Re: [SLE] WRT54G wireless woes
-------------- Original message ---------------------- From: Glenn Holmer <gholmer@ameritech.net>
Just got a Linksys WRT54G and putting it through its paces. PPPoE and switch components work great, but I'm having trouble with wireless. I had been using a 3Com access point, which my ThinkPad and Zaurus could both see without issues, but neither can see the WRT54G. On the ThinkPad, the output of iwconfig shows zeros for the WRT54G's MAC address (i.e. it didn't associate), although kinternet's "wireless connection" dialog and "iwlist scan" show it by ESSID with the correct MAC address. Neither the ThinkPad nor the Zaurus have the access point's MAC address specified. (I normally use 64-bit WEP, but also tried with no encryption.)
What might I have done wrong? I've spent hours twiddling bits on the WRT54G. It's a version 5, and I upgraded to the latest firmware (for that version, it's 1.00.4). The ThinkPad is running SUSE 10.0 and using ipw2100 driver.
-- ======================================================== Glenn Holmer (Linux registered user #16682) ======================================================== "...GNOME is a disease...just tell people to use KDE." -Linus Torvalds ========================================================
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I picked up one of these recently, I got lucky and got an old stock version. I was reading up on these prior to buying (considering the openwrt, version) and found out that version 5 has problems. with staying connected. It has some new checkbox for one that seems to be giving problems. It also doesn't run Linux. Might check out dslreports or I even found one persons answer at Amazon, in their review.
On Sat December 17 2005 5:42 pm, lerninlinux@comcast.net wrote:
Just got a Linksys WRT54G and putting it through its paces. PPPoE and switch components work great, but I'm having trouble with wireless. I had been using a 3Com access point, which my ThinkPad and Zaurus could both see without issues, but neither can see the WRT54G. On the ThinkPad, the output of iwconfig shows zeros for the WRT54G's MAC address (i.e. it didn't associate), although kinternet's "wireless connection" dialog and "iwlist scan" show it by ESSID with the correct MAC address. Neither the ThinkPad nor the Zaurus have the access point's MAC address specified. (I normally use 64-bit WEP, but also tried with no encryption.)
What might I have done wrong? I've spent hours twiddling bits on the WRT54G. It's a version 5, and I upgraded to the latest firmware (for that version, it's 1.00.4). The ThinkPad is running SUSE 10.0 and using ipw2100 driver.
We just got the same unit, also version 5. Have not yet tried to set it up. A couple of questions for you if you don't mind: 1) How did you install the latest firmware using SuSE Linux? For the past several Linksys routers we've had there has only been firmware for Windows. How did you load it if it's only available for Windows? (Or is there now firmware for Linux?) 2) I see that there is a sticker over the ports that says to run the installation CD before connecting the router. Again, it's a Windows CD, so what did you do? Ignore the sticker and CD? 3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one? Thanks! Gil
On Sat, 2005-12-17 at 17:54 -0500, Gil Weber wrote:
On Sat December 17 2005 5:42 pm, lerninlinux@comcast.net wrote:
Just got a Linksys WRT54G and putting it through its paces. PPPoE and switch components work great, but I'm having trouble with wireless. I had been using a 3Com access point, which my ThinkPad and Zaurus could both see without issues, but neither can see the WRT54G. On the ThinkPad, the output of iwconfig shows zeros for the WRT54G's MAC address (i.e. it didn't associate), although kinternet's "wireless connection" dialog and "iwlist scan" show it by ESSID with the correct MAC address. Neither the ThinkPad nor the Zaurus have the access point's MAC address specified. (I normally use 64-bit WEP, but also tried with no encryption.)
What might I have done wrong? I've spent hours twiddling bits on the WRT54G. It's a version 5, and I upgraded to the latest firmware (for that version, it's 1.00.4). The ThinkPad is running SUSE 10.0 and using ipw2100 driver.
We just got the same unit, also version 5. Have not yet tried to set it up. A couple of questions for you if you don't mind:
1) How did you install the latest firmware using SuSE Linux? For the past several Linksys routers we've had there has only been firmware for Windows. How did you load it if it's only available for Windows? (Or is there now firmware for Linux?)
2) I see that there is a sticker over the ports that says to run the installation CD before connecting the router. Again, it's a Windows CD, so what did you do? Ignore the sticker and CD?
3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one?
Thanks! Gil
I picked a version 5 also. It's terrible, even after updating the firmware. Very unstable; it would lose wireless connections several times a day. I bit the bullet and bought a SonicWall TZ150W and haven't had a hitch since I finished installing it. Googling shows many, many unhappy Version 5 customers, and not because they can't flash the firmware with their own OS. The v5 units simply crash a lot. YMMV, Mark -- _________________________________________________________ A Message From... L. Mark Stone Reliable Networks of Maine, LLC "We manage your network so you can manage your business" 477 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101 Tel: (207) 772-5678 Web: http://www.rnome.com This email was sent from Reliable Networks of Maine LLC. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you suspect that you were not intended to receive it, please delete it and notify us as soon as possible. Thank you.
On Saturday 17 December 2005 06:11 pm, L. Mark Stone wrote:
3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one?
Thanks! Gil
I picked a version 5 also. It's terrible, even after updating the firmware. Very unstable; it would lose wireless connections several times a day.
I bit the bullet and bought a SonicWall TZ150W and haven't had a hitch since I finished installing it.
Googling shows many, many unhappy Version 5 customers, and not because they can't flash the firmware with their own OS. The v5 units simply crash a lot.
Well I feel a little better.... (but why should i?) I bought a WRT55AGv2 last summer and out of the box it would work somewhat but any ftp upload I tried would hang at the very end of the transmission. Then I upgraded the firmware and that wouldn't connect using a pppoe connection. I finally sent it back on an RMA for a checkup and when I got it back it *still* wouldn't connect using pppoe. I set it aside for a couple months and was hoping that they would come out with new firmware. They did. And it *still* won't connect using pppoe. So there it sits. Brand new and totally unusable. What the heck is wrong with LinkSys these days??
On Sat, 2005-12-17 at 21:29 -0500, Bruce Marshall wrote:
On Saturday 17 December 2005 06:11 pm, L. Mark Stone wrote:
And it *still* won't connect using pppoe. So there it sits. Brand new and totally unusable. What the heck is wrong with LinkSys these days??
They were bought out by Cisco. -- Ken Schneider UNIX since 1989, linux since 1994, SuSE since 1998
On Sat, 2005-12-17 at 22:13 -0500, Ken Schneider wrote:
On Sat, 2005-12-17 at 21:29 -0500, Bruce Marshall wrote:
On Saturday 17 December 2005 06:11 pm, L. Mark Stone wrote:
And it *still* won't connect using pppoe. So there it sits. Brand new and totally unusable. What the heck is wrong with LinkSys these days??
They were bought out by Cisco.
Didn't Cisco also get control of Siemens wireless business?
Bruce Marshall wrote:
On Saturday 17 December 2005 06:11 pm, L. Mark Stone wrote:
3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one?
Thanks! Gil
I picked a version 5 also. It's terrible, even after updating the firmware. Very unstable; it would lose wireless connections several times a day.
I bit the bullet and bought a SonicWall TZ150W and haven't had a hitch since I finished installing it.
Googling shows many, many unhappy Version 5 customers, and not because they can't flash the firmware with their own OS. The v5 units simply crash a lot.
Well I feel a little better.... (but why should i?) I bought a WRT55AGv2 last summer and out of the box it would work somewhat but any ftp upload I tried would hang at the very end of the transmission.
Then I upgraded the firmware and that wouldn't connect using a pppoe connection. I finally sent it back on an RMA for a checkup and when I got it back it *still* wouldn't connect using pppoe. I set it aside for a couple months and was hoping that they would come out with new firmware. They did.
And it *still* won't connect using pppoe. So there it sits. Brand new and totally unusable. What the heck is wrong with LinkSys these days??
have you tryed dd-wrt on v2 one -- Hans hanskrueger@adelphia.net
On Saturday 17 December 2005 10:47 pm, Hans Krueger wrote:
And it *still* won't connect using pppoe. So there it sits. Brand new and totally unusable. What the heck is wrong with LinkSys these days??
have you tryed dd-wrt on v2 one
I didn't know it existed but as far as I can tell, it doesn't support the WRT55AGv2... OpenWRT doesn't support that model either.
On Saturday 17 December 2005 6:11 pm, L. Mark Stone wrote:
I picked a version 5 also. It's terrible, even after updating the firmware. Very unstable; it would lose wireless connections several times a day.
Sounds like the problem I was having with my Netgear MR814 v3. I got a factory replacement once that was no better, and eventually was much worse -- shutting down, typically, after 5 minutes of operation. Lights on but no connectivity. I wonder if this sort of thing is generic to wireless routers (or most of them, anyway). Paul
On Sat December 17 2005 9:34 pm, Paul W. Abrahams wrote:
I wonder if this sort of thing is generic to wireless routers (or most of them, anyway).
Paul I read somewhere that a bluetooth app and a wireless router will have problems, because of the same bandwidth.. anyone have bluetooth that also has had problems with wireless routers?? I'm about to get my first laptop and a wireless router.. It's a new DELL box, with a netgear router. I am trying to avoid Linksys, my BFS-r41 died recently, and I never couild get it to work with Linux.
-- Paul Cartwright Registered Linux user # 367800
I also had read that there were a number of issues with the v 5.0 WRT54G, so I located a store that still had some v 4.0 models and picked up a couple. (The serial numbers beginning CDF0,CDF1,...,CDF9,CDFA are v 4.0 and earlier; CDFB+ is v 5.0 or later.) I wanted to get one as a solution to the ongoing USB wireless woes at the office -- the USB wireless adapter issued at the office (no wired connections here) causes my kernel to crash frequently, with the latest version of ndiswrapper and wpa_supplicant installed (the SuSE rpms are no better). So I got the WRT54G, flashed the firmware with DD-WRT, set it to client mode and attached two computers by ethernet. So for a few dollars more than a single compatible network card, and a little more than half the cost of out-of-the-box wireless to ethernet bridge solutions (which have lower grade security), I've connected two computers and have the potential to do a lot more interesting stuff with the firmware. And no more kernel crashes. So I am pretty pleased. One warning -- if you intend to flash the firmware, please read up on the proper way to do this. The wiki at the DD-WRT site has very good instructions on this, also on how to unbrick your router should you need to. Please note that v 4.0 and WRT54GL (the reissued WRT54G v 4.0) out of the box need to be flashed with DD-WRT v. 23beta *mini* before you can flash with the standard firmware. Corvin --- "L. Mark Stone" <lmstone@rnome.com> wrote:
On Sat, 2005-12-17 at 17:54 -0500, Gil Weber wrote:
On Sat December 17 2005 5:42 pm, lerninlinux@comcast.net wrote:
Just got a Linksys WRT54G and putting it through its paces. PPPoE and switch components work great, but I'm having trouble with wireless. I had been using a 3Com access point, which my ThinkPad and Zaurus could both see without issues, but neither can see the WRT54G. On the ThinkPad, the output of iwconfig shows zeros for the WRT54G's MAC address (i.e. it didn't associate), although kinternet's "wireless connection" dialog and "iwlist scan" show it by ESSID with the correct MAC address. Neither the ThinkPad nor the Zaurus have the access point's MAC address specified. (I normally use 64-bit WEP, but also tried with no encryption.)
What might I have done wrong? I've spent hours twiddling bits on the WRT54G. It's a version 5, and I upgraded to the latest firmware (for that version, it's 1.00.4). The ThinkPad is running SUSE 10.0 and using ipw2100 driver.
We just got the same unit, also version 5. Have not yet tried to set it up. A couple of questions for you if you don't mind:
1) How did you install the latest firmware using SuSE Linux? For the past several Linksys routers we've had there has only been firmware for Windows. How did you load it if it's only available for Windows? (Or is there now firmware for Linux?)
2) I see that there is a sticker over the ports that says to run the installation CD before connecting the router. Again, it's a Windows CD, so what did you do? Ignore the sticker and CD?
3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one?
Thanks! Gil
I picked a version 5 also. It's terrible, even after updating the firmware. Very unstable; it would lose wireless connections several times a day.
I bit the bullet and bought a SonicWall TZ150W and haven't had a hitch since I finished installing it.
Googling shows many, many unhappy Version 5 customers, and not because they can't flash the firmware with their own OS. The v5 units simply crash a lot.
YMMV, Mark
--
_________________________________________________________
A Message From... L. Mark Stone
Reliable Networks of Maine, LLC
"We manage your network so you can manage your business"
477 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101 Tel: (207) 772-5678 Web: http://www.rnome.com
This email was sent from Reliable Networks of Maine LLC. It may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If you suspect that you were not intended to receive it, please delete it and notify us as soon as possible. Thank you.
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On Saturday 17 December 2005 16:54, Gil Weber wrote:
1) How did you install the latest firmware using SuSE Linux? For the past several Linksys routers we've had there has only been firmware for Windows.
The web-based interface let me upload the binary I got from the Linksys site (then presumably executed it in place).
2) I see that there is a sticker over the ports that says to run the installation CD before connecting the router. Again, it's a Windows CD, so what did you do? Ignore the sticker and CD?
Yes; chapter 6 of the manual says "Linksys recommends using the Setup CD-ROM... if you do not wish to run the Setup Wizard... you can use the Web-based utility."
3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one?
I don't think it has Linux issues, I think it just has issues :( -- ======================================================== Glenn Holmer (Linux registered user #16682) ======================================================== "...GNOME is a disease...just tell people to use KDE." -Linus Torvalds ========================================================
Glenn Holmer wrote:
On Saturday 17 December 2005 16:54, Gil Weber wrote:
3) If you determine that V5 does have Linux compatibility issues please post that to the list. Maybe we can return this one?
I don't think it has Linux issues, I think it just has issues :(
I use one at work with no problems. I would suggest checking the channel it is using for wireless, and make sure they match with your devices. -- Joe Morris Registered Linux user 231871
On Saturday 17 December 2005 18:45, Joe Morris (NTM) wrote:
I would suggest checking the channel it is using for wireless, and make sure they match with your devices.
That's one of the first things I tried. -- ======================================================== Glenn Holmer (Linux registered user #16682) ======================================================== "...GNOME is a disease...just tell people to use KDE." -Linus Torvalds ========================================================
Last year after reading this articicle, http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7322 I ran out and bought a wireless WRT54G router. Then downloaded the firmware from GPL Code Center from linksys.com. I spent $65 for about 2 - 4 hrs of hacking the router. Now it's throwed in a box somewhere in the back room. Like the web page says: "One word of caution: using experimental firmware could kill your box and probably violates the Linksys warranty. If you are a casual user and need home or small office access to a wireless network, this definitely is not for you. Use the official Linksys firmware builds instead." "If, however, you are willing to risk your box and experiment with its potential, you may find it is capable of much more than the specifications listed on the product packaging-thanks to the power of Linux and open-source development."
On Sat December 17 2005 5:42 pm, lerninlinux@comcast.net wrote:
Just got a Linksys WRT54G and putting it through its paces. PPPoE and switch components work great, but I'm having trouble with wireless. I had been using a 3Com access point, which my ThinkPad and Zaurus could both see without issues, but neither can see the WRT54G. On the ThinkPad, the output of iwconfig shows zeros for the WRT54G's MAC address (i.e. it didn't associate), although kinternet's "wireless connection" dialog and "iwlist scan" show it by ESSID with the correct MAC address. Neither the ThinkPad nor the Zaurus have the access point's MAC address specified. (I normally use 64-bit WEP, but also tried with no encryption.)
What might I have done wrong? I've spent hours twiddling bits on the WRT54G. It's a version 5, and I upgraded to the latest firmware (for that version, it's 1.00.4). The ThinkPad is running SUSE 10.0 and using ipw2100 driver.
Don't know if any of this will help but... I am running SuSE 9.3. I also have a WRT54G, version 5. Just got it working wirelessly yesterday with my laptop (model LC2210D purchased from Linuxcertified.com). I got a lot of help from Linuxcertified and Linksys tech support folks. They walked me through configuration screens until we found a combination of settings that worked. I'm going to assume that the settings on your laptop are correct. So here are the router settings that work with my laptop. Sorry if this is way below your expertise level, but I'm a newb and this was a very challenging set up for me. :o) Anything I don't mention was left unchanged in the router. Set up tab, basic setup subtab: connection type: pppoe user name and password -- you fill in yours router name: WRT54G Click save settings at the bottom. Go to the Wireless tab, basic wireless settings subtab: Wireless network mode: mixed Wireless network name: (the router should generate a name for you) Wireless channel: 11 (Linksys told me that channel 11 would be better than the default setting) Click save settings. Wireless security subtab: Security mode: WEP Default transmit key: 1 Web encryption: 64 bits 10 hex digits (Note that Linksys tech support told me to use 64 bit rather than 128. They said it will work "better." I don't understand why, but they said absolutely to use 64 rather than 128.) Passphrase: (I entered something here although I don't know if it is actually used or not.) Key 1: you create the 10 hex digits here by clicking on the generate button. This code must be entered exactly into your laptop's configuration settings. (Again, I apologize if this is totally obvious to everyone except me! :o) Click save settings. Advanced wireless settings subtab: Beacon interval: 50 (Linksys tech support suggestion) Fragmentation threshold: 2304 (Linksys tech support suggestion) RTS threshold: 2304 (Linksys suggestion) Secure easy setup: disable Click save settings Then go to Administration tab: Here I did the same firmware upgrade you did. Then to to Status tab: Hopefully your shows "connected." One final click on save settings and that's it. When I enter iwconfig in a konsole I get numbers for the access point. Everything seems to work. One final note: Linksys tech support told me NOT to press the "one touch set up" button on the front lower left panel of the router (button with the Cicso logo). They said it is a Windows function that will only confuse things for Linux. Again, I don't know why; I just pass on the info they gave me. Sure hope this helps. If not I suggest a call to Linksys. They were very patient and very helpful. :o) Gil
participants (13)
-
Bruce Marshall -
Corvin Russell -
Edward Krack -
Gil Weber -
Glenn Holmer -
Hans Krueger -
Joe Morris (NTM) -
Ken Schneider -
L. Mark Stone -
lerninlinux＠comcast.net -
Mike McMullin -
Paul Cartwright -
Paul W. Abrahams