Can't access router
 

And by that I mean I cannot connect to the router through http://192.168.1.1

When I would reboot the router and it boots up, I can access it... for about an hour or two. Then it goes back to not connecting. The PCs that are connected to it have access to the internet, unless I try to repair a connection or renew my ip through ipconfig /renew and it will give me an error it cannot connect to the IP.

I noticed it starting this up after the new PS3 firmware update, but I'm sure that's just a coincidence. But the error I would get is that of a DNS error trying to connect to the PSN. Which, again, unplugging then plugging the router back in will cause it to work... just temporarily.

Also I found it odd that when I did an initial ipconfig, it would show my old time warner account as the hostname. I did a force reboot of the router and have no idea how to change the hostname to the current ISP.

Anyways, short of getting a new router, anyway I can fix this?

Reset router (pin-tip hole in the back of the router, hold for 12-15 seconds, approx, may require having power off before you start holding. This will reset it back to factory settings and may fix any issues with bad/corrupt configs. Outside of that, you could try a firmware upgrade/downgrade. If those don't work, guess what you're buying? :p

Already tried to force reset :P Got a shiny new encryption code, etc. Still never worked

I've never had to upgrade the firmware, so I'm all thumbs on that. Router is Linksys WRT54G2 V1.0, I believe.

I'd probably be better off getting a new one lol. As long as it is a Linksys, it'll still be compatible with my current wireless cards?

Wireless isn't picky on brand, more on 802.11 type. Are the cards b? g? n? a? Makes a difference in how you buy the router.

You could also try installing DD-WRT on your linksys and see if that revives it.

I can't remember, I think all of our cards are N-type.

Just frustrating that I lose access to connecting to the router after about an hour or so. Which makes me wonder if something's denying me access or if I should just go ahead and get another one.

The error I'd get is either DNS or "can not connect to DCHP" or something like that.

Kos mentioned something about that DD-WRT but I dunno how all that would work or anything.

DD-WRT is an alternate firmware for varying residential type routers. The site has instructions on how to put it on your router of choice and explains the differences between each flavor of it.

As far as the DNS and DHCP errors go, typically your home router is going to handle both of these, so if you can't contact it for one, you can't contact it for the other.