linksys router problems?

Question

I have a linksys router that i am running to to computers wirelessly. I have bought the 2 little usb wireless cards. On one computer it works just fine. The other one I can get the internet to work for like 5 minutes then it quits. I have it set up for DHCP. When the internet quits working, i look at my ip address and it assigns APIPA IP address (169.254.0.0) I think APIPA is for when it cant access the DHCP server. Can anyone tell me how to fix this? Please. Thankyou

Answer 1

If it is a wrt54g v.5 or v.6, it is garbage. You should return it for a refund while/if you still can. Take a look at the many forums on these routers and you'll see what I'm talking about. Even on linksys' forums.

Answer 2

Most likely the machine that is dropping the connection is too far from the wireless router to get a sufficiently stable signal. Sometimes moving it around a bit can help significantly; often it only takes few inches to make a major difference.

It's also possible that it is getting interference from a cordless phone in the immediate vicinity. 2.4 GHz cordless phones use the same frequency band that wireless networks do and this can cause lots of problems with both systems. It could even be a neighbor's cordless phone that's causing the problem if the computer is getting a stronger signal from the phone system than it's getting from your wireless router.