Repairing The Linksys WRT54G Version 5 Wireless Router

***Official Disclaimer*** Neither I nor Alltel/Windstream/Your ISP/Anyone else will be held accountable for what you or anyone else does inside your router or on your computer or any software you download and/or install. If you change/remove/corrupt something up on your computer or router or equipment and someone has to fix it or replace it for you and charge you money/services/beer for fixing it then it's your responsibility not mine nor is it Alltel/Windstream's or your ISP's or anyone else's. I give you the information that I have learned/found/acquired. What you do with it is up to you. Do not email me with questions or complaints about why your router/computer/equipment/etc. doesn't work. I cannot guarantee that this config or these settings or information on this site will work for everyone. I can't test all solutions possible because I don't know them all and there are not enough hours in the day/week/month/year for me to test every combination possible. I have tested/used these configurations/software and they work for me. I am just letting my findings be open to help others in times of need at no cost. If you do not understand these instructions/configurations/software or are afraid that you will mess up the computer/router/equipment/software then you will want to contact a computer/network technician to help fix/configure/build what you need done.
I've created this page to help people out that seem to be having problems with the newer Linksys WRT54G Version 5 wireless routers. From my experience these routers seem to just stop working for no reason what so ever. It may happen right out of the box or a few months down the road. This walkthru will guide you in the steps needed for troubleshooting these routers and hopefully getting them back up and running. Note, this is not walkthru on getting your internet connection up and running. Our only focus here is to get your computer(s) connectivity to your Linksys router. You may have to contact your Internet Service Providor to get you connected back up to the internet.
Symptoms that your Linksys router may not be working correctly: 1: None of your computers using the Ethernet ports on the Linksys router can get online or see each other nor can they talk with your wireless comptuer(s). 2: Your wireless computer(s) are no longer getting a wireless signal from your Linksys router
	The first step in determining if you have one of these routers is to look on the bottom at the label. As you are looking at the label, in the upper left hand corner you should see where it says WRT54G Version 5. If yours says this then continue on with this walkthru. If yours is versions 1, 1.1, 2, 3 or 4 then stop here and do not continue through this walkthru.
	The next step is to reboot the Linksys router. On the back of the Linksys, unplug the POWER cord for about 60 seconds and then plug it back in. Then give the Linksys router a minute to boot up.
A)Power B)DMZ C)Wireless D)Ethernet E)Internet	Once the Linksys router is booted see if your wireless computer(s) are getting a signal from the Linksys router. If you don't have any wireless computers then check to see if your wired computers are getting an IP address.
	You can check the computer's IP address by clicking on the START button, then click on RUN. Clear out the RUN command, if anything is in there, and then type in the word command and then hit ENTER on the keyboard. Once you are in the DOS box, type in ipconfig then hit the ENTER key on the keyboard. You should now see the your computer's IP address. If it shows an address that starts off with 192.168.1. then you are getting a good IP address. To make sure that the IP address is not cached type in ipconfig /release. Then hit ENTER on the keyboard. Once you do that all the fields should change to zeros.. Once this is complete and you are back to the command prompt type in ipconfig /renew. If you get the same 192.168.1. number or a different 192.168.1. number then you know you are getting the IP from the Linksys. If you get an IP address that starts with 169.254. Then you don't have network connectivity with the Linksys
	Now that we've established a connection to the Linksys bring up your Internet Explorer, or whatever browser you are using. In your address bar type in 192.168.1.1. Then hit the GO button or hit the ENTER key on your keyboard. You should now be presented with a window asking for a username and password. Leave the username blank and put in a password of admin. Next put a check in remember password then click on the OK button.
	Now you should be logged into Linksys router. If you see the screen (To the Left). Then it's possible that the linksys has lost it's configuration. Close out of your browser and unplug the power to the Linksys, leave it off for about 30 seconds then power it back up. Once the power light quits blinking then bring up your browser, try going back into 192.168.1.1 again. If it gives you the same screen as to the left then you will have to upgrade the firmware in the router to new firmware. You can download the firmware for your Linksys WRT54G Version 5 Router from the link below. Linksys WRT54G Version 5 Firmware I would advise that you download the file to your Desktop so you can find it easier.
	Once you've download the firmware you will have to unzip file. If you have Windows 2000 or XP you should be able to just double click on the zip file you downloaded and then copy the file named wrt54gv5_fw_1.00.6_US_code.bin to your desktop, Otherwise you will have to have something like WinZip installed on your computer.
	Now that you have the firmware downloaded and unziped. Go back into your browser and open up 192.168.1.1 From here you will come back up with the firmware upgrade screen again. Now click on the browse button and locate the file wrt54gv5_fw_1.00.6_US_code.bin that you downloaded and unzipped to your desktop. Once you've selected the firmware upgrade file the click on the Upgrade button. This will probably take about 2 or 3 minutes to complete. Once the upgrade in firmware is complete you will get a screen telling you the firmware was complete. For good measure I would wait a few minutes after this just to make sure the Linksys isn't still running a background task internally. Go ahead and close out of your browser. After you've waited a few minutes reboot your Linksys by unplugging the power for about 20 seconds then plugging the Linksys back in. From here give it about 30 seconds to boot up.
	Once the Linksys has rebooted bring your browser back up and go to 192.168.1.1 in your address bar. The username should still be left blank and the password will be admin. Once logged into the Linksys you should now see a screen similar to the one to the left. At this point your Linksys router should be ready to go. At this point you may have to contact your ISP to get your internet service setup back up again. I hope this walk thru has been helpful in getting your Linksys WRT54G Version 5 Wireless Router up and running. This concludes this walkthru.

Repairing The Linksys WRT54G Version 5 Wireless Router