Is my router dying?

[Arnwulf]

Need some opinions here, I think my router is dying, here's what happens.

My internet connection speed will slowly deteriorate over the course of a few days from ~10Mbps to .7Mbps, and eventually failing altogether, when my internet connection dies / starts to die, I can no longer access my router through the browser. When this happens I will usually power cycle both my router and cable modem and that will fix the problem for until it starts all over again.

I have a wired connection to my router from my pc. The only thing I've changed on my computer before this happened has been to install Microsoft Security Essentials. Any thoughts?

[Cephius]

What kind of router is it? How old is it? Have you tried browsing from another computer (when yours fails?)

[Furtwangler]

is your computer connected wirelessly? try a direct line to your modem for a day and see if it gets any better/worse. Sounds like the router though since you can't access it after a while. It'd be smart to find another computer or laptop and keep it connected as well because it could be your computer (unlikely)

[Somniis]

I'd suggest connecting your computer directly to the modem and see if it still does it. If it doesn't then it is the router.

[Arnwulf]

What kind of router is it? How old is it? Have you tried browsing from another computer (when yours fails?)

It's a Linksys WRT54G, bought it about 2 years ago, the only other thing I have connected to it is my PS3 via wireless and that sees the same problems as my PC which is wired.

[Pikarya]

Linksys, gonna go with dead on this one. I've went through so many in my fucking life (power surge protected/etc.) and they never last. You'd think with a Cisco label they'd make better equipment.

The last one I had, would slowly reduce link speeds, then ultimately just randomly restart supposedly to some MTU glitch that was never fixed. Would do this every hour or so, until it got to the point of where I hammered it to death since their customer support is utter shit.

[Arnwulf]

Yeah, mine restarts every time my PS3 turns on and hits it up for access lol. I need a new one anyway.

[Cephius]

Try flashing the default firmware with DD-WRT (google it, its easy to do unless you're completely computer illiterate) and see if that helps. The default linksys firmware is shit.

[Mafai]

Try flashing the default firmware with DD-WRT (google it, its easy to do unless you're completely computer illiterate) and see if that helps. The default linksys firmware is shit.

This this this. There is an issue with that router flushing a table (i forget which) when it reaches capacity. This causes exactly the problem your talking about.

I believe all versions of this router except 7.0 are supported, so definately try this firmware.

[Arnwulf]

I'll do that, much cheaper than a new router lol. I was looking into putting dd-wrt on it a few months ago, should have just done it then. Thanks for the advice.

[bluefan]

Linksys, gonna go with dead on this one. I've went through so many in my fucking life (power surge protected/etc.) and they never last. You'd think with a Cisco label they'd make better equipment.

The last one I had, would slowly reduce link speeds, then ultimately just randomly restart supposedly to some MTU glitch that was never fixed. Would do this every hour or so, until it got to the point of where I hammered it to death since their customer support is utter shit.

It's funny, because I've gone through 6 D-Link routers before getting my Linksys CISCO one and it's been going strong for a couple of years now. All the D-Links worked fine at first, but after a week or two, they would suddenly start randomly restarting themselves.

Not arguing something, just that both brands have their screw ups. I've been through so many D-Links myself and through friends/family...I never want to touch them again

[Ikith]

Linksys, gonna go with dead on this one. I've went through so many in my fucking life (power surge protected/etc.) and they never last. You'd think with a Cisco label they'd make better equipment.

The last one I had, would slowly reduce link speeds, then ultimately just randomly restart supposedly to some MTU glitch that was never fixed. Would do this every hour or so, until it got to the point of where I hammered it to death since their customer support is utter shit.

Your personal experience etc etc etc.

Have to say I'm running my WRT54G still! I've had it for around 3-4 years maybe longer and have had no issues with it ever. Its now my secondary because I've upgraded to a WRT310N (Both with DDWRT). I've had the 310N for a little over a year and I've STILL had no issues.

I would first make sure its not your computer but trying to connect from a known good computer either connected through wireless or wired doesn't matter. If neither can access reset the router only if that fixes it then its your router however if it does not fix it then its your modem and you can call your ISP about that.

DDWRT is nice and so are the other alternatives like Tomato. Be careful and follow directions if you are going to do either of them. You can seriously fuck your router if you do it wrong.

Good luck and I hope you get your issues fixed.

[Tymon]

Do you use DDWRT on your router? If not, put it on there, and see if there's a problem still.

There's also the possibility that someone is leeching off of your connection, or that you might be infected with something sapping your bandwidth at certain times of the day.