Router gone bad?

[ThaCrip]

I have a ASUS WL-520gU router (running FreshTomato 2019.2 firmware) and I suspect it's semi-dead because earlier the internet was flaky and what I further noticed is not being able to access the built-in web page at the usual 192.168.1.1 address. so I pulled the power cord from the router, wait a few seconds, powered it back up and at this point I could then access the 192.168.1.1 page but it was not long before it got out of whack again. so I tried erasing the NVRAM option in the FreshTomato 2019.2 firmware, which wipes the router and puts it back to it's defaults, and after the reset, the same thing occurred.

 

so I figured just to test some things... I got my older Linksys WRT54GS v1.1, which I also have FreshTomato 2019.2 firmware on it, and connected that and configured it to my liking and I no longer have that issue and things seem stable now.

 

so given that info... that seems to suggest that ASUS WL-520gU router is pretty much shot, correct? ; but assuming it is semi-shot... could it possibly be a bad power supply etc? ; because I heard capacitors can go bad (either in the router itself or the power supply for the router) and make things unstable. I am just seeing if I can possibly get the router working again. but if I got to put much $ into it, I probably won't bother given the old Linksys works and it's got more RAM to (although I do miss the USB port on the ASUS router since it used it occasionally to power a 120mm USB fan since I got a external hard drive sitting on the desktop which helps cool it if I leave it on any length of time etc).

 

p.s. I am probably going to see what I can do now that the ASUS router has been powered down for some hours as I might try connecting it to another computer I have and try wiping the NVRAM again and after a reboot let the router run for a while to see if the 192.168.1.1 page is still accessible or not.

[+BudMan MVC]

31 minutes ago, ThaCrip said:

the same thing occurred.

Same what?  flaky is not a term that describes what is actually happening to your internet connection..  Unless your describing baked goods?  Those biscuits sure were flaky

[ThaCrip]

@BudMan

 

Same thing occurred in that the issue never went away as the internet was flaky* and more importantly the 192.168.1.1 address did not work.

 

the ASUS router was working fine until about 12 hours ago.

 

*flaky as in Google would load(at least sometimes), but a lot of other sites would not etc. basically the internet was unstable and I know my internet was not out at the time either. plus, like I already mentioned the 192.168.1.1 issue went away when I switched to the Linksys router and the internet was stable again. that's why I am leaning towards the ASUS router is semi-shot.

[+BudMan MVC]

5 minutes ago, ThaCrip said:

192.168.1.1 address did not work. 

If you can not get to the web gui, via IP and you sure your on good cable and have IP on the same 192.168.1 network..  Then yeah points to a problem with it.

 

This is wired or wireless your trying to access it?  Did you change to a different port on the routers lan ports?

 

That is  G only router?  Time to have gotten something newer was a long time ago

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Can you load the original ASUS firmware just to see if it works?

[ThaCrip]

@BudMan

 

I disabled wireless access to the 192.168.1.1 page (more secure that way to). so it's all done through a wired connection and the same wires were used when I changed over to the Linksys from the ASUS. also, I have a static IP setup on my primary PC (i.e. 192.168.1.98)

 

but, like I was saying in my initial post, when I can't access the 192.168.1.1 page, which it should be able to, I can power off the router and power it back on, wait a little and then I can get access to the 192.168.1.1 page for a little while before it goes out again and the unstable internet kicks in along with that issue.

 

but assuming the ASUS router is shot... I just wonder whether you think it's the router itself or a unstable power supply that's making the router unstable as if it's a power supply issue I might be able to find something around the house to fix it etc. but if it's the router itself... that's probably the end of it. but I hear capacitors could be the issue which if that's the case maybe I could fix it but then again if the cost is not very minimal I am probably best off moving on.

 

p.s. basically I have the ASUS (well now Linksys) router connected to my ISP's modem and use the 'IP passthrough' stuff to the ASUS (currently Linksys) router does everything.

[+BudMan MVC]

Doesn't matter if power supply or gremlins in it.. If its failing - ie can not get to its web gui.. Then get a new one.. That thing is only g and 10/100.. you can pick up a AC wifi router with gig ports for like 20$  To be honest its not even worth dicking with..

[ThaCrip]

Just now, Jim K said:

Can you load the original ASUS firmware just to see if it works?

Possibly. but I doubt that's the problem because I was using the original Tomato firmware on it for years (i.e. https://www.polarcloud.com/tomato ) then roughly a couple years ago switched to Toastman (which is based on the original Tomato firmware but more updated as the build I was running of that I think was from the year 2014) and that was rock solid (I could easily get over a year of uptime on that) and then not long ago switched to FreshTomato 2019.2 firmware which was released in April 2019 and I installed it (more specifically... "freshtomato-K26_RT-MIPSR1-2019.2-Mini") roughly a month or two ago and it was fine until about 12 hours ago.

 

you still think it's worth attempting the original firmware?

 

p.s. I am sure I could run DD-WRT on it but I tend to prefer Tomato variations a bit more.

[ThaCrip]

1 minute ago, BudMan said:

you can pick up a AC wifi router with gig ports for like 20$  To be honest its not even worth dicking with

 

Good point. but if I do get another more modern router for around $20 I definitely want something that can run Tomato or DD-WRT firmware.

 

because if I can get a noticeably better router for only $20 or so it would be hard to argue against it as if I had to pay like $50-ish or more it's probably not worth it given my internet is not all that fast anyways. but around $20, it would be difficult for me to complain

[+BudMan MVC]

Sure you could find something that will run dd-wrt that in the <30$ for AC, or for SURE atleast N for that price range..

 

How fast is your internet?  Not always comes down to internet, if you use things that talk to each other over your local network..

 

You understand a G is only like 21-3 mbps tops...  Your internet is that slow?

 

[ThaCrip]

@BudMan

 

My internet is actually quite slow for high speed standards... 400-420KB/s MAX for download speed. so as you can see it's pretty weak. could be worse, but could be better. although what I do like about it, no data cap with my current stuff.

 

that's my general wired computer (my main PC) and I only got a couple of wireless things that use it for basic internet here and there. but I guess it would not hurt having a bit better wireless speed in case I do a transfer over the local network etc and I guess even from a wired perspective it would not hurt to get something that can go beyond the 10-11MB/s limit of my current routers.

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Similar to you I've had the Linksys WRT54G, ASUS WL-520GU then an ASUS RT-N16 all running the Tomato Firmware.

 

The issue you described I actually had a few times with the ASUS RT-N16, I re flashed the firmware, erasing the NVRAM in the process and the router would be fine for a few months, then the same would randomly happen again. The router was however fine for years before this occurred. It's almost like the on board flash was gradually corrupting over time.

 

I'm now running pfSense in a Virtual Machine as my router, certainly coming from the Tomato Firmware you'd very much like the pfSense web ui.

 

Something like the SG-1100 might a nice upgrade from a router flashed with third party firmware if you thought it was worth spending the money on it.

[ThaCrip]

@InsaneNutter

 

Thanks. it's nice to know someone experienced the same issue I have and seems to pretty much confirm the router is basically shot (or at least not reliable enough to use for any length of time).

 

on a side note... looking around online it seems you can find some routers noticeably better than what I have for $30 tops. but I suspect ill just wait a while until my Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 dies as I even have another older Belkin router (it's not as good as the Linksys but I suspect will get me by) I can use if this one acts up in the future but that one can only run DD-WRT micro since it's only got 2MB flash and 8MB of RAM where as the Linksys I am using has 8MB flash and 32MB of RAM which is a lot for the older wireless G routers.

 

but thanks for the link to SD-1100 but for around $159 is a little to steep as I am looking more in the $30 range. but like I mentioned above, ill probably use the Linksys I mentioned above for as long as I can before it dies as by then ill be able to get a even better router for around $30 or so.

 

p.s. thanks for everyones help as it appears we pretty much sorted it out.

[+BudMan MVC]

So 420KBps would be 52.5 mbps.. That is like double what a G router can do over wireless.. I would suggest you at min update to a N router.. which for sure you can find for under 30 to your door.

[ThaCrip]

@BudMan

 

420KB/s = 3.36mbps

 

I think your 52.5mbps converts over to about 6.5MB/s which my 420KB/s converted to MB/s = 0.4MB/s.

[+BudMan MVC]

You are correct added some extra 000 in there  

 

That is some slow ass internet.. You would be better off just using your phone for internet, hehehe

 

Who would even provide such slow internet - slowest internet package from say infinity is 25mbps..  for $20 a month.. What do you pay for such a connection, that is like low end of a 3G wireless connection.

[The Dark Knight]

3 hours ago, BudMan said:

that is like low end of a 3G wireless connection.

In India, the average 4G speed is about that much! 🤣😑

 

The fastest speed you can get is only around 10 times that. 😖

[The Dark Knight]

@ThaCrip Yeah, your router is most likely at the end of its life. Just get a new AC router. Or if you have an old PC lying around, stick another NIC in it and run pfSense. Even a 10 year old PC with pfSense will sweep the floor with most consumer routers. The power consumption of an old PC is going to be a lot higher than a tiny basic router though. And you will need Access Points or an old router configured as an AP for wireless. But if you're willing to overlook those points, pfSense is way more feature rich and powerful compared to any 3rd party firmware!

[+BudMan MVC]

Pfsense is NOT something you would use for any wifi to your network   Sticking a card in the pc wouldn't be a good idea, nor does freebsd even have any ac support.

 

But if his internet is really that slow, then such a cheap router is all he would need for internet.. But doesn't he move stuff around internally?  10/100 would be almost as bad as G wireless.. I don't have any G devices on my network even..   Even the cheapest IOT device these days do N, they might not do N on 5.. But they don't do G

 

But sure if he had an old PC around to run pfsense on, and then use the $20 AC router as just an AP..

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

11 minutes ago, BudMan said:

But sure if he had an old PC around to run pfsense on, and then use the $20 AC router as just an AP..

*raises hand* I do the very same

[The Dark Knight]

7 hours ago, BudMan said:

Pfsense is NOT something you would use for any wifi to your network   Sticking a card in the pc wouldn't be a good idea, nor does freebsd even have any ac support.

But sure if he had an old PC around to run pfsense on, and then use the $20 AC router as just an AP..

Yes, that is what I actually meant, just didn't explain it better. The 2nd NIC would be for ethernet which would connect to a switch. And then all AP's or old routers as AP's to that switch. 🙂

[+BudMan MVC]

Well yeah I would 2nd that sort of setup sure

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

 

Given the age of the device (about eight year old or so), I would assume that one of the hotter-running components on the board has gone bad (the PHY, processor, power circuitty or wireless radio).  Most, if not all of these, are going to be surface-mounted or perhaps even BGA-mounted components and not replaceable without a rework station for reflowing the solder.  Given the length of time the device was in service, I would just recommend looking for a replacement device, as @BudMan suggested.

 

Regards,

 

Aryeh Goretsky

 

[ThaCrip]

@goretsky

 

Yeah, I figured the ASUS router is pretty much shot.

 

but last night I basically plugged it back in, cleared NVRAM, rebooted and just sitting there with a basic cat5 cable connected to a laptop, so it's offline, it seemed to be okay in the brief time I tested it, which was about 5-10min, and the 192.168.1.1 page was still accessible. so it appears it's working, but given what happened it's hard to say if it still stay working for long especially given the comments above by InsaneNutter. because if it's only going to be okay for maybe a few months before acting up again I am better off not using it. so ill probably stick with the Linksys WRT54GS v1.1 (8MB flash/32MB RAM) for now.

 

thanks again for everyones time

[+BudMan MVC]

Not sure how anyone could possible find G ok... Do you not do anything on your local network, no streaming of movies or anything.. I take it your internet is slow and G is capable of handling it.. But wow how can you actually do anything with such connection... The files I move over to my nas in 30 seconds would take hours..

 

Are you out in the middle of the boonies or something that your internet is so slow?  What does its cost - is it like $5 a month or something?