«

When my son's computer is connected to my Linksys BEFSR81 router, on
occasion, about once every 30 seconds, all of the lights on the router
(except the power light) go out for a couple of seconds and then come
back on. The only time I have seen this problem is when the suspect
computer has a virus. We have scanned his computer with eTrust and
Computer Associates AV software, and he does not have a virus. I'm
told that the only way one computer can affect other computers
connected through a switch is if the computer sends out malformed
packets. I don't know where else to look.

When I disconnect his Ethernet cable from the router, the problem
disappears. He's a gamer, so I don't know if there is software he has
installed that is causing this situation. Thoughts?

(mcp6453) wrote in
news: om:

> When my son's computer is connected to my Linksys BEFSR81 router, on
> occasion, about once every 30 seconds, all of the lights on the router
> (except the power light) go out for a couple of seconds and then come
> back on. The only time I have seen this problem is when the suspect
> computer has a virus. We have scanned his computer with eTrust and
> Computer Associates AV software, and he does not have a virus. I'm
> told that the only way one computer can affect other computers
> connected through a switch is if the computer sends out malformed
> packets. I don't know where else to look.
>
> When I disconnect his Ethernet cable from the router, the problem
> disappears. He's a gamer, so I don't know if there is software he has
> installed that is causing this situation. Thoughts?
>

Well,

Although a router can be attacked by it being controlled by some Trojan
that's on the machine that allows the hacker to access the router's admin
pages through a browser due to the user leaving the router's password at
its out of the box default state, what you have indicated leads me to
believe that the router is on its way to equipment failure.

This is usually created by a bad power supply used by the router that has
electrical spikes on the line due to house hold appliances switching on
and off, the power company doing brownouts, and also sudden lost of power
to the device. Any or all of it happening to the router on a routine
basis can cause the router to fail. This can be corrected and the router
protected by using a UPS device to protect such equipment. And I am not
talking about some surge protector power strip with plugs laying on the
floor.

Duane

Duane Arnold wrote:
>
> (mcp6453) wrote in
> news: om:
>
> > When my son's computer is connected to my Linksys BEFSR81 router, on
> > occasion, about once every 30 seconds, all of the lights on the router
> > (except the power light) go out for a couple of seconds and then come
> > back on. The only time I have seen this problem is when the suspect
> > computer has a virus. We have scanned his computer with eTrust and
> > Computer Associates AV software, and he does not have a virus. I'm
> > told that the only way one computer can affect other computers
> > connected through a switch is if the computer sends out malformed
> > packets. I don't know where else to look.
> >
> > When I disconnect his Ethernet cable from the router, the problem
> > disappears. He's a gamer, so I don't know if there is software he has
> > installed that is causing this situation. Thoughts?
> >
>
> Well,
>
> Although a router can be attacked by it being controlled by some Trojan
> that's on the machine that allows the hacker to access the router's admin
> pages through a browser due to the user leaving the router's password at
> its out of the box default state, what you have indicated leads me to
> believe that the router is on its way to equipment failure.
>
> This is usually created by a bad power supply used by the router that has
> electrical spikes on the line due to house hold appliances switching on
> and off, the power company doing brownouts, and also sudden lost of power
> to the device. Any or all of it happening to the router on a routine
> basis can cause the router to fail. This can be corrected and the router
> protected by using a UPS device to protect such equipment. And I am not
> talking about some surge protector power strip with plugs laying on the
> floor.


While I do not disagree with anything you said, I do not think that is
the cause of this problem, which disappears when a single Ethernet cable
(to my son's computer) is disconnected.

Try a different Ethernet card. I Have seen them fail and cause some
pretty weird stuff.

mcp6453 wrote:
>
> Duane Arnold wrote:
> >
> > (mcp6453) wrote in
> > news: om:
> >
> > > When my son's computer is connected to my Linksys BEFSR81 router, on
> > > occasion, about once every 30 seconds, all of the lights on the router
> > > (except the power light) go out for a couple of seconds and then come
> > > back on. The only time I have seen this problem is when the suspect
> > > computer has a virus. We have scanned his computer with eTrust and
> > > Computer Associates AV software, and he does not have a virus. I'm
> > > told that the only way one computer can affect other computers
> > > connected through a switch is if the computer sends out malformed
> > > packets. I don't know where else to look.
> > >
> > > When I disconnect his Ethernet cable from the router, the problem
> > > disappears. He's a gamer, so I don't know if there is software he has
> > > installed that is causing this situation. Thoughts?
> > >
> >
> > Well,
> >
> > Although a router can be attacked by it being controlled by some Trojan
> > that's on the machine that allows the hacker to access the router's admin
> > pages through a browser due to the user leaving the router's password at
> > its out of the box default state, what you have indicated leads me to
> > believe that the router is on its way to equipment failure.
> >
> > This is usually created by a bad power supply used by the router that has
> > electrical spikes on the line due to house hold appliances switching on
> > and off, the power company doing brownouts, and also sudden lost of power
> > to the device. Any or all of it happening to the router on a routine
> > basis can cause the router to fail. This can be corrected and the router
> > protected by using a UPS device to protect such equipment. And I am not
> > talking about some surge protector power strip with plugs laying on the
> > floor.
>
> While I do not disagree with anything you said, I do not think that is
> the cause of this problem, which disappears when a single Ethernet cable
> (to my son's computer) is disconnected.

mcp6453 wrote:

> Duane Arnold wrote:
>
>> (mcp6453) wrote in
>>news: .com:
>>
>>
>>>When my son's computer is connected to my Linksys BEFSR81 router, on
>>>occasion, about once every 30 seconds, all of the lights on the router
>>>(except the power light) go out for a couple of seconds and then come
>>>back on. The only time I have seen this problem is when the suspect
>>>computer has a virus. We have scanned his computer with eTrust and
>>>Computer Associates AV software, and he does not have a virus. I'm
>>>told that the only way one computer can affect other computers
>>>connected through a switch is if the computer sends out malformed
>>>packets. I don't know where else to look.
>>>
>>>When I disconnect his Ethernet cable from the router, the problem
>>>disappears. He's a gamer, so I don't know if there is software he has
>>>installed that is causing this situation. Thoughts?
>>>
>>
>>Well,
>>
>>Although a router can be attacked by it being controlled by some Trojan
>>that's on the machine that allows the hacker to access the router's admin
>>pages through a browser due to the user leaving the router's password at
>>its out of the box default state, what you have indicated leads me to
>>believe that the router is on its way to equipment failure.
>>
>>This is usually created by a bad power supply used by the router that has
>>electrical spikes on the line due to house hold appliances switching on
>>and off, the power company doing brownouts, and also sudden lost of power
>>to the device. Any or all of it happening to the router on a routine
>>basis can cause the router to fail. This can be corrected and the router
>>protected by using a UPS device to protect such equipment. And I am not
>>talking about some surge protector power strip with plugs laying on the
>>floor.
>
>
>
> While I do not disagree with anything you said, I do not think that is
> the cause of this problem, which disappears when a single Ethernet cable
> (to my son's computer) is disconnected.

Which would lead all the more to the idea of the power supply within the
router being bad. When that ethernet cable is disconnected, the router
is using about 1/5th of the power compared to when it is routing
packets. If the power supply has been shorted or is going bad, this
extra bit of needed electicity could be causing the router to shut
itself off.

Of course, like Wizard mentioned, it could be your sons ethernet card.

Just an idea: As you're using a router, i'm guessing you have atleast
one more system hooked up to the router. If so, what happens if you
disconnect that other system, and plug your son's back in?

Greg Kumparak wrote:
>
> Which would lead all the more to the idea of the power supply within the
> router being bad. When that ethernet cable is disconnected, the router
> is using about 1/5th of the power compared to when it is routing
> packets. If the power supply has been shorted or is going bad, this
> extra bit of needed electicity could be causing the router to shut
> itself off.
>
> Of course, like Wizard mentioned, it could be your sons ethernet card.
>
> Just an idea: As you're using a router, i'm guessing you have atleast
> one more system hooked up to the router. If so, what happens if you
> disconnect that other system, and plug your son's back in?


As of now, my son's computer will not boot. After Windows 2000 starts,
it freezes on the opening screen. So, I tried rebuilding the machine
with a new hard drive -- same problem. Either the memory or the
motherboard has a problem. (I've tried booting without peripherals
installed.)