WRTP54G Issues

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 10, 2005 Posts: 1

Compared to the old "when it was Linksys" Linksys boxes -- this one REALLY ****... I do have the 37 upgrade and all the problems are still here..

DNS (although it shows that I can enter "other" dns entries, it doesn't provide them to the clients)...
VPN -- yea like that vpn passthru thing really works -- NOT!!
Inbound - VPN inbound to my house fails!!
Seems that the problem is more prevelent on the wireless side...

VONAGE LISTEN UP -- You need to get ALL of this FIXED or you will be loosing customers!!! I will be contacting a great Vonage advocate - Clark Howard here in ATL and tell him that his recommendation of VONAGE is WRONG...

Again, good idea... looks like execution if failing.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 10, 2005 Posts: 2

I'll echo this sentiment.

"VONAGE LISTEN UP -- You need to get ALL of this FIXED or you will be loosing customers!!! "

I've been using Vonage for the last couple of years and have been mostly content with the performance of the devices and service. However, as a a new owner of a WRT54GP2 (fw 1.28.00), I can say that Vonage is very close to losing me as a customer as well due to the performance of this device. I have had nothing but problems using its 802.11g connections (no successful connections at all); DHCP and static IPs simply will not work on my wireless client PCs. Strange thing is, DHCP for my wired clients connected to this router work fine, and my wireless clients show *excellent* connection levels to this AP, but they never get a DHCP assigned IP. I even tried assigning my wireless clients static IPs, no dice there either. You think that if I was getting excellent signal from my WRT54GP2 AP that I would also be able to get an IP or ping the 192.168.15.1 of the router, but nope... that doesn't work either, even if I shut off all the wireless security options (WEP, WPA, SSID, etc) to simplify the configuration. Also tried using different channels, making sure they matched on the AP & client.

For the record, i'm currently a network analyst and was a deskside tech for about 10yrs, and have **a lot** of experience supporting wifi clients in the corporate environment... not that I can't make mistakes, but I am very comofrtable working with wifi, but this Linksys router is making me lose my f***ing mind. Does anyone have a link they can post to the most current firmwares / updates for this device? I have to believe the problems with device are firmware related.

Maybe it's time to fire up the old Cisco ATA-186 and Linksys RT32 again instead of fighting with this POS...

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 07, 2005 Posts: 4

Vonage has by far the most dumbest technicians working for them.

When I bought the router and spoke to Vonage, they indicated that it needed a firmware upgrade and provided a url to d/l the 1.00.37. After that, I still had problems with making calls meaning I wasn't able to hear the other person when they responded.

Vonage's recommendation? Get a new cable modem since my existing one was losing packets, so I went out and bought a Motorola Surfboard SB5120. After getting it working with comcast, same issue popped up with Vonage.

Vonage's solution after 3hrs of yelling and screaming at them, disable NAT & Firewall. And install software based firewalls on all my computers in my network. Well I have 4 wired and 3 wireless computers on my network and all of them will need a good software based firewall. I told the technician that he better pay for the firewalls since ZoneAlarm Pro is about $200+ for a 5 computer license. I needed the flexibility of the Pro version since I am used that. The guy obviously stated no. After the call was over, I tried to access my email and it wasn't connecting. I tried to access anything on the Internet and nothing was working.

Disabling the NAT & Firewall was the worst option given by the technician. I told him I would like to speak to their network management department and he said they cannot transfer calls to that department and only tickets would be transferred to that department. In my opinion, having a software based firewall is not always the best solution. A hardware based firewall is a far better solution to many problems.

I told the technician to find me a solution with firewall enabled on the router. And he wasn't able to provide a solution. By this time 3 weeks of practically no phone service with everyone at my house screaming at me, I had no choice but to ditch Vonage and get ABC back at my house.

In my opinion, Vonage needs to fix its service with the products that are advertised to work with Vonage.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 11, 2005 Posts: 2

Sukh18 wrote:

Vonage's solution after 3hrs of yelling and screaming at them, disable NAT & Firewall. And install software based firewalls on all my computers in my network. ...
Disabling the NAT & Firewall was the worst option given by the technician. ... A hardware based firewall is a far better solution to many problems.
In my opinion, Vonage needs to fix its service with the products that are advertised to work with Vonage.

With Windows XPSP2 and Mac OS X 10.3+, firewalls are builtin and just need activation. So you don't need to get Zone Alarm Pro (unless you want more features).

But I agree, I am seriously considering dropping Vonage and just getting more minute plan on my cell. Or another cell.
I've a MotoSurfboard, an SMC2304WBR-AG and Cisco/Linksys 10/100/1000 switch. I use Xbox Live and wireless. If I enable NAT, the phone rings but no signal. Disable NAT and I get calls. But I want hardware protection. I don't want spoofing or some worm coming in to my Xbox (can't wait till someone writes something to kill LAN game boxes!), or someone trying to hammer my VoIP.

I've read some posts about issues with Halo 2, amongst other things.

Is there an alternative to this product? (integrated router/firewall/VoIP/Wireless)

Can someone PM me a link to how to adequately config so that my Cable Modem/Vonage/Router/Xbox/Switch are happy? I jsut want to protect my computers. i want to use Xbox LIVE. And I want to use my Vonage. is that so difficult? Why are we the sheep here?

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Jul 03, 2005 Posts: 3

palermjj wrote:

Does anyone have a link they can post to the most current firmwares / updates for this device? I have to believe the problems with device are firmware related.

Maybe it's time to fire up the old Cisco ATA-186 and Linksys RT32 again instead of fighting with this POS...

I go here for Firmware.
http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=73

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 22, 2005 Posts: 1

Thank you all for your insightful comments... you have saved me from getting as large a headache as you. I have yet to open my WRTP54G unit and sign up for service. Tomorrow I will return the package and possibly choose another carrier given the comments that tech support has not been very helpful. I don't even have 1% of the experience illustrated here, for concise help and reliable hardware is a must for me.

Thanks again.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 30, 2005 Posts: 2

The WRTP54G has been a nightmare for me. I called Vonage service three times. Once for 90 mins. The second time for 90 minutes. The third time, I was told to by a new cable modem that supports DOCSIS 2.0.

I bought a Motorola, but I had the same problems reported in previous posts: I call but don't hear anything. However, my calls are going through, and often on the otherside the other person can hear me too.

My firmware was set to 1.00.20, so I decided to upgrade based on the link at
http://www.linksysinfo.org/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=73

The upgrade ran for 3 minutes, then reported FAIL!
I checked the firmware on the WRTP54G web access client and it was 1.00.58. The I powered down the cable modem and router and powered up the modem up and then the WRTP54G.

In the past, I was not able to place 800 number toll free calls. These calls apparently went through on my Vonage account page, but I couldn't hear anything (as with all my calls). After the attempted firmware upgrade, I can place a 800 number call.

Is anyone else getting the FAIL! on a firmware upgrade to the WRTP54G? I am posting my experience with the upgrade to 1.00.58

My setup:
Motorola Cable Modem: SB5120 (DOCSIS 2.0 supported)
WRTP54G (upgrade reported failed from 1.00.20 to 1.00.58, but seems to have worked?)
ISP: COMCAST
CABLE TV - No
Phone port 1 - not used
Using splitter on Phone Port 2 to two Panasonic 5.8 GHz base stations. One base station on 4 foot telephone cable. The other is on a 25 foot telephone cable.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 13, 2006 Posts: 1

I also encountered nightmare problems with the Linksys WRTP54G. Mine worked for one month then failed when second phone line was added. Vonage technical support in Chanai, India made false notes on my account that "customer opened the router" and "warranty is void". Vonage support in Holmdel, NJ refused to resolve the problem. VONAGE SUPPORT IS TERRIBLE !!!!! I am going back to Comcast. Someone needs to file a class-action lawsuit against Vonage to get them to fix this terrible product.

Posts: 16 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jan 13, 2006 Posts: 16

I like the way the WRTP54G is working for me, but here's my story:

I first installed my new WRTP54G as my main router, replacing my trusty USR8054. I started having wierd problems... DNS would resolve sometimes, but then stopped. When it did resolve, browsing was slow. I have to disagree with opinions above that say the router doesnt affect PC performance... I believe it does, if the PC has services or drivers that are querying the internet, when they dont get timely responses, they mung up the system (not all services and drivers are excellently written).

So, I returned my USR8054 to it's original place as my firewall router, and plugged my WRTP54G as a terminal into the USR8054. I configured the WRTP54G for Radio off, QoS off, DHCP off, Firewall off. All it has on it is my phone. Works great! I am really happy with the performance this way. A shame I couldnt use it as a firewall router, but it's main purpose is fulfilled as a Vonage telephone interface, and it's doing a good job.

I have 18 yrs experience designing real time embedded systems. I'm sure happy I wasnt working at Linksys when they pushed out this mediocre product. The build directory is 170MB! It would have been -so- tedious. One petty gripe: Who picked the dropping resistors for the LEDs? They are so damned bright. I dont blame the engineer who picked em, I blame the manager who agreed to it. Sheesh.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Jul 02, 2004 Posts: 2

pmbray wrote:

I also encountered nightmare problems with the Linksys WRTP54G. Mine worked for one month then failed when second phone line was added. Vonage technical support in Chanai, India made false notes on my account that "customer opened the router" and "warranty is void". Vonage support in Holmdel, NJ refused to resolve the problem. VONAGE SUPPORT IS TERRIBLE !!!!! I am going back to Comcast. Someone needs to file a class-action lawsuit against Vonage to get them to fix this terrible product.

I was an avid vonage customer until I got routed to India and some non technical tech tells me I have to reset my router with the only out come detailing everything I had setup, and still didn't work. He eventually hung up on me, maybe because I was repeating everything because I couldn't understand a word he said.

Off shoring ****.