Router Troubles

[Zook]

1. OS version? Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 3
2. What firewalls you have? Windows Firewall (allowing the latest version of Limewire)
3. How much ram? 1.00GB of RAM
4. Hard Disk space available? 228GB available (70GB currently used)
5. Connection type? cable modem
6. Modem & router brand name & model numbers? Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router WRT54G
7. Where are you trying to connect from? House (single home)
8. What version of LimeWire (LW) & Java do you have? Limewire 4.18.3, Java 1.6.0_07
9. Who is your ISP (Internet Service Provider)? Charter
10. Do this simple test for us. It Worked!
11. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? Sharing the internet with a Playstation 3 system
12. Is this a your 1st try at LW or is this a new problem with an experienced user. First problem with the router and Limewire together
13. Do you see a brick wall in front of the blue world icon at the bottom of LW's interface? Yes the brick wall is there
14. How is your modem/router set up...are you port forwarding or is UPnP enabled? I already use port forwarding for uTorrent
15. What security programs are you using (antivirus etc)? StopZilla
16. What country are you living in? United States

I think I already know how to fix the problem but I'd like to ask the experts. I had a similar problem with uTorrent but their help page showed me how to allow the port through the router and I'd like to do the same with Limewire if I could. Ever see this page before? If I think if I put the correct name for Limewire in it would work but hell, what do I know? Any help would be much appreciated. Oh and I already use listening port 64049.

[Lord of the Rings]

The Linksys WRT54G was a 'lemon' range of models Linksys released. They all had firmware problems Linksys never bothered to fix. Two answers. One is to fix the firmware which is not recommended for the average user. The other is to do port forwarding which will help minimise the problems.

Do not try using same port for two programs or computers. You will definitely need to use a 2nd port number if one is already being used for another computer or another program.

I am aware there have been many problems with Charter in recent times, not sure whether this is affecting you though.

One last note, wireless connection is convenient but comes at a cost. Wireless connections tend to be unreliable, the bandwidth will vary. And yes this is a well known fact in torrent circles (which is where I found it out.) For some users the high number of connections will result in the router dropping connection from time to time, possibly even requiring a rebooting of the router in some cases (this is at least true in torrent use for some wireless users.)

Since you are a wireless router user, I would recommend periodically doing this: Tip: Purge the Downloads Queue! (click on blue link) Especially since should you accidentally choose fake downloads, they will cause havoc with attempting to connect all the time!

To ease on this, another thing you can do is connect manually. ie: go to Tools > Options > Connections, disable Connect on Startup. Then when starting up LW, let it settle for a few minutes, then go to File menu -> Connect. This will stop your incomplete files attempting to connect/find sources at the same time as your LW is trying to connect.

[Zook]

Thanks for the suggestions but what's odd is I just fired it up today and after a minute or so the brick wall went away and I was able to search. Why would that happen? I didn't change anything.

[Lord of the Rings]

Not sure. Might be the unreliable nature of that router.