About a month ago I purchased a Linksys WRT54GS router. It was working beautifully and then about three days ago it starting dropping all connections until I reset the router. When I say dropping, I mean it doesn’t respond to anything. I cannot ping the router, I can’t connect to it, or any network rescores for that matter. I have about the same connectivity as if my PC wasn’t connected by the physical cable. If I was to go to Local Area Connection Status > Support> Repair, I would come back with an Automatic Private Address. My Xbox 360 cannot connect either. At this point I don’t know what to do; I can reset the router and get a good solid ten minutes of connectivity. And then in the blink of an eye everything goes to hell. I checked the firmware, v1.50.5. I looked on Linksys’s site and found the newest version. The problem is that this version requires v2.1 or higher to upgrade, and I have v1.50.5. Needless to say I cannot find my missing link. I’m getting upset. Googling around I found out that some how I could use a 3rd party firmware for this router. Great! Is it safe? Is it easy to use? Does it void the warranty? What if I don’t like it? Can I change it back? All of these questions create an uncertainty of weather or not I should use this 3rd party app or not. So, I’m kind of frustrated at the moment, I have to plug my pc directly into my DSL modem to be able to do anything. Now I cannot take advantage of my network resources that I have. I’m hoping that someone has my missing link or knows where to find it. Also, if anyone uses a WRT54GS with the 3rd party app and knows if its worth any of the trouble. Thanks for taking the time to read this; I hope that you may have some advice for me.

Don't know where you are but in the UK there's a Linksys freephone tech support number which I've used in the past & was very impressed. Try the main www.linksys.com page & choose your location, you'll find the link under support/technical support/contacts. There's also an e-mail address & knowledge base. "I know that I'm mad, I've always been mad"