   router + cable internet = intermittent disconnects
  Ive got cable internet, which means I have a cable modem.Ive got 2 computers, so I also have a router.The cable modem plugs into the router and so do both computers, that way both computers can have the internet. But Im having a very annoying problem - every hour or two, the internet just stops working on both computers. I have no idea why. But my router is old and has been stepped on once or twice, so I assumed its the culprit. If I disconnect the router's power, wait 5 seconds and then plug it back in, the internet comes back to life on both computers. This has been going on forever it seems. Every hour or so, the internet goes down, I reset the router, and the internet comes back. So Ive been shopping around for a new router. Seems like the logical thing to do. Until this morning. This morning when the internet went down, I tried resetting the cable modem instead of the router, just for shits and giggles. It worked! The internet came back. So now Im really confused. Apparently, resetting the router or the modem brings the internet back. So I have no idea if my router is broken or not, or what the hell the problem is. Can someone please shed some light on the situation for me? I dont know much about hardware like this.[Edited by - AndreTheGiant on September 12, 2007 9:25:27 AM]
  My shitbrick of a Linksys wireless router does the same thing; I think it's getting confused by some interference and filling up an internal buffer and crashing. UPnP also crashes it (it's 2007, idiots, implement it).Try disabling UPNP on the router and in any applications you are running on the clients.   ;Quote:Original post by RavuyaI think it's getting confused by some interference and filling up an internal buffer and crashing.Is there any way to test this? Some kind of debugging info we can get from the router? My friend says when she downloads a lot of bittorrents at once, her router bungs up as well. She suspects its a buffer thing too. Quote:Original post by Ravuya UPnP also crashes it (it's 2007, idiots, implement it). Try disabling UPNP on the router and in any applications you are running on the clients.Im afraid I need to leave this one enabled. Ive been doing some research and apparently a common problem for routers is overheating. I did not know this! Ive currently repositioned my router and we'll see if this fixes the problem. Ive got a good feeling about it actually, because it certainly explains why resetting either the router or the cable modem was fixing the problem - because I move both when I reset them!;  You can test if the router is the problem easily:Connect one computer directly to the cable modem for a while. If the problem persists then the problem is either with your cable modem or with your ISP. At this point it's outside of your hands and you should call your ISP.If the problem doesnt occur then get a new router.   ;  In my experience, routers die much more frequently than modems. Quote:This morning when the internet went down, I tried resetting the cable modem instead of the router, just for shits and giggles. It worked! The internet came back. So now Im really confused. Apparently, resetting the router or the modem brings the internet back. Makes sense. When the link to the modem went down, the router reset some of its internal state, including whatever's causing the problem. You'd probably get the same effect by simply disconnecting the network cable to the modem, waiting for ten seconds, then plugging it back in.   ;  So far so good. I think the router is actually ok!Ever since I moved it to a cooler spot, the problem hasn't come back. I really think it was just overheating.MSN keeps disconnecting on me, but im positive thats something else...   ;  I've been having this exact same problem (think I may have fixed it but still testing...).One thing to check, is when the internet goes down, connect to the router and have it get a new external IP.  Ours kept coming back as 192.168.100.10.  It appears that some cable modems will give out this IP if they haven't had a chance to get a real IP, or something else is wrong.If that happens, it may be the cable modem (we think it is for us). Another thing to try, is take the IP that the router has when everything works, and set that as a static value.   