[hewwo2u2]

My wireless internet works fine for a period of time and then randomly disconnects for no reason. Once disconnected, it will not reconnect. Network and Sharing center shows that the signal strength is still excellent but it is connected as "local access only". Diagnose and repair does nothing nor does resetting the IP address. I have tried resetting the modem and the router, but still nothing. The only thing that works is restarting the computer. Once the computer restarts it connects automatically and everything is fine until the next time it happens. This occurs approximately 2-3 times a day. Can someone please help me figure out what is going on here as having to restart like this is starting to get rather annoying. Thanks in advance!

I am using Motorola Inc Motorola SM56 Data Fax Modem and a Linksys router.
My wireless card is Marvell TOPDOG PCI-Express 802.11n Wireless (EC85)

[TerryNet]

Make sure you have the latest driver for the adapter and latest firmware for the router.

Have you checked for possible wireless interference, such as from another network? Or tried different channels (1, 6 and 11 are good to start with)?

[hewwo2u2]

I have made sure I have the latest driver. As for firmware and wireless interference and trying different channels I'm going to need someone to walk me through it as I don't know where to go to look for these.

If by wireless interference you mean where the router is located, I don't think this is an issue since my computer and router are in the same room. I do have a cordless phone, however, it is fairly new and I was having the problem before I got it. There may be other people in the neighborhood with wireless but my computer only detects one and it is very low signal.

[TerryNet]

The latest firmware should be on Linksys's web site.

Login to the router and you should find the channel setting in the wireless section. Firmware update is usually in a 'tools' or 'utilities' or 'system' or some such section. The user manual, either on CD or online, is often a good source of information about using the router.

[hewwo2u2]

I cannot even find anything that says Linksys on my computer. I just know that is what I'm using because I'm looking at the router right now. How do I "login to the router"?

[JohnWill]

Enter the address 192.168.1.1 into the address bar of Internet Explorer. You should be presented with the login screen for the router's web based configuration.

[hewwo2u2]

ok I went there and it says I am on channel 6. Do I need to change this?

side note: This is just a hunch, but I have a feeling that this has something to do with my computer rather than the router since it doesn't seem to drop any of my friend's lap tops when they connect to my internet.

[hewwo2u2]

as for firmware updating, I still do not know where to go to do this. :/

[JohnWill]

Change the channel to either 1 or 11 if it's currently on 6, see if that helps.

[hewwo2u2]

okay, will do. It may take a day or two before I know since the problem sometimes doesn't occur for a couple days and then later can happen several times a day depending on how long I'm on the computer. I'll keep you posted.

[hewwo2u2]

I changed the channel to 11 and the problem occurred again late last night. It just disconnected and would not reconnect unless I restarted. What's going on?

[hewwo2u2]

anyone here? it happened again tonight

[JohnWill]

Visit www.linksys.com and download and install the latest firmware for the router. Then, reset the router to factory defaults and reconfigure after the firmware upgrade.

Also, you should upgrade your wireless adapter's drivers to the latest available as well.

[hewwo2u2]

ok I will do this ASAP. I also want to add that it did it again this morning except instead of doing the usual where it says "local access only", it said it was not connected to any network. When I tried to search for available networks, windows could not find any even though my modem and router seemed to be working fine. It did not even "see" the neighbor's network that always shows up. Of course, after I restarted, everything seems fine again...I'm sure you can see where this can get rather frustrating.

[hewwo2u2]

I downloaded the firmware (which says its from 2007). IT was a zip file and so I extracted the file and then clicked it but it won't open. it is a .bin file. what am I supposed to do with it? It is just sitting there on my desktop.

Also how do I reset the router to factory defaults? I know I need to upgrade the firmware first, but please explain this so I can do it all before posting again. (I am a serious newbie when it comes to internet/network stuff - I apologize for this)