If my router randomly stops allowing a connection to the internet, and a reboot fixes it for a period of time until it happens again, is that a sure sign that the router is dying? Or could there be something going on that is fixable?

I know for a fact it's not the internet itself.

 

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Turn off the firewall features and see if it happens (or put yourself in the DMZ).

 

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By-pass the router with a direct connection. If the disconnects still happen it isn't the router but could be a modem or software fault, or a problem with your ISP. If the disconnects don't happen then reconnect the router and assuming they then resume you know for sure it's a router issue. Check the availability of any updated firmware for it otherwise it will probably be dying.

I've just ran it for several hours with a direct connection to the modem with zero disconnects. I'm going to sleep soon so I'll reconnect it when I get back up to see if they resume.

 

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What kind of connection? Like PPPoE DSL, or cable? And what carrier?

There are all kinds of variables in the connection an ISP can change, and they never notify their customers. After a regional outage from Cox in my area my router started doing the same thing very randomly - about three months ago. At first I thought it was my iPad not giving up its DHCP lease because it was only forcing my PS3 off of the wifi network (and, well my iPad wouldn't give up its lease). I started using dedicated IP addresses and that didn't help either.

My router uses profiles based on the ISP, it's like 50-some-odd attributes/settings related to the connection (I may be exaggerating but it's a lot). After grabbing a recent firmware update the settings changed and I haven't had the problem since.

So maybe upgrade that firmware.

 

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The vast majority of times this happens it's because your IP_CONNTRACK table (ie, your NAT table) is maxed out. When that happens your router has no choice but to drop packets until space is freed up to handle new connection information.

If you're running torrents or similar software that uses a shiatload of discrete connections that's your problem. Most off the shelf hardware max out between 1024 and 2048 connections. Better ones will allow 4096+ See if you can drop your own WRT on the router or if not, how you go about increasing its connection tracking abilities.

 

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I've got Charter cable internet, but like I said I know for a fact it's not them. I kept my modem on when I was rebooting my router and got a connection as soon as the router had loaded up. I just reconnect it today so I will see if it keeps happening.

 

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It could just be coincidence but I seem to notice that the router loses the internet connection after around 2 hours. Does this mean it's more likely a firmware issue instead of it dying?

For the record I don't have access to the router so I'm unable to make any changes myself. I'm just trying to troubleshoot the issue as best as I can to help convince my dad to give a crap about fixing the problem. He tends to not care if my gaming is effected by anything.

 

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Read what I wrote.


The more machines and devices you have connected, and the more independent connections they make, the faster this will happen, especially if your router has a long expiry time on IP_CONNTRACK table entries.


The thing to try is to reduce the conntrack timeout, and to increase the number of connections it can track. If you can't do those two things you probably need to pick up, or build, a beefier router.


Keep in mind that it can happen to any router that provides NAT services. It doesn't mean you have a problem with your router, it just means you're overwhelming the one you've got.

 

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I did read what you wrote, I just don't understand a lot of it. Just to clarify, this is happening even when it's only my computer that is online. I do not run any torrents or any other kind of program that is constantly downloading things. The extent of my normal internet usage consists of playing WoW, talking on Ventrilo, and browsing the internet using Firefox. I do keep Steam turned on in my tray but as far as I know it doesn't do anything heavy duty with my internet connection unless it's downloading and it hasn't downloaded anything since I started having these problems.

Does this scenario sound like it could be what you were describing? If it still does could you dumb it down a little for me?

 

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