Linksys router stopped working - do I need it?

[Ken Bessler]

My linksys router stopped working overnight. I woke
up this morning, and nothing works. I tried unplugging
it, resetting it - nada. The lights come on but I can't get
any of my internet apps to work If I bypass the router
by unplugging the ethernet cable and connecting my
PC directly to my cablemodem. everything works.

I'm running Zone Alarm & I only have 1 PC (I used
to have 3, hence the router but that was a year ago).
I also am running XP Pro Sp1a with all updates and
NAV 2003 with all updates.

Do I really need the router or is Zone Alarm enough
protection? How can I fix my router? Should I use ICF?

Ken

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

While having the router is nice, it's not totally necessary for a single pc.
Make sure you keep the firewall running and keep your antivirus software up
to date. Without that hardware in the middle, it's much easier to expose
your machine if you don't.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Mike J]

did you try depressing the reset button till the the red
light blinked? that worked for me. this will reset the
router to factory configuration tho and any manual
settings you made will need to be redone vgl2u

 

[Bill Clay]

Ken

If you are keeping your virus definitions and critical updates
up-to-date, and you have a properly configured firewall, then you should
be just fine. Still, routers are cheap and they do add another layer of
protection.

-- Bill

 

[Chuck]

My linksys router stopped working overnight. I woke
up this morning, and nothing works. I tried unplugging
it, resetting it - nada. The lights come on but I can't get
any of my internet apps to work If I bypass the router
by unplugging the ethernet cable and connecting my
PC directly to my cablemodem. everything works.

I'm running Zone Alarm & I only have 1 PC (I used
to have 3, hence the router but that was a year ago).
I also am running XP Pro Sp1a with all updates and
NAV 2003 with all updates.

Do I really need the router or is Zone Alarm enough
protection? How can I fix my router? Should I use ICF?

Ken

If your Zone Alarm is kept religiously up to date, you can do without
a router, if you have just one computer. As long as there are no
exploits that Zone Alarm doesn't catch.

I have ZA, and I have a Linksys BEFSX41. One nice result of having
the SX41 outside ZA is I don't have to deal with a lot of crap alerts
from the many miscellaneous worms sending junk traffic everywhere. My
cpu utilisation is down just a little bit too, again cause ZA doesn't
have to analyse and alert me to all the crap traffic - the SX41 just
logs it and I check the log periodically. IOW, the processor on the
router keeps my cpu utilisation down just a bit.


Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Dave]

I've just experienced a similar thing with my linksys router after updating
the firmware. I had to get out the original CD and walk through the setup
to get things right again.

 

[Ken Bessler]

I've just experienced a similar thing with my linksys router after updating
the firmware. I had to get out the original CD and walk through the setup
to get things right again.

I tried that with no luck. I paid $125 for the $^$##^ thing
2 1/2 years ago so I guess I got my money's worth. Besides
I just pawned it for $40. hehehehe stupid pawnshops.

I know, I know - I should be whipped but I hate pawnshops!

Ken