Wireless router expert please!

[Waterston_Fan]

How long does a router usually last? Mine is a Linksys and I got it in 2007, I don't think it can be going on the fritz after not such a short time.

On June 25th, I used my wireless laptop as to go online and the router was fine.
I used my computer the next day and going online was fine and the modem for the computer is fine.

My mom and I left the next day for NC and mom came home like on the 7th and I came home on the 12th.

My internet connection for the computer is fine which I am using right now. Today I tried to use my wireless laptop and it doesn't seem to work at all.

My middle sister and brother in law who live in town seemed to have mooch off of us since 2 cases of beer is gone, strange things have been install in my computer that I didn't do, it has nothing to do with the Windows update, if it happened, it happened with the update. I did see a piece of paper that said something like Settings for Linksys that I didn't have when I left.

Is it possible that the router settings to have been messed up by my sister or brother in law as to just having it for the desktop?

I used the disk of the Linksys Setup wizard for the router on the laptop and it gave me an error after I did what it asked me. I wish I had written it down so I can give you the error but it suggested the router wasn't working right.

I have not use the disk for the computer since I don't want the router to be used for the computer, just the laptop. But I wonder if it's too late since I saw that piece of paper that says Settings for Linksys. Sister or Brother in law didn't say a damn thing either.

I know that we should talk to them but mom and I are a bit mad at them since they seemed to have eaten and drank everything in sight!! They didn't even leave money to pay back the two cases of beer. Even the freezer in the garage was pretty full when we left, now it's half full. :mad:

April 15th of 2007 is when I got the new router.

Any suggestions as to with the router?

[robyrob]

most Linksys routers have a reset button on them somewhere on the back - unplug the power cord from the router and disconnect it from your modem and unplug it as well (Note that this is different from your router.)

plug the router back in - with no other cables connected to it, wait till it powers on then press and hold the Reset button for at least 30 seconds

wait for the power and WLAN lights to come up on the router (should take abt 10 seconds)

when the lights are all on, turn your Internet modem back on and connect it to the router

from here you are starting from scratch, you can put the disk into the laptop and follow the instructions

after following the instructions on the disk, open your web browser and check to see if you can get on the Internet


If you need to login to your Linksys router, some of the default passwords are:
- Linksys BEFW11S4: admin
- Linksys WRT54G: admin
- Linksys Comcast: Comcast
- Linksys EtherFast Cable/DSL Ethernet: Administrator

[robyrob]

you should probably password-protect your computers if you think someone could be getting onto them and messing with stuff, and if you are going to be gone when the inlaws might be getting onto them, just unplug the modem and router and hide them.

it sounds like they may have installed some crap on there, you may want to run your antivirus program and an antispyware program like Spybot (http://tinyurl.com/37t9f).

if you want to post a HijackThis (http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html) log i can take a look at it for you.


- as for how long a router can last, i have a couple of them that have been working for 5 or 6 years without a second thought about them, although I personally think the new "slimline" Linksys ones are poorly designed for heat dissipation and do not last as long or work as well.

[Waterston_Fan]

you should probably password-protect your computers if you think someone could be getting onto them and messing with stuff, and if you are going to be gone when the inlaws might be getting onto them, just unplug the modem and router and hide them.

it sounds like they may have installed some crap on there, you may want to run your antivirus program and an antispyware program like Spybot (http://tinyurl.com/37t9f).

if you want to post a HijackThis (http://download.cnet.com/Trend-Micro-HijackThis/3000-8022_4-10227353.html) log i can take a look at it for you.


- as for how long a router can last, i have a couple of them that have been working for 5 or 6 years without a second thought about them, although I personally think the new "slimline" Linksys ones are poorly designed for heat dissipation and do not last as long or work as well.

Hey..

Well, I don't think it worked.. This is what the setup wizard warning tells me:
Unable to connect to the Router!
Check that the Router has been connected to the computer, and that your Ethernet adapter is working.

On the router, there is this little thing that says Cisco Systems that is very small but it's now lighted orange and a bit of the lock that it shows is orange too.

I just went into spy sweeper!! Yikes!! I saw something called Mal/OBFJS-AG. That is a virus apparently quarantined when I was gone because I did a spy sweeper just before I left and it was last done 10 days ago. I came home on the 12th so maybe it was done on the 2nd of July?

Going to do a spy sweep now...

EDIT: Spy Sweeper sweep finished with no files detected or anything. Going to do a trend Micro scan though just to be sure.

[robyrob]

when you run the setup disk, you are going to have to have the computer connected to the router with a cable.

here are a couple of good tutorials,
http://lifehacker.com/162754/geek-to-live--set-up-a-home-wireless-network
http://www.tutorial5.com/content/view/155/79/

i can't find the Linksys Quickstart guide, but it should be on the disk in the manual.

[Waterston_Fan]

when you run the setup disk, you are going to have to have the computer connected to the router with a cable.

here are a couple of good tutorials,
http://lifehacker.com/162754/geek-to-live--set-up-a-home-wireless-network
http://www.tutorial5.com/content/view/155/79/

i can't find the Linksys Quickstart guide, but it should be on the disk in the manual.

Well, the router is connected to the modem and the modem is connected to the computer though. My brother in law says he knows nothing about the stuff being put on the computer. There is always a chance that maybe my sister or niece had installed...

There are like a few files that I can't seem to get rid of and in the add/remove software place, I can't find anything that was added on a certain day.

Seems like the computer was on quite a bit because of some software distribution 3.0 stuff almost every day while my mom at least was out of the house and I was too.

The scan with Trend Micro came out fine, no viruses.

EDIT: So if I do the tutorial, I should do it on my laptop since that one has the wireless that can't connect, right?

[robyrob]

yes - you want it to go through the steps so you get the right settings before you go wireless

[Waterston_Fan]

yes - you want it to go through the steps so you get the right settings before you go wireless

Okay, I'll do taht.

I think what I will do is a system restore to get rid of some of the programs that I can't seem to delete like the direct X that was installed. Nero was also installed but later uninstalled.

Program I think that makes movies or something I can't seem to get rid of in Control Panel called VP6 Decoder Settings and another one called VP7 Decoder settings. I can't even delete it!!

I clicked it and it gave some stuff I don't understand but it's on2.com I can go to and it says on2 technologies. Looks like it is a decompressor.

I did type in the website though, http://www.on2.com

Don't feel like e-mailing them and asking how to get the program off my computer!!

Any ides?

Maybe system restore might help but I got a werid thing that was an error message. Something like this:

Changes made to drives F:/ after this point cannot be reversed because the drive was either excluded from system restore, was turned off or removed.

I still want to do it though. I don't have drive F:/.

I have A: floppy drive that I don't use, C drive, D drive is the zip disk and the E drive is the CD-Rom.

When I put my thumb stick in the USB port, it's a G drive.

[robyrob]

system restore won't fix problems with installed programs.

direct X should be installed - you can uninstall and reinstall it if you want to.

the VP6 Decoder settings is not a program, it is a control associated with a codec installed with some other program

[Waterston_Fan]

system restore won't fix problems with installed programs.

direct X should be installed - you can uninstall and reinstall it if you want to.

the VP6 Decoder settings is not a program, it is a control associated with a codec installed with some other program

Well, the direct X, I don't ever recall installing it before the Fourth. Unless there is a different thing with direct X?

Didn't even have this in my computer when I left for NC. :mad:

It's not going to turn into a virus or anything will it?

[Waterston_Fan]

Well, I think my router IS on the fritz because I've done the tutorial in the link you gave me and did what it asked me.

Says Media disconnected. There are no numbers I get on the laptop that I probably should get.

I will also call the number for Linksys and see if maybe they can help me out as to if maybe somehow the settings were changed to the computer and not the Laptop.

I did the cmd prompt on the computer and it shows what it should show.

IP routing has a No after it and it doesn't say Linksys anywhere so I guess I'll have to buy me another router.

I don't get why I keep getting a bad router, this is the second time. I got it in April of 2007 but I guess it has been two years then.

[Waterston_Fan]

Hmm....

I did a system restore just cause I couldn't get rid of the programs that I wanted to get rid of. I did get rid of the programs that I wanted to get rid of.

I can't seem to open the IE browser as to getting to a windows update or check and see what updates need to be done.

Also, it seems that the computer did a lot of 'Software Distribution' and maybe it was turned on then off while mom and I was gone.

[Waterston_Fan]

It's all good now!!

I installed IE8 since I didn't have a problem with doing a Windows update or checking on my updating history before I did a system restore. :wave:

[Waterston_Fan]

Boy!! This is very frustrating!! I got me a new router but it won't connect, heck I couldn't even connect the internet with the new router as to on the computer as well. So I connected the old one and the computer connection is fine.

I don't think this one is the right one for my laptop. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8741365&st=Wireless+Routers&type=product&id=1202648529130

The one I saw isn't exactly like the one I have since on the back it just has one port to put in the internet from the modem/computer.

I have two cables... both go into the old router as one goes in the computer and the other goes in the modem.

Think I need to go back and take the router back.