Router keeps dropping connection

[evidens83]

HELP!! For the past month or so my Netgear wireless router has been dropping the internet connection and its driving my wife and I crazy! I would have to unplug it and reconnect it after a minute or two to get it working again. Only for it to drop again minutes later! FYI this router is maybe 5-7 years old give or take. Has technology changed enough for me to upgrade to a newer router? Or is there some sort of trick in the settings to keep it from dropping??

[Ryououki]

Is the router warm? Usually this is a sign of overheating.

What model is it? Some routers have the majority of the vents on the bottom which is stupid since heat rises and gets trapped in the case. If the majority of the vents on your router are on the bottom, try flipping it upside down. If it is already warm/hot, let it sit upside down for a few minutes to cool down first.

Does it have fuzz, hairballs, dust, or anything else clogging the vents? Blow it out with a can of dust. Or even better, open it up completely and give it a good clean out.

You don't have anything around the router that could be trapping the heat in an enclosed area around it do you? If so, clear out stuff from around it.

[Brianguy]

What Ry said. If it's a belkin: set it on fire and buy non belkin products.

[Eljay]

And if that fails, the good news is that routers have gotten pretty cheap so replacing it isn't such a big deal.

[Ninety]

I have a netgear as well and have this problem. it's the router.. no known issue to resolve. i flashed to an older firmware and it seemed to help a little.. now I have to reset it only once a day or so.. annoying drives me crazy too..

[evidens83]

Well I ended up buying a Netgear N300. No more dropped connections! (fingers crossed)

And like said above, yes it was pretty dusty and filthy lookin. Thanks fellas for the replies.

[bearone2]

change to another channel if dropping wi-fi. i've had the same linksys wrt54g for 15+ years.

[todd2968]

Mine does the same thing I'm thinking of plugging in a timer to turn off when I sleep

[evidens83]

change to another channel if dropping wi-fi. i've had the same linksys wrt54g for 15+ years.

My new router has the channel set on auto. Is that a good thing or bad thing?

[bearone2]

i don't have an auto for selecting the wi-fi channel & need to select it manually & use ch 11.

[Brianguy]

You can scan for a less congested chan using this tool

https://tools.meraki.com/stumbler

[the86d]

You can scan for a less congested chan using this tool
https://tools.meraki.com/stumbler

I think some windows drivers disallow promiscuous mode, does this work pretty-well?

Backtrack Linux Live CD/DVD's are the best was I found to get just about every wireless NIC working to see local wireless traffic without installing anything.

[lanwarrior]

In my case it's the Asus RT-N66. Keep dropping Internet on many spots around my home.

Upgraded the firmware, changed channel and increased the wireless post to 200... No go. ...

[Ricky-Ray]

I have a Netgear wireless N router too but it's certain computer's in the house will drop the connection and won't reconnect unless I reboot the router. I can be on one computer and it drops and won't reconnect and the second computer will be working just fine and both are in the same room.

At first I thought it was the computer so I rebuilt it but still having the same issue. I'm thinking it's my router since it's about 3-4 years old.

I think I'm going back to getting a Linksys router. I never had issues with them before.

[the86d]

Many of the old blue/black Linksys routers last longer than the computers that plug-in, or connect wireless to them, but I have not owned one of the Cisco orange ones, or all black ones, as the Freebee Actiontec MI424WR Rev. "I" works pretty-durned-well.