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I had my Linksys wrt54g V8.0 router for the past 3 years and recently it has been loosing the wireless signal; I have to restart it a few times a day (unplug it from the power, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back).

I tried changing the frequency at which it broadcasts however that doesn't seem to change anything; the latest firmware is installed Ver.8.00.8.

The router worked fine for the past 2.5 years with a monthly restart. Recently I have to restart it 2-3 times a day since I loses the signal and I am unable to connect to it. Is this normal behavior for a 3 year old wireless router?

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2 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

It may sound a bit odd but have you tried cleaning the router, if you have a can of compressed air give it a blast through the vents. I've found on some older kit doing the encryption of the wireless signal can be slowed by overheating due to dust.

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I never though about that, will try and let you know. +1 – Greg Aug 11 '11 at 15:23
It never occurred to me until someone else suggested it and I was quite surprised the first time it worked :-) – Col Aug 11 '11 at 15:32
I cleaned it and it works much better. It still drops connections once a while but overall it works much better, Thanks! – Greg Sep 18 '11 at 21:48
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up vote 1 down vote

Have you considered that the wireless signal may be affected by recently introduced appliances in your neighborhood?

  • other WiFi routers
  • badly shielded domestic appliances
    • microwave ovens
  • other radio devices on nearby frequencies
    • cordless phones
    • baby monitors
    • car alarms
    • bluetooth devices
    • zigbee devices

More recent routers may be better able to adaptively select usable frequencies.

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I have considered that. There was no changes at my house and I don't know about the neighbors. If that is a case, would a newer router be much less affected by other frequencies emitted devices? – Greg Aug 11 '11 at 20:01
The WRT54G is an 802.11g (wireless-g) device, later 802.11n (wireless-n) devices support MIMO and a wider range of frequencies. There's no guarantee it would solve the problem. You might also have to upgrade the devices that connect to it to 802.11n in order to get the best out of it. – RedGrittyBrick Aug 11 '11 at 20:50
If you have an android phone there are some good wifi analysers that will tell you which channel to set your router on – Col Aug 12 '11 at 14:47
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