireless router WGR614v2
5. RCA cable modem (Comcast)

The way I have it set up is modem->router->DT and wireless nic.
I am sure that is obvious but thought I would include it just in case.

My problem is at least 2-3 times a day I have to reset my router by disconnecting the power source from the router because the internet is disconnected. The wireless nic says it is receiving a signal but will not allow me to connect to the internet. It will however allow me to share files with my other computer. I have tried everything I have thought of. I have tried restarting the desktop and laptop and the resetting the modem but nothing seems to work other than resetting the router. So I have come to the conclusion that it has to be one of the Netgear products which I am leaning towards the router simply because when the connection is broken the desktop will not work either and it is connected directly to the router. I have called Netgear and waited for 30 mins before I talk to someone and worked with them for another 45 mins before the customer service rep said it must be a conflict with my hardware, software, or with my ISP. I guess that is it possible it is one of those suggestions however it just seems alittle too convient when they refused to believe that it could possibly be their product. I am grateful that I can be mobile with my laptop however when you pay 130 dollars for a product you would hope that it at works as described and I wouldn't have to stop what I am doing to reset it. Does anyone have any suggestions or solutions to this problem of mine? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Joey

Hmm I doubt its some form of hardware problem. Perhaps it might be a keep alive issue with your ISP, give them a call and find out if the connection times out after a period of inactivity.

A lot of people seem to have these keepalive issues, if you search the rest of the forums you'll find a couple of posts on the same issue along with a few links to keep alive software that jack had provided.

Glad you like the site.

Cheers

While I personally haven't spent that much time with wireless routers as yet, I have had a similar problem as sillyrabbit at the office.

Its not a netgear router but some other brand and it sort of has the same problems - losing its connection here and there and the only way to recover is by a power cycle.

These type of problems are very wierd and quite difficult to troubleshoot.

Since I'm not able to provide you with any useful information, I've done some searching and found some interesting articles/posts, which might prove valueable, so here they are!

I read the reviews... wanted to believe it would work for me, so I ordered it anyway. The short version, it works great once you figure it out.

The long version: I had hoped that once hooked up, it would run right away. To my disappointment, it didn't. I spent many hours fussing with it, trying different combination to get it to work. I called my ISP, they couldn't solve it.

I finally picked up the phone to call NETGEAR and within minutes the tech was able to troubleshoot the problem and away I went. Turns out, since I have a T1 connection with a static IP address (as opposed to DSL or other standard dial-up and dynamic IP address) the hook-up of the router is not the typical and is not spelled out anywhere in the instructions.

Turns out, instead of plugging the cable from the wall into the router's "internet port (A)" like the instruction indicate for a DSL scenario, the tech told me that I needed to plug the cable from the wall into one of the router's "local ports (".
Also, with a static/private IP address, I needed to make sure both the wireless NIC card and router have the necessary information plugged in that were provided to me by my ISP ie: IP, Gateway Flash, DNS, etc..

This, the tech didn't mention, but after a few more annoying hours of unplugging, and replugging, resetting and cursing, all was figured out and solved.

So now, I am up and surfing at 54Mbps and without any problems thus far. You would figure I wouldn't recommend this product, but knowing that my hook-up wasn't the norm, I guess I'm not surprised it took some finagling to get it going. Now that it is going, all is good.

Now, this following one might be your answer! Weird part is that its from the netgear support page, but its temporarily been put offline because they are "reviewing" it ! Thankfully Google has a cached version which I was able to grab, so here it is:

WGR614 Connected to Cable or DSL Modem has LED Unlit, and Will Not Communicate with Modem or Connect to the Internet
(This problem and resolution does not apply to WGR614v2.)

Modems such as RCA DCM235, RCA DCM225, and Motorola SB4100, may have trouble with speed negotiation when connected to the WGR614. This results in the inability to communicate with the modem, thus no access to the Internet. If you have this problem, set the router speed manually: (This will not affect the speed on the LAN side of the router.)

Open the router's configuration screen.
Type 192.168.0.1 in the browser's address.
On the left, select WAN Setup.
Change the Port Speed setting from Auto to 10M.
Click Apply. The router reboots with the new settings.
If this fixes your problem please tell us in the document feedback below. Include your modem manufacturer, model, and ISP. Thank you.

....and its url (through google) is :

66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:_8aLjSHReVQJ...p;hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Let us know if any of the able helps you resolve your problem!

Closing, we are glad you have found this site useful and hoping to see you amongst our regular and respected site members!

Cheers,

Thanks alot, both of you. I appreciate the suggestions. I have looked at the troubleshooting suggestions at Netgear and found nothing that really addressed the issue other than the link Chris provided and like you said it is being updated. I am hoping that they're having issues with my router model and thats why they're updating it. Anyway thanks again.

Joey

So may we assume that you have already tried what the document suggests and it didnt work for you ?

Hi Joey,

I have a simple suggestion which you can try out. Well most of the wireless issues arries because of the confict between the
wireless adaptor and its ability to talk to OS.

1. There are two ways of configuring wireless connection,1. you allow windows to connect wireless. 2nd being you provide control to the Utility that comes along with the wireless adapator. My suggestion check which way the wireless connection is configured.

2. You can try this simple trouble shooting, Go to Network connection-> Right click you wireless adapator->select properties->
select the second tab " Wireless Networks ( if you dont find this
tab, you need to do a " Zero Wireless configuration")->in this window you will find a button called properties-> click properties->
select the second tab Authentication->Uncheck the option which reads Enable IEEE 802.1x authentication for this network.

Why we get this issues is by default the wireless supported connection type is 802.1 G and B. But we are trying to
connect with 802.1x, which is base for all frequent wireless disconnect problem. I hope this should be helpful & useful. All the Best!!!

Happy Wireless

Static Richard