Belkin Router Problems & Confirmed Fixes (Update 4)

Widespread Belkin router problems cut many users off from the Internet this morning, possibly thanks to an update that arrived on many Belkin routers in the last 24 hours. Here’s a look at what’s happening with Belkin router problems and several potential fixes.

This results in iPads, laptops and smartphones that can connect to your home network, but not to the Internet. Here’s what we know about the issue.

Update: New Belkin Router Fixes for iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac OS X. These fixes work for us. 

Update 2: Belkin issues a new fix and shares a statement on the Belkin router problems.  

Update 3: Belkin issued this statement to Gotta Be Mobile:

“We have confirmed that the internet connectivity issue is now resolved.

If your service has not yet been restored, please unplug your router and plug it back in after waiting 1 minute. Wait 5 more minutes and the router should reconnect. If you have any further issues, please contact our support at (800) 223-5546.

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience to our customers. We are taking a number of actions to eliminate this sort of incident from reoccurring.”

Update 4: Belkin clarifies the cause of the problems. 

“There have been reports that firmware played a part in the outage that impacted select Belkin routers on Tuesday, October 7th.  We want our customers and partners to know that firmware had no impact on the outage whatsoever nor was there a firmware upgrade during this period.  As mentioned in a previous statement, the outage was caused by a change made in our data center that triggered a false denial of service to the router.  As always, we continue to monitor the system, but as of 3:00 PM PST on Tuesday, this issue was resolved.”

Complaints streamed for Belkin router problems starting early this morning on Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Charter, Cox and other ISPs ran into trouble for many users with a Belkin router.

Belkin explains the Belkin router problems in a new statement shared with Gotta Be Mobile.

“Starting approximately midnight on October 7, Belkin began experiencing an issue with a service configured in certain Belkin router models that causes a failure when it checks for general network connectivity by pinging a site hosted by Belkin.

We know this issue has affected select older Wireless-N Belkin router models including F9K1102, F9K1105, F9K1113 and F9K1116. We are continuing to investigate other possible routers that may have been affected.  We are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.  Until there is a fix in place, we have identified a workaround for customers that are using the F9K1102 and F9K1105 routers to regain internet connectivity.

That work-around as well as ongoing updates can be found at our outage status page for more information: www.belkin.com/outage”

Although not listed in the models above, one of the Gotta Be Mobile team is now able to connect without using the previously shared workarounds on the model F9K1116V1.

When calling Charter to discuss the problem users are greeted with a message telling them to contact Belkin about the problem. If you own a Belkin router that cannot connect but the lights on your modem look like they are working correctly you are probably impacted by this problem. The Internet status light on the Belkin router may appear orange instead of green if you are part of this outage.

Cust. owned Belkin routers behind our modem may exp issues accessing web. Please connect direct to modem & follow @belkincares for updates.

— NEW: @Ask_Spectrum (@BrightHouseCare) October 7, 2014

If you call Belkin for help you can expect long waits and disconnects. On Twitter users reaching out to @BelkinCares are complaining about connection issues with Time Warner Cable, Cox, Charter and other providers. At some points there are 50 to 70 tweets to Belkin about the problem in a 10 minute span.

Belkin Router Problems

Belkin’s official statement on the Belkin Router Problems and LinkSys Router Problems is,

“We are aware of reports of an interruption to internet service when using some Belkin and Linksys routers with several internet service providers. Our team is diligently working to root cause the issue. Our call centers are also experiencing a higher than normal call rate so hold times are longer than normal. Our call centers have no solution to this problem at this time. Please check this status page for further updates.”

There is no specific model affected by the Belkin Router problems, but we are seeing the following models appear in complaints. If you don’t see your model number here, it doesn’t mean you aren’t experiencing this same Belkin router problem.

• Belkin AC750
• Belkin AC1200
• Belkin AC900
• Belkin FK1105
• Belkin N600

Here are some complaints that users are sharing with Belkin on Twitter, after cable companies directed users to talk to Belkin.

@BelkinCares ISP is Comcast. I have no wireless connectivity. My router just sits there with an amber light. Wired direct from modem works.

— Calvin Buchanan (@thecalvinb) October 7, 2014

@BelkinCares my isp is cox communications

— Tru Lamagra (@midknight322003) October 7, 2014

https://twitter.com/Kristenstroud2/status/519535851538092032

https://twitter.com/Obie_IceCold/status/519536433946976258

These are just a few of the Belkin router problems keeping users offline.

Belkin Router Problems & Fixes

There are two possible fixes for Belkin router problems, neither of which is perfect, but it may get you online for now. The easiest method to get your computer online is to use the network cable that normally plugs into the Belkin router and plug it right into your computer. This may prove a challenge on laptops without ethernet cables or for iPads, tablets and other home devices.

https://twitter.com/JCGilmore2/status/519536653912662016/

You can also try to set your DNS servers to the Google Public DNS. This is what Belkin recommends doing, but it does not work for everyone. You can follow the directions from Google on how to set your router to use the Google Public DNS servers to get started. This Belkin Support page walks you through setting Static DNS servers on some routers.

Fix for iPhone & iPad

1. First, enable WiFi on your device and connect to the WiFi network you want to use.
2. Then, tap the blue arrow button on the right side of the network name to tweak its settings.
3. Now, select the DNS field and enter 8.8.8.8, 8.8.4.4.
4. Separate different DNS addresses with commas

Fix for Android

1. Open the Settings on the device.
2. Select “Wi-Fi”.
3. Long press your current network, then select “Modify network”.
4. Mark “Show advanced options” check box.
5. Change “IP settings” to “Static”
6. Add the DNS servers 8.8.8.8 to the “DNS 1”, and 8.8.4.4 “DNS 2” fields.
7. Press “Save” button, disconnect from the network, and reconnect for changes to take effect.

Fix for Windows

1. Begin by clicking Windows Logo > Control Panel.
2. Click Network and Internet.
3. Click on Network & Sharing Center.
4. Click the name of the connection you wish the edit, to the right of Connections.
5. Click Properties.
6. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click Properties.
7. Click the radio button next to Use the following DNS server addresses:. This will allow you to enter the DNS server addresses.
8. The DNS addresses are as follows:
9. Preferred DNS server: 8.8.8.8
10. Alternate DNS server: 8.8.4.4
11. Click OK on each of the windows and close the Control Panel. Your computer is now configured to use statically assigned DNS server addresses.

Fix for Mac OS X

1. You’ll need to first head into the System Preferences…
2. Then click on the Network icon…
3. Then you’ll want to select your network card on the left—you’ll see in my example that I’ve got an AirPort card—and then select the Advanced button near the bottom right corner.
4. Once you’re there, switch over to the DNS tab, and you can start adding in DNS entries into the list. If you see entries that are grayed out, just ignore them, and click the + symbol at the bottom to add new ones.
5. You can add the following two items to the list:
6. 8.8.8.8
7. 8.8.4.4

For now these are the only options available unless you have a spare router in a drawer or you can use your smartphone as a hotspot. If you own an older router you can swap that in, just make sure it doesn’t auto update if it is also a Belkin router.

You can also use your smartphone to get your computer online. This is included with many shared data plan options, but you’ll use your limited smartphone data. Her are guides for popular devices;

• How to use Hotspot on iOS 8
• How to use Hotspot on LG G3
• How to use Hotspot on Galaxy S5
• How to use Hotspot on Galaxy Note 3
• How to use Hotspot on iPad

Stay tuned for more on these Belkin Router problems and potential fixes.