I have a Linksys WR54G (V2) router
It works well - except the connection seems to drop under load.
[snip]
1) I know this router uses Linux - and there are some third party firmware that give shell access. Is this something that perhaps could be tweaked to work better?
I know this is a stupid question, but have you checked if there is updated firmware on Linksys website?
2) Assuming 1 is a nogo - can someone recommend a good _solid_ 802.11g wifi router?
Hm, Linksys WR54G is a good solid wifi router. I bought one last winter during sales season and there was also rebate. Not sure if it is version 2, 2.2 or 3, I could check when I get home. It works perfectly.
Recheck if you have latest firmware. If you do, maybe you were unlucky and got a bad apple. Have you contacted Linksys's tech support? Try replacing it if all else fails (in the store, or send it for service if still under warranty).
Another posibility is that either you or one of your neighbours have some broken piece of equipment that operates in 2.4GHz range (such as cordless phones or baby monitors for example) that doesn't play by the rules and interfeers with your wireless network. If this is the case, there's really not much you can do, and most likely other wireless routers are going to have same problem. The easiest way to test is to visit a friend (not next door, try at least couple of blocks away) and see if router has same problems at his place. If it works perfectly at his place, it's either some other 2.4GHz device you (or one of your neighbours) have that is problematic.
I'm thinking I want to stay away from another consumer model, I want something that works - even if it costs more. Typically I only have a few wireless clients at a time - never more than 5, so one would think a home/consumer model should suffice - but I'd rather have something designed to handle bandwidth than something that has momentary dropouts and occasionally crashes.
Well, avoid Netgear. I had it for a week, and replaced it with Linksys. Had the same problems with Netgear you describe even when there was no network traffic (connections would go up and down ever 15-30 seconds or so). Later I found out that many other folks had same problems with Netgear.
-- Aleksandar Milivojevic <amilivojevic@xxxxxx> Pollard Banknote Limited Systems Administrator 1499 Buffalo Place Tel: (204) 474-2323 ext 276 Winnipeg, MB R3T 1L7
