Router Problems - Intermittent Internet Connection

KpCollins

Baseband Member
Messages
61
Ok, Ive been having problems with my Internet, Its mostly fine but it cuts out for about 30 seconds at extremely random intervals, What I mean is that it could be fine all day then cut out once or even 5 times in the space of an hour, Or the following day it could be perfectly fine.

After everything ive tried ive come to the conclusion that it must be a problem with my router, Here is a list of the things ive tried and Sky + BT have tried to sort the problem.

Internet Speeds was Downgraded to a slower speed, The problem still happened so it was put back up.
Microfilters have been changed ( There is only 1 socket in the house )
New network card in pc
Different Modem cable + Ethernet Cable, Even tried wireless.
Re-installed windows.
A Bt Engineer has been out and found a fault with my Line, This was rectified and he confirmed the fault was gone.
Sky have changed a few setting on the line to optimize stability ( I just think they wanted to sound like they knew what they where doing )
Disabled Wireless on my modem. Re-enabled it again after the problem still happened.
Upgraded firmware on my router.
Had the Microfilter connected directly to the BT test socket under the faceplate.

Now ive had this router for about 2 years and one thing ive noticed is that when the connection goes the lights on the router indicate everything is ok.
The connection also goes for all devices connected to the router both wired and wireless regardless of the wired port they use on the router.

Before I call sky and threaten to leave so they send me a new router ^_^ is there anything else you can think of that ive not tried.

Thank to anyone who helps.
 
What router do you got? I got a NETGEAR WNDR3800.

Its the Sagem F@st, Cant remember the name of it. Router doesnt say it directly on it and the login for the router doesnt tell me either.

Here is a pic

images
 
Maybe try getting a new one. Netgear or Linksys are very good ones. I have a Linksys N4500 Wireless and it works very well. Look into that maybe the router is simply failing due to age and its use.
 
Maybe try getting a new one. Netgear or Linksys are very good ones. I have a Linksys N4500 Wireless and it works very well. Look into that maybe the router is simply failing due to age and its use.

Yea thats what im thinking, The only problem is with sky you have to use their own router unless you know your passwords etc.. Which I dont :(

Ill have to contact sky and if they wont give me one without charging me Ill threaten to leave them, after 3 years of being agood customer you'd think they would give me one free that way :D
 
Are you using ADSL/ADSL2+?
If so, you should be able to use a third party modem. The Billion 7800N is pretty good for ADSL2+, especially for low quality lines where you need stability.

Does it drop out when there's a lot of connections or traffic?
If so, then the router probably can't handle a large number of NAT sessions.
Or if it's completely random, it's probably due to variable amounts of noise on the line.

The 7800N also has a feature where you can adjust the SNR ratio, where you can improve stability at the expense of speed, or increase speed at the expense of stability - on YOUR end (ie you don't have to ring up your ISP and ask them)

If you cannot use a third party modem, what you can do is get a good router, and put it behind your modem/router given by your ISP (connect the WAN port of the good router to the LAN port of your ISP's modem/router)
Then, make the LAN IP of the good router in a different subnet to the ISP's modem/router
Then, in the settings of your ISP modem/router, put the WAN IP of the good router in a DMZ.
Or if it doesn't have a DMZ option, tell it to forward all ports (1-65535) to the good router's WAN IP.

Doing that removes the burden of NAT from your ISP's modem/router - you leave that to your good router.


Personally, I like using routers that you can install Tomato firmware on (Broadcom only, such as Asus RT-N16, RT-N66U)
There's also other firmware like DD-WRT, which can be used on a very large number of routers.

Currently, I'm using a 7800N in bridged mode to an Asus RT-N16 with Tomato firmware.

Bridged mode is where the router behind the modem handles the PPPoE connection to your ISP, instead of the modem itself. And the IP address assigned by your ISP is not given to your modem, it's given to your router.
Basically, the ADSL2+ modem becomes transparent.

Some people consider that to be a waste of the 7800N (since it's also pretty decent as a router), and it probably is, but it's also very good even just as a modem.

I've also assigned a second IP to the WAN port on my RT-N16 in the same subnet of the 7800N's LAN IP (in addition to having the IP assigned by my ISP), so I can still access the 7800N's web configuration from behind the RT-N16 even while the 7800N is in bridged mode.
You can't do that on stock firmware.

But anyway, the RT-N16 has good hardware (480MHz CPU, 128MB RAM), so having a lot of NAT sessions is not a problem for it, even if you install and run extra programs on it (which you can do if you run firmware like Tomato/DD-WRT)

This is a list of routers that can run Tomato firmware:
http://tomatousb.org/doc:build-types

And here's a list of routers that can run DD-WRT:
http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Supported_Devices
 
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