Does anyone know about routers?

Have you tried all the normal stuff like unplugging it from the wall for about 30 seconds and plugging it back in? Are all the status lights lit like they normally would be?

And yeah, it does seem like routers die more often than other electronics. But I’m not sure I would call it dead yet.

Have you tried a “hard reset” yet? Before moving on to Apple Airport Extreme, I used to use netgear routers exclusively, and recall that they have a recessed button (usually in the rear panel behind a grill or heat vents) that when pressed with the aid of a straightened paper clip, you could hold it down while plugging in the router to the power adapter to perform a hardware “flash” that resets it back to factory default.

Otherwise call their tech support-they’ve always ha really good tech support (though it will likely be “roger” in Mumbai talking you through the troubleshoot).

thanks for the suggestions. I have already tried those things and have had no luck. I am hoping my daughter in law can diagnose the problem when she has time to come by.

Yes, they do “wear out”. Though I think it’s more like planned failure.
I went through all the diagnostics and finally called tech support and was told I’d need to buy a replacement. The semi-good news is that the new one was way cheaper than the old one and worked better to.

i had 3 Netgear routers and they all broke within 6 months. I switched to a D-Link for a year now and nothing has happened to it. Netgear looks nicer then its performance.

go with Linksys next time around. Routers do have an oddly high fail rate for some reason.

I have used many Linksys and D-Link routers over the last 7 years. The Linksys were the most prone for failure. D-Link ones have failed but I find that they last for a few years. I have been using a Netgear one for about 3 months and haven’t had any problems yet.

This is all anecdotal so I would take it with a grain of salt. All the Linksys ones got really hot. I assume that is why they fail so much.

A lot of routers fail because of the failure in the power adaptor. So if I were you, I would go to Radioshack and get a universal ac adaptor that can fit your router with the appropriate power rating and connector type, use it in place of your current one to see if the router gets back to life. If not, the router itself is back and you could return the universal adaptor back to Radioshack. Good luck.

No, they do not wear out, unless you are constantly plugging/unpluggin cables into it, or turning it on and off all the time. Electronic devices rarely wear out, just the mechanical parts (I’ve worked as a repair tech in the past, and also have had lots of devices). I’m still using my original Linksys wired router from over 5 years ago, and an old Linksys wireless-B router for several years.

Now, they do have problems sometimes, and if you don’t know about esoteric TCP/IP tricks (such as IP address lease times, releasing and renewing the address, etc), it may take a while to figure out. Netgear seems to be particularly prone to problems connecting in the correct sequence. You really need to disconnect it, reset the modem, wait for the modem to finish booting up and stabilizing, then connect the router to the modem and turn it on, let it stabilize (much quicker than the modem), then connect the PC and turn it on (this is all from memory, but I think that’s the drill).

Sometimes it may not work until the next day unless you know how to use the command-line and “ipconfig”.

I think these sort of problems are what make people think it’s “worn out”. Same with computers – they get so much junk on them that people buy a new one, not knowing that they can easily restore the computer to its original like-new condition with the recovery disk.

@leftcoaster: under normal circumstances and use, they (routers) should have an expected lifespan as you indicated; I had a somewhat unconventional problem with my cable modem and router, a case where the power supply and voltages from the cable modem were uncharacteristically high, and eventually fried the modem and the router’s main logic board. Sometimes external factors can shorten the life of the router.

Call tech support. You might still be under warranty.
And, when you do call tell them you bought it like three months ago and cant find the receipt. :-)