# So, is it time to buy a new router?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-it-time-to-buy-a-new-router/247205>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 26, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-it-time-to-buy-a-new-router/247205 "2004-05-26T17:09:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-it-time-to-buy-a-new-router/247205/1 "2004-05-26T17:09:30Z")

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Among the other things I do at work, I look after a small network with a variety of machines, OS’s and connection methods (four wired connections - 2 PCs running XP, 1 PC running Win98SE, 1 Mac Powerbook running OS 10.3.3; and two wireless connections - 1 PC laptop running Win98SE, and 1 Mac iBook running OS 10.3.3).

The other day I was reconfiguring the router - a Netgear MR814 - for greater wireless security, to apply the latest firmware update, and to enable the iBook to see the wired machines on the network. I had just finished setting everything up, and all appeared to be working just fine, when a thunderstorm came through and the power went out a couple of times. The router was on a surge protector, not a UPS, along with a phone/answering machine and the cable modem (both these other items are fine).

Since then, I have had a variety of problems, including:

- getting the wireless devices to sync up with the router
- being able to see and/or access other machines on the network (often getting error messages in OS X that tell me the “original item (server) cannot be found”)
- consistently being able to see all attached devices from the router interface, even when individual machines have access to the internet
- the router will not consistently recognize the correct admin password if I try to access the interface from the Mac Powerbook

The most frustrating thing is that all these problems seem to be intermittent. A given problem can resist all my efforts at fixing it, but waiting a few hours somehow lets the problem resolve itself.

I’m guessing that the router may be hosed as a result of the power outages, but I just wanted to confirm that there’s nothing else I can do before I give up on it. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-it-time-to-buy-a-new-router/247205/2 "2004-05-26T17:52:35Z")

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Trying re-flashing the firmware. Once done, leave the router off for a good while (several minutes) and then do a hardware reset of it.

Also try power cycling all devices that are connected to it (while it is off).

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**Author:** ![Toddly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@Toddly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toddly)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-it-time-to-buy-a-new-router/247205/3 "2004-05-26T19:50:09Z")

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I would give it a re-flash too. I just did this to my home router which was acting up and as of now it seems to be OK.