ravenous28
join:2003-10-08
Pittsburgh, PA
|  Serious problem with Comcast and Linksys
okay this is getting really stupid... I have a linksys befsr41 router and its been running perfectly fine for like 2 yrs. This whole week i've been noticeing that my speed was really slow, so i figure ahh comcast again just wait it out. Wrong. For some strange reason, When I try to hook anything up to this router (anything) i tried like 10 labtops and 3 pc, my connection speeds go down to like 56k speeds seriously. But if i go directly from the cable modem to the pc im good speed again. Is something going on that i don't know about? I had everything set up perfectly for the last 2 yrs with all my port forwardings and everything and now this router isn't working with comcast. I tried just about everything you might throw at me like resetting the router, updateing the firmware ect. I have lots or pc's here to test so i don't understand exactly whats going on. Like i said, its fine if i connect everything to the router, its not like all the devices work, they are all crawling for bandwith. So right now I disconnected the router and have my hub hooked up running 3 pcs and everything is fine. Also, one time i resetted my router and my speeds came back for like 30 seconds, (i was all happy) until...errr i lost em again...its gotta be the router? or is it comcast and something with mac address's now....can someone please help me. my email is dfp42@comcast.net if you can't post...thanks. |
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TheChosenOne2
I Will Bring Balance
join:2003-08-17
Deep River, CT
| If the problem disappears on every computer that you directly hook the cable modem up to, it's definitely the router. You've already said you tried upgrading it's firmware so I won't suggest that. I'm assuming you've tried a different ethernet cable between the router and the cable modem? A bad cable would do that too. If replacing the cable with a known good ethernet cable doesn't work either, the router is probably hosed. Time to get a new one. |
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pgoelz
join:2001-12-26
Rochester, MI
| reply to ravenous28
Just a shot in the dark...... check the grounding on all computers connected to the router. I don't know if there is a grounding conductor in the ethernet cable and if not, there could be sufficient ground potential difference between two machines to exceed the common mode input voltage of the chipset at either end. Mild cases might cause data disturbances and serious cases could blow the chips.
Any lightning storms in the area around the time the system started acting up? I had a close strike take out two ports of my router and a NIC. No other damage to anything else in the house.
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Paul Goelz, Rochester Hills, MI
Model Helicopter, music and astronomy pages:
http://pgoelz.com |
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ravenous28
join:2003-10-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| reply to ravenous28
thanks guys for replying. I really don't know what the problem is, but as soon as i put anything through it the speeds deminish. Could be from a storm, I'm not sure though...lol... all i know is that it don't work. So im going to take this router over my other house and try it with adelphia powerlink. If it works then I know its something with comcast. If it doesn't work, then its time for me to get a dlink 604 or 704 router from bestbuy. The thing I'm worried about is wondering if comcast is doing this on purpose or its on thier end. Its very hard to tell, but i still just think its the router. When i hit reset this one time on the router, I got my speeds back for about 30 seconds and then i lost it and was getting 56k speeds... Im going to do somemore testing on this issue now. If you have anymore infomation for me please post! thank you so much. |
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crsgardner
join:2001-08-12
Rutherford, NJ
| I have had problems with Belkin, LinkSys and SMC wireless routers (which use pretty much the same chipset) on Comcast. It would randomly lose connection. Strangely enough, the MS MN-500 router I bought NEVER loses connection (it's also on the official "Xbox compatible" router list, one of the reasons I bought it). |
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ravenous28
join:2003-10-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| reply to ravenous28
okay guys heres some more trail and error with this linksys befsr41 router and comcast..
I really think the wan port is shot. When i test a labtop and i go from the cable modem to the wan port i get slow speeds, but when i go from the cable modem to the uplink port on the linksys i get my speeds back.. Sound strange? I tested this about 10 times this morning, and no matter what i do if i am going through the wan, im getting messed up speeds. I tried to reset and everything, Looks like i have no other choice then to buy a new dlink 704 router today...  ..im left with nothing to believe except the wan port is messed up... just going to check it on adelphia powerlink to make sure, but either way...it shouldn't be going under 1kb on a download if im going through the wan.
But also, when i try this... i go from the cable modem to the hub then from the hub to the wan...it seems to work but that is defying the point of using the router. Something ain't right with the router wan working straight from the cable modem...leave me some feedback if you can otherwise i'll just go pick up a new router tonight if all else fails.. thanks |
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Crackshot
join:2002-11-22
Springfield, TN | reply to ravenous28
To be honest, I have never had anything but nightmares when flashing Linksys devices. I all but killed my BEFSR81 once, thought it was fried. |
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J D McDorce
Premium
join:2001-12-29
Westland, MI
| reply to ravenous28
One other possibility is that something in the configuration for the router is hosed, since it sounds like it is working okay as a "switch" (uplink port), but not as a router. When you reset the router, which method did you use? said by »ftp://ftp.linksys.com/pdf/befsr11_befsr41ug.pdf :
The Reset button can be used in one of two ways.
1. If the Router is having problems connecting to the Internet, press the Reset
button for just a moment with a paper clip or a pencil tip. This clears up any
jammed connections, and is similar to pressing the Reset button on your PC
to reboot it.
2. If you are experiencing extreme problems with the Router and have tried all
other troubleshooting measures, press the Reset Button and hold it down
until the red Diag LED on the front panel turns on and off completely.
This will restore factory defaults and clear all of the Router’s settings, including
settings such as IP addresses or a new password.
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ravenous28
join:2003-10-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| reply to ravenous28
okay and heres the verdict... the linksys befsr41 router works! but only now on adephia... so wtf? ... it ain't working on comcast now all of a sudden? my wan port works perfectly here with this router and my speeds are really good...but when i go to hook it up to a comcast cable modem speeds are slow... so whats the next step here? could it be that the router itself is having problems communicating with rca cable modem that comcast gave me? its gotta be! theres no other reason for this...its gotta be the rca 315 or whatever modem...
About 2 months ago i went up to comcast to get another cable modem due to haveing problems with an old surfboard on...nothing major...my router was working 2 yrs prior...then comcast gave me this rca d315 cable modem....it worked perfectly fine with the router until about 4 days ago. So this is proving to me that its on comcast's end of where the problem is. I guess im going to have to go back up to comcast and get another cable modem? if so what one? and if it aint the cable modem or the router...then it has to be comcast not allowing me to hook up this router. Should i call and complain? what would you ppl do? please help thank you all yet again... |
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halfband
Premium
join:2002-06-01
Huntsville, AL
 ·Comcast
| Sounds like the RCA modem has a 10/100 port that is not autodetecting the linksys 10baset WAN port correctly. Swap routers, or swap modems, or insert a switch between the modem and router and things should work.
--
Registered Bandwidth Offender #40812 |
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99664227
Heavily MODerated
Premium
join:2002-11-21
USA | reply to ravenous28
Go buy another router. There only $40-$60 bucks now.
Problem solved. |
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sortofageek
Premium,Mod
join:2001-08-19
Valhalla Dr
clubs:
·Comcast
Host:
Team Helix
Distributed Comput..
Linksys
Comcast HSI
Comcast Cable TV
| reply to ravenous28
Are you using a straight-through or crossover ethernet cable between the modem and router?
Long shot since you say it was working before and now is not, but this is what happened when I first set up with the RCA 235 modem and the BEFSR41 router. After trying everything I could think of, finally read the modem manual and discovered I needed a crossover cable between modem and router. Problem solved.
--
Team Helix Forum - Join Us? |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
| reply to ravenous28
I have BEFSR11 router (the same kind as yours, but with only one port) with the 2nd to latest version of the firmware that is about 5 years old and I experienced the same kind of problems when I changed the external WAN interface's MAC address to something other than the factory default. When I disabled the MAC address cloning on the WAN side, everything worked fine.
--
The tobacco industry is more respectable than the telemarketing industry. |
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jansm38
Vn800-B
Premium
join:2003-05-19
Blackwood, NJ | You could also try to clone the Mac of the PC since the problem does not occur when the modem is connected directly to the PC. |
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Capt_video
join:2001-12-28
Grapevine, TX
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to ravenous28
I also had a problem like this and it was heat related. Whenever I started fooling around with the router, I would move it aside so that I could get to the connections. Doing this took it off the top of the modem and it cooled off enough to start working. I just took my switch, modem and router and stacked them the long way so heat generated by each one went up and not sideways. Have not had a problem since.
Just another idea. |
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telcc
@attbi.com | reply to ravenous28
Just goto the store and buy a new one and return yours in the box. Assuming its in new condition. |
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ravenous28
join:2003-10-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| reply to ravenous28
alright well, I still have to do some more testing on it tonight. I will try the crossover cable tonight to see if that works coming from the cable modem to the router.(i don't see why that would make a difference since it worked with a straight cable for 2 months) but i will try it. Also about this mac cloning stuff. I not familier with it, could someone explain to me what to do to try to clone it to test my problems? If i can't this thing to work with the cable modem, Im going up to comcast tomarrow morning and getting a new cable modem something different then that rca to try again. So if someone could post how to test for this cloning thing or whatever to get my router to work that will be great. I will post my results in about 4 hrs from now and keep you guys updated. Thank you so much seriously for all your help everyone. |
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Baldy18
Team Anandtech 4 Life.
join:2001-08-29
Niles, MI
clubs:
edited
| reply to ravenous28
I think the post by Halfband is probably correct. Try putting a switch between the two and if it works that should confirm the problem. I think that a different modem should fix the problem.
I personally have the Linksys BEFW11S4 router with the latest firmware (have updated it several times without any problem) but I have a Linksys modem and a Linksys switch after the router and have never had any problems with my configuration.
[text was edited by author 2003-10-08 21:17:30] |
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD | reply to ravenous28
routers die.
I had a linksys router that croaked after one year; I think my neighbor had one that went bad too. When the current one dies, I'm trying another brand. |
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ravenous28
join:2003-10-08
Pittsburgh, PA
| reply to Baldy18
okay im here and im about to do my testing...why are you saying a switch...this linksys befsr41 has a built in switch...i'll post my results here in a little bit...by the way, would it have anything to do with voltage by anychance on the cable modem or router? just a thought...i'll be back with my posts in a little bit. |
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