A few months ago my internet was fucking horrible on and off for weeks. I finally diagnosed it down to the Linksys router, and replaced it with a Belkin one. I am now having the same problem. Pages load painfully slow and then resetting it will make speeds go back to normal for a while but then they go to crap.

I know its not the connection because I can run speedtest with the modem plugged to the desktop and its fine.

On both of these situations the routers felt like they were on the verge of melting if you touched them. Is that the problem? Do I need to buy a better router or is it something else?

6/3/2008 11:35:26 PM

are you doing anything like bittorrent? your roommates maybe, or someone on your wireless?

the only time ive had my router slow down like that is w/ bittorrent.

6/3/2008 11:38:49 PM

My Belkin did that for a while when I first got it, had really shitty internet through it. Almost gave up on it, but redid the setup a half dozen times and noticed it was very warm everytime it started to operate for a bit. So basically it ran great the first 10 minutes or so and eventually would crawl. Is it on carpet or in an enclosure? All electronics need to ventilate. Belkin ain't the greatest brand but does ok so if resetting it or moving it doesn't work, just buy something else.

6/3/2008 11:41:18 PM

Quote :

"So basically it ran great the first 10 minutes or so and eventually would crawl."

Same behavior of mine. It is on a desk not near anything and sitting the flat way like it was designed.

6/3/2008 11:59:11 PM

Have you tried replacing the cable modem?

6/3/2008 11:59:41 PM

No, do you think that could be it? I mean if I plug the PC in to it everything is fine. Also I figured it was the router since resetting the router fixes the problems temporarily.

6/4/2008 12:01:30 AM

Ah, with that diagnostic in place ... what's your ventilation situation look like? Please tell me you don't have the router encased in some cabinet?

6/4/2008 12:06:08 AM

Nah its on top of the desk on a top shelf. It has free air circulation on all sides and still feels like you could cook on it. The linksys one was like this too and it had a bunch more vent holes.

6/4/2008 12:30:15 AM

How's the setup situation, sounds like you said it worked fine for a few months. Are you broadcasting an unsecured wireless band? Like joenumbers said, maybe someone around you is sucking up all your bandwidth and overworking it.

6/4/2008 12:35:51 AM

Nope its locked.

2 Desktops connected via ethernet
2 Desktops connected via wireless
1-3 Laptops on Wireless at any given time.

6/4/2008 12:38:36 AM

These Belkins don't seem too hardy, willing to bet something overheated and damaged with 6 or 7 computers running internet and probably a few comps running torrents or music downloads. The most I've had is 2 computers, one of which does very little downloading.

[Edited on June 4, 2008 at 12:46 AM. Reason : .]

6/4/2008 12:45:13 AM

i stuck heatsinks on the flash ram and processor in my linksys

that seems to have solved the problem

6/4/2008 6:32:36 AM

^ So were you having this same problem?

6/4/2008 9:18:55 AM

yup. there are typically two things that cause this on linksys routers:

1) you use bittorrent (which creates a lot of tcp connections). you end up creating connections before they have a chance to expire and you essentially "overload" the routing circuit. fix: use dd-wrt, increase active tcp states, decrease tcp timeout.

2) it's getting too hot (can be secondary to #1). in this case: go get some heatsinks (newegg or somewhere), and some epoxied thermal paste, open up the router (take off the feet & the blue part just slides off), and stick the heatsinks on the cpu and the ram.

6/4/2008 9:35:45 AM

Quote :

"you use bittorrent (which creates a lot of tcp connections). you end up creating connections before they have a chance to expire and you essentially "overload" the routing circuit."

hahahaha, "routing circuit?"

and routing now happens at layer 4? I didn't get the memo that they changed the OSI model.

6/4/2008 9:42:31 AM

i cut a huge hole in my netgear and have it sitting upside down on my desk (circuit board upside down). never had a problem since

it's still pretty hot though

[Edited on June 4, 2008 at 10:10 AM. Reason : ]

6/4/2008 10:10:29 AM

Quote :

"fix: use dd-wrt, increase active tcp states, decrease tcp timeout."

Don't do this.

Does sound like it could be overheating/overworked -- check not only that your wireless is locked down and that no one is going nuts with BitTorrent, but also run a quick spyware/virus check on all computers using the router. One of them could have something on it that's bombarding your network.

6/4/2008 10:56:58 AM

check to make sure your vent holes are clogged with dust, and also the heat sinks too. Dust != very good heat conductor

6/4/2008 11:37:53 AM

I am thinking about cutting a hole in the cover to allow heat to dissipate out of it. Since it sits flat I don't know why the designed it with no vent holes in the top.


I also found on azurus where it has some Auto-Speed feature that throttles your connection usage to keep it under capability. I am gonna try taht too and see if it helps.

6/6/2008 9:16:30 AM

Quote :

"and routing now happens at layer 4? I didn't get the memo that they changed the OSI model."

pwnt

6/6/2008 1:36:38 PM

my belkin would always shut itself down, presumably from overheating. They had a class action lawsuit and were doing free replacements... then they sent me 2 routers to replace my one. Works for me.

6/6/2008 1:43:10 PM

my linksys does the same shit.. now it sits in front of the AC vent and doesn't have that problem. if it starts back up again i'm gong to just take the case off and put on some heatsinks like evan suggested

6/6/2008 2:06:16 PM

Quote :

"Windows XP SP3 has been named as the culprit causing home routers to go into a crash and reboot cycle. One router maker has released firmware updates to fix the problem, but has not yet revealed what is actually different about XP SP3's networking stack or UPnP behaviour that causes the problem. Router maker Billion Managing Director Raaj Menon said "as Microsoft plans to make Windows XP SP3 an automatic upgrade this month, the number of affected routers may increase significantly.""

http://apcmag.com/router_crashes_blamed_on_windows_xp_sp3.htm

6/7/2008 2:40:07 PM

^ PWNED

6/7/2008 3:28:32 PM

^^ lovely

I dont know what the fuck is going on because I ran torrents like hell back in the day and I know my roomates did and never had these problems.

6/7/2008 3:31:03 PM

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

6/7/2008 3:45:34 PM

add more speed holes could be a temp fix...

6/7/2008 3:57:09 PM