WLAN router that NEVER needs rebooting?

[Anonymous Howard]

Everyone I know with a WLAN router tells me they must reboot their router every week or so. That's just not acceptable to me any more. I want a WLAN router that NEVER needs to be rebooted. Not once a week, not once a month, not even once a year. It's just gotta work 24x7x52.

Now, I've got a Belkin WLan router connected to my cable modem. It needs to be rebooted at least once a week. And if I run any of the DNS tests from grc.com, it crashes EVERY time.

I'm not impressed by claims of more megabits per second. I'm impressed by claims of days of continuous uptime without reboots or power cycles. Don't need "N", b/g is fine. Do need WPA2-PSK with NAT and a DHCP server. Built-in caching DNS server is a plus, but not necessary. The BIG need is: reliability.

If you have a WLAN router that you have not needed to reboot or power cycle for ANY reason at any time in the year 2009, I'd like to know about it: make, model, etc.

 

[lbs129]

I have a Linksys WRT54GL v.1.1 that is very stable. I've never been forced to reboot it because of crashes, but I usually turn the power off with the switch on the power strip every night. I find it very reliable and it has support for WPA2-PSK, NAT and DHCP.

 

[kot1rc5]

I use a dlink DIR-655 (h/w ver A4)(f/w ver 1.21) as a wireless access point with WPA2, all other features are turned off and the WAN port is not used. no QOS, dhcp, NAT. 2-5 N@300 clients are connected. It has run 24/7 since I swapped it out 8 months ago.

BTW I use to have a DIR-655 h/w ver A1 on f/w ver 104 in bridge mode that ran in the same environment for like 3 years without a reboot. Until I flashed to 1.21 and then to 1.32 and it was never the same. I was trying to improve my N performance from 130 to 300. The problem was running in combo g/n mode. I ended up getting a el cheapo w/rebate trendnet TEW-432BRP G router as a wireless access point for the g only clients.

I believe that I haven't experienced the constant need to reboot issues because my wireless routers/access points are behind a Smoothwall firewall installed on a garbage picked P3-800 756MB and a couple NICs. The wireless routers aren't getting constantly hammered by bots, scanners, scriptkiddies and don't have to maintain routing, state, NAT, QOS, DHCP processes and tables. My guess is that when those tables and buggy firmware memory leaks, use up all the RAM, they just quit working.

k

 

[Anonymous Howard]

lbs129: thanks for your reply, but I consider daily power cycling to be the same as daily rebooting. I'm looking for a WLan router I can leave powered on an fully operational for months at a time without power cycling or rebooting.

 

[lbs129]

lbs129: thanks for your reply, but I consider daily power cycling to be the same as daily rebooting. I'm looking for a WLan router I can leave powered on an fully operational for months at a time without power cycling or rebooting.

Well, I thought it might sound quite strange. I don't reboot it because I need it, and I have read that other owners of the Linksys WRT54GL have had very long uptimes (many hundred days). My router also shows no signs at all being unstable.

 

[Anonymous Howard]

kot1rc5: I take your point to be that most WLan routers consist of multiple pieces such as a router, firewall, multiport repeater (hub) and wireless access point (WAP), and that it is not usually the WAP that fails but rather the router or firewall, so by using only the WAP component, the WAP runs effectively forever.

That's an interesting point, but of course, I need to use all those components. If I separate them into separate boxes, as you have apparently done, then don't I merely move the point of failure to another box? I'm looking for a total solution that never requires rebooting. I need the WAP AND the router/firewall to run for months at a time. Does your Smoothwall firewall run for months at a time without rebooting or power cycling?

 

[woodscomp]

WRT54GS v6, used from 2004 till Feb 2009, never rebooted, turned off once to flash with DD-WRT to make it into a brisge and placed back in service.

WRT610N Feb 2009 till present flashed with Linksys lastest firmware, never had to cycle the power nor reset for any reason other than my cable flaking out once and troubleshooting that outage.

Both are stable, my main reason for sticking with Linksys while going to N was the stability that I got out of that 54GS. I used D-Links prior to that and had the worst time ever with them, never again would I ever buy another D-Link product. I would buy the el-cheapo eBay China models before I gave anymore money to D-Link.

 

[kot1rc5]

The only time I reboot the smoothwall is after a patch, or sometimes when I'm fiddling with settings. Otherwise it has never crashed or needed a hard reset.
They the have an uptime addon module. but I haven't installed it.

k

 

[DaveMcLain]

Right now I have a Linksys WRT54G-TM running Tomato version 1.23 firmware that's been up 206 days without a reboot(it's connected to a UPS) and it runs 24/7 on the network I have set up in my workplace. This network also serves one home with several computers.

At home I now have a Linksys WRT320N that's been running for the last 3 weeks without a reboot. That one has the stock Linksys firmware(latest version) and it's been rock solid.

It really is possible for these inexpensive routers to be reliable and run 24 hours a day for a VERY long time without a reboot.