Router Dies After Firmware Upgrade
Manufacturer sees no causal connection between downloaded firmware and customer's damaged equipment.Grace Aquino
Grace Aquino is senior associate editor for PC World. You can e-mail her at consumerwatch@pcworld.com.
I downloaded a firmware upgrade for my two-year-old wireless router (model BEFW11S4) from the Linksys Web site. After I installed it, my router's wireless capability stopped working. So I called Linksys tech support, and after a few hours of troubleshooting, the technician determined that the upgrade had damaged my equipment and the router could not be repaired. He said the new firmware was not compatible with my old device. (The site didn't warn users that the new firmware might damage older equipment.) His solution: Buy a new router! I asked him what Linksys could do for me, since its own upgrade caused the problem. His reply: Nothing. Linksys has not responded to my e-mail follow-ups.
James Coleman, San Antonio
On Your Side responds: After I called Linksys about Coleman's situation, a technician followed up with him. After a few tests, the tech concluded that the transmitter on the router was broken, so Linksys sent him a replacement router. Coleman's equipment was no longer covered by Linksys' warranty, but the company says that it makes exceptions in some cases.
Linksys technicians believe that Coleman's router was already damaged, possibly as a result of an earlier power surge, when he downloaded the firmware update. Installing the new code caused the already damaged equipment to malfunction, according to a spokesperson. The company says that it has no plans to post a warning with its firmware upgrades.