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[robr]

I've been running several WRT-54G's for years with no issue, both with Tomato and DD-WRT, however I recently installed a wireless HTPC so needed the speed of 802.11n without having to spend a ton of money.  I checked Newegg and saw this router had decent reviews, and though it was older, it seemed well respected.  I've set it up as 802.11n only and have my 802.11g clients connecting to a 3COM WAP.  However I kept losing internet connectivity on all clients on my network, wired and wireless.  A reboot of the router solved the problem temporarily.  I checked the logs and saw it 'phoning home' for no good reason, so I googled and per what I found, disabled Securespot, and also QoS (which normally I might want but I don't do VoIP or gaming either).  It still disconnects and requires a reboot.  When this happens, I can ping it, but the web UI stops responding unless I refresh several dozen times, then I might or might not get a login screen, with or without errors.  I do not use any sort of torrent software and am not doing anything that should be running this thing out of memory. 

I have hardware version A4 and am running Firmware 1.32NA.  I was originally coming here to see if there was something I was missing, but after reading through this forum and seeing just how many people are having problems, I'm going to have to put the DIR-655 onto my 'oops, I made a mistake' list.

The worst is when my wife keeps complaining she has no internet.  I can deal for a bit with having to mess around to get things working correctly, but when it affects her, it needs to go if it can't be fixed quickly and permanently.

[davevt31]

Try the 1.34NA firmware, it's the latest official one.

[wta306]

Another user with similar problems...

Hardware:
SMC 8014 cable modem (4x 10/100/1000 port)
DIR-655 router (hwB | fw2.0NA)
1x Desktop PC (Marvell Gigabit Adapter)
2x Laptop PC (Intel wireless NICs)

Setup:

SMC modem is connected to Coax and service is Comcast business class HSI (24 Mbps Down | 10 Mbps Up).  Note, I did not pay extra for static IPs from comcast.  The modem has 4 ports in the back (all 10/100/1000)

Internal IP:   10.1.10.1
DHCP Enabled:   10.1.10.10 - 10.1.10.199
Lease Time:   1 week

Firewall:   disabled
Port Fwding:   disabled
DMz:      disabled


DIR-655 Router is connected to back of SMC modem.

- WAN Settings -
Connection Type:   Static IP
Cable Status:      Connected
Network Status:      Established
StreamEngine:      Disabled
IP Address:      10.1.10.10
Subnet Mask:      255.255.255.0
Default Gateway:   10.1.10.1
Pri DNS Server:      10.1.10.1
Sec DNS Server:      0.0.0.0
Advanced DNS:      Disabled

- LAN Settings -
IP Address:      192.168.1.1
Subnet Mask:      255.255.255.0
DHCP Server:      Enabled

- WIRELESS LAN -
Wireless Radio:      Enabled
802.11 Mode:      11g
Channel Width:      20 MHz
Channel:      8
WISH:         Inactive
Wi-Fi Protected Setup:   Disabled
Security:      WPA (AES)

- ADVANCED OPTIONS -
WAN Traffic Shaping (QOS) Disabled, Disabled, Disabled



Problem:
I had been using the Linksys WRT54G for years w/ only the occasional issue (typically a result of a crowded wireless channel).  Last week, I finally decided to upgrade since I'm planning on picking up a NAS box and upgrading to 802.11N.  So after reading a few reviews, the DIR-655 seemed very popular which is typically a good sign.  Out of the box, the router worked great for the first 24 hours with only the basic configuration.  The next day I plugged in my HTPC and trouble began within an hour or two.  My laptops were no longer able to access the internet or the router administration page.  The laptops and HTPC could all talk to each other, and the HTPC could still access the router page and internet.

I have a desktop I'm using as an HTPC and download all my media through this box and use Boxee (on ubuntu 10.04) as the application interface.  This box is wired into the back of the router and download speeds are screaming fast.  The two laptops, on the other hand, are used for work and while they have N-capability, the company I work for has them locked down and forced to G only.  However, I have 2 additional hard drives that I swap in for personal use and can connect @ 130Mbps over N. 

I've toggled with all the settings and thought I had this issue licked.  The first major breakthrough was disabled WAN Traffic Shaping option (which comes enabled by default).  This had a pretty dramatic impact on the frequency of my issue.  My next step was to force the router to a static IP in the DHCP range of the comcast modem.  This had no noticeable affect on the issue.  Finally I started scaling back the features: G signl-only, disabled Auto Channel Scan, forced 20MHz channel width.  I thought I had the issue licked until 2 nights ago.  Everything had been working fine until about 10pm then we go upstairs and boom...can't connect with iphones or laptops (oh yeah, we have 2 iphones).  I go back downstairs, unplug the HTPC from the back and reset the router.  That seemed to take care of the issue.  Hmmmmmm...could my HTPC be overloading this router?

Under the suspicion that my HTPC is causing issues, I immediately get paranoid...I occasionally do development on this box and don't really keep track of the settings I changed...perhaps its been compromised.  Better safe than sorry...complete reinstall of Ubuntu.  Everything is working again.  We call it a night and head upstairs around the same time as the night before and my wife gives me the dreaded "uh oh, I can't connect to the internet...".  This is just bizzare at this point...I've been up since 5am so I go downstairs, unplug the HTPC and within minutes we are back on the wireless (no reset of the router).

Could it be the software on my HTPC?  I'm running Boxee and perhaps there's something that kicks off at 10-1030pm that starts stressing the router.  I haven't seen anything in the logs, but I'm going to try and keep an eye on them.  I'm also going to start tracing the network activity on my HTPC to see if there is any unusual activity.

[marmoduke]

Assign a specific, hopefully unpopulated,  channel.  Do not use "AUTO" to choose a channel.

If your network is in a tight area, turn down the broadcast power.  If you are in a large area, relocate things and turn up broadcast power so signal is higher.  Unplug all other wireless phones, etc as a diagnostic tool to see if there is interference.  Use 20/40 channel width.

On wired connections, make sure NIC is handshaking successfully to top speed and DUPLEX mode.  If not, set manually.

As already stated...use 1.34NA firmware.