Why won't my router route?

September 17, 2009 6:15 PM

Last week, I unplugged and plugged back in my Linksys WRT54GX4 wireless router. Since then, I haven't been able to connect to the internet through it, either wirelessly or through a wired connection through the router. The internet works fine if I plug the ethernet cable from the modem directly into my computer. I can also access the router's settings through my browser when I'm plugged into it. In the settings, it shows the internet as unavailable. But all the little status (including the internet one) on the front of router seem to indicate that everything is working fine. Firmware is up-to-date. Help!

I called Linksys support, and the tech guy I spoke to seemed to think that all I needed to do was reset the router properly, but because I'm a month out of warranty, he wouldn't tell me how to do that. I've unplugged it, I've held the reset button for more than a minute, I don't know what else to do. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

posted by Dasein to computers & internet (7 comments total)

No idea of your technical level of expertise, so please don't take it the wrong way if I explain something you already know.

Unplugged as in power or unplugged as in ethernet?

Many ISPs lock the connection to the MAC address of the first card that connects to it. If you (power) unplugged the router, it may have lost whatever MAC address it was spoofing (routers have this functionality so it can pretend to be whatever computer you set up your connection with).

To check this (I'm assuming your router software menus are similar to mine), go to the "MAC Address Spoofing" section under "Setup".

Otherwise, your DHCP settings may be incorrect or there may be something wrong with your router. However, when my last Linksys router went bad (due to a lightning strike, btw), it just refused to turn on at all.

Do you have multiple computers? If so, you can check the LAN connectivity through the router by making sure that your computers can see each other.

I'm guessing your problem lies somewhere in the router/modem/ISP setup, not in hardware. Try calling your ISP - the reps are almost always very tolerant of people using routers and can help get it set up.

Good luck!
posted by bookdragoness at 6:40 PM on September 17

I just went through something similar. What finally got me back online was powering off the cable modem for a couple of minutes, plugging in the wireless router, and turning the cable modem back on again.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:49 PM on September 17

I reset mine back to factory settings by holding in the little button in the back till the lights blink (30 seconds)
posted by meeshell at 7:08 PM on September 17

Combination of the other three answers. Disconnect power to your modem (dsl or cable, either), disconnect power to your router. Leave for a while, minimum 5 minutes. Can be an hour, or 3. Go to the movies.

Come home. Plug in the modem until ALL THE LIGHTS are on and showing a ready status. You can also leave and let it do this. Might take 20 seconds to 15 minutes depending on your ISP.

Reconnect power to your router.

Double check to make sure it's working, then enable your wireless security etc. Problem should be solved.

If you've got PPPoE via DSL, you might have to put your subscriber info back into the router settings. If you have no idea what that means, ignore that sentence.
posted by TomMelee at 7:14 PM on September 17

And, for what it's worth, re-install the latest drivers for your wireless lan card. I had your exact same problems, and that last step solved it for me. In all likelihood a redundant gesture, but if you've tried everything else, what could hurt?
posted by war wrath of wraith at 9:40 PM on September 17

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I'll try this all out soon, and let you know if it works.
posted by Dasein at 6:13 AM on September 18

Unpowering the modem, too, did the trick. Thanks, everyone!
posted by Dasein at 6:58 PM on September 20