I am currently using a Linksys WRT54G (Wireless-G), which is the pretty standard router for new router users. However, I've been having serious problems with it lately. Every fifteen minutes or so, the damn thing appears to fail. Not completely; if I am downloading something, the download continues. IRC was working continuously (but now it's not) and so was AIM, so I believed it was some crazy issue with my DNS. I reset my router and, boom, it worked again. However, now that I've connected my modem straight to my PC, all problems have vanished (for the time being). The issue here is that my brother is downstairs and is using the same internet (through the router) that I am, which means I need to use a router for his internet.

There is nothing wrong with my modem; it's not too old and the tech guy at the other end of the phone assures me all lights are green. It is pretty obviously the fault of the router (as the problems went away when I disconnected it), but my router was working fine a couple weeks ago. It has done this weird 15-minutes-until-you-reset thing before, but usually a restart fixed that right up.

So what do I do? Is there anything I can tweak on the router itself to fix it? We are willing to buy a new mid-line router, so if anyone has any suggestions for what router we should use then that would be very much appreciated, but I am looking to get out of this without shelling out a couple of hundred bucks, so if anyone has a solution as to what I should do with this router I have that would be most useful. My brother is willing to drill a hole right through the floor (he's just downstairs) to get a cable-split hardline, but I really don't want him to do that, since he will eat through my bandwidth and that is of dubious legality.

Thanks in advance!

When you reset the router, did you also re-authenticate yourself with the network? By that I mean usually they'll have a webpage where you have to go and register your username and password and shit like that.
I use Verizon and a Westell Versalink 327W, and when I reset my modem it was acting up until I went to the Verizon setup page and reinserted all my info.
Also tech support is generally clueless. Insist on having a technician come to your house if you can't fix the problem (the ones who come to your house actually tend to know what they're doing.)

Hmm. I tried updating the firmware, but the mainsite for Linksys only has it in .bin format (which won't open, even if I create a .cue for it) and I can't find it anywhere else. I have nothing Linksys installed on my machine; it just went modem-router-machine, all hardline, and I was having problems. Do I even have to install the firmware? If yes, then where can I find it in a format that I can actually use?

Also, what is MTU? :0 I have a WRT54G v5.0, by the way.

Oh, and I was running bitTorrent, but I stopped and restarted several times without using it and it didn't fix the issue.

To install firmware, type 192.168.1.1 in your URL on any browser. It'll ask you for a username which is usually blank and a password, which is admin by default (you should change that by the way). Then click Administration on the top, and Firmware Upgrade and browse to where you have the bin file.

I installed the firmware (I knew how to get to my admin page, but I've never installed firmware before so thanks for the directions!) and everything has been working. Didn't change my MTU to 1492, so it was obviously a firmware issue.

It seems to be working fine now, so thanks a lot guys!