Linksys BEFSR41 Connection Drops - Please Help

[OvenMaster]

On the Setup page, mine says this: Firmware Version: 2.00.1, Sep 11 2006

After I did what I posted above, I'd have to say it's now flawless. Bulletproof. Fast. It actually runs cooler than when I had problems! I hope it outlives the warranty, because I practically have to force it to lose a connection. Even with a second PC using it at the same time, I have zero complaints.

In short, I think it was well, well worth the $40 I paid for it. Highly recommended.

I have Verizon 768/128 DSL, and here's what my results are with Speedtest:


Tom

PS: One other thing. Sometimes if a lot of people are using the same cable "node" that you are, your connection speeds WILL drop. The more that use it, the slower you'll be going. You probably will have a Static IP and Default Gateway assigned by Comcast... chances are that you will NOT have PPPoE as used by DSL, as shown in the pic I linked to up above... but if you're working okay, then I'll just shut up now

 

[jpzsports]

Well, I just ran a Speed test:

Download speed - 14100 Kbps (socket test)
Upload speed - 2387 Kbps (socket test)

Looks good to me
(I'm confused that I'm getting 14 MBPS although I'm only paying for 6 - I guess it's partly because Comcast has PowerBoost for short downloads like this test - whatever the case- I'm happy with those speeds)

Two quick questions:

1. I have a Motorola SB5100 Modem and I was wondering if there are any firmware upgrades for it? - I can't find where to download new firmwares.

2. On my modem's log, it says the following many times:

SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
and
SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire FEC framing

What are these and are they bad? The dates for these are about a week ago, so maybe there just old problems that were in part because of my old router?
Hopefully since I have the new router now, I won't see any of those messages.

So far, my connection's been great

Oh, and one last quick thing - I use OpenDNS as my DNS Server instead of Comcast's DNS Servers because I've read that Comcast's aren't very reliable.
Do you think that my using OpenDNS is good?

ok, thanks for everything

 

[OvenMaster]

1. USB Driver updates for that modem are here:
http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/support/default.asp?supportSection=DiscontinuedProducts
There won't be firmware updates because that model is discontinued and were originally supplied via the network, not in the field.
http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/productdetail.asp?ProductID=466

2. My guess is that the error messages were from the old router problems. Check again after a while to see if you get errors with the new one.

3. I have absolutely zero knowledge of OpenDNS, so I can't tell you if they're better or worse than Comcast's, I'm sorry. I'm looking at the OpenDNS site, and it looks pretty decent. I'll have to look into it more. Not that I need it, but to be more knowledgeable.

I'm glad things are working well finally for ya. Congrats!

Tom

 

[jpzsports]

ok - thanks

I'm a little confused about the USB Driver updates. I don't use the USB part of my modem, so is there no need to update it? Or does it mean that you do the update via USB?

Oh, and I forgot to ask you a question before - when I had my old router, I contacted Linksys about my problem. They told me to lower my MTU. What does that do and would that slow my connection speed?

Thx

 

[OvenMaster]

1. If you do not connect the modem to your PC via a USB cable, then don't waste your time updating it. You choose to connect either with the crossover cable OR a USB cable.

2. Lowering MTU. Hm. Best way to deal with this is to read something like this article:
http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,2123537,00.htm
I tried tweaking mine with a free program called CableNut,
http://www.student.ipfw.edu/~gottjl01/
and it lowered it to 1452 from 1454, but it didn't really didn't seem to make all that much of a difference so I just left it.

 

[jpzsports]

ok - thanks

Last quick question:
On my new router, the light blinks on the port when it's downloading or doing something. And it's solid when it's just connected, but not transferring data - is that right? Because I have my laptop on, and I'm not doing anything, and the light's solid. But my PS3 (using the 2nd port) has the light blinking rapidly since I'm constantly downloading/uploading while playing.
My old router didn't do this - all the lights were solid. But I'm just assuming that that's a new feature of this updated router.

Am I right?

Thanks

 

[OvenMaster]

Sorry I didn't answer this before today; I had to rebuild because I swapped in new hard drives.
You are correct. The lights blink whenever there is activity on the router. Steady lights mean it's on, but no activity.

Tom