Modem/router keeps dropping connection... which one?

O

oregon

Active Member
I used to have the comcast wireless gateway, but three months ago I switched to a Linksys WRT54GL and a Linksys CM100 cable modem. I have always had the occasional connection drop, and power cycling would fix it. Since I switched to the new gear though, the problem seemed to have gone away, but lately it has been getting much worse. Pretty much every time I sit down to use the internet, there's the exclamation mark down in the dock saying that the network is connected, but not connected to the internet, and nothing Vista does fixes it. I unplug the modem and router for ten or so seconds, plug it back in, and it works again. In our network we have one wired computer (to the router), and then lots of wifi devices, and all are affected by this problem.

So... how do I determine whether the modem or the router is the problem? Any ideas? Would switching to router linux (tomato, DD-WRT) fix it?
 
do you have another router available to try? i personally think the router is the issue. i've had a similar problem, but its not as consistent as yours seems. My router kept resetting on its own which would drop the connection for a minute or so. I went back to my old router, and it still drops the connection, but not nearly as bad. both of them were d-link.

not much help, but at least youre not alone.

ive never tried the linux router idea, what is it?
 
They're alternate firmwares you can install that offer more features.

Strangely enough, I haven't noticed any cutouts today. Is this sort of thing actually random, or might there be a reason why one day it happens a lot, but another it doesn't happen at all?
 
at least with mine, ive noticed it happening more when theres a load on the router, like im downloading a bunch of stuff or a big file. all the download speeds will go to 0 kb\s and will start rising again after a short period of time. i had the routers power cable hooked up to a really old extension cord cause theres no outlet near it. i thought that was the issue, that it wasnt getting enough continuous power so i bought a new extension cord, still does it, but not as frequently.

It doesnt seem to have a real set pattern though, just when ever it feels like it. There has to be a reason that triggers it, but it happens at random times so its really hard to pinpoint what it could be. ive tried updating the firmware on both routers ive used. that did the trick for a little while then they started acting up again. ive switched back to my older one, which actually works better, but it still happens occasionally. my other one was so bad that i couldnt download something from xbox live without it resetting every time. it was annoying to say the least.

that firmware idea is interesting, does it work with any router? i dont want to risk making my router a paperweight if i try to update it and it doesnt work...
 
I think they have to port it for each router model, so it doesn't work with all, but most mainstream ones will work.

When I have time I think I will try it and see if it does anything.
 
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