Why Do I Have to Keep Resetting My Internet Router?

[Bruce Wrenn]

Over the last couple of weeks, about every other day, I have to reset our router. We are on DSL, at the blazing (Yeah, Right) speed of 690 KB. No I didn't mean megabites. Some days it slows down to 0.190 KBS. Being on copper and five miles from switch doesn't help our cause either. But why do I have to reset my router? Any thoughts?

[Kev Williams]

you're asking 'why do I have to reset my router?", which leads to my question" WHY do you have to reset the router?"

-- what are the symptoms; what's it doing or not doing that's prompting you to reset it?

[Bruce Page]

I don’t know the technical reasons or why, but router age can be a factor. I was having the same issues a couple of years ago and was told my router was too old. I replaced it and solved the problem.

[Andrew Seemann]

Assuming you have a combined router and modem, do you need to reset it because you run out of IPs and it won't recognize new devices, or do you need it reset it because you are losing your connection to the internet or it gets too slow? Running out of IPs it s a router problem. Losing you connection or it becoming intolerably slow is a modem or connectivity issue.

[Tom Bender]

We were having different issues than yours. Replaced our old modem/router. Big difference!

[Curt Harms]

I don't know if it's common on modem/routers but I have a Netgear router running a 3rd party firmware and can set it to automatically reboot every so many hours or so many days. Periodic reboots shouldn't be necessary but sometimes they are. I imagine the permanent fix is a new device. Consumer grade electronics don't always use the highest quality most durable components. Cheapest? Oh yeah.

[Bob Grier]

I solved a problem of the router failing to update the IP address by turning off the router function in the modem/router and installing a separate higher quality router.

[Jim Becker]

There are SO many reasons this can happen/be required, including filling up certain data tables (error reporting, etc) and the device either failing to "round robin" them or not being capable of that. Intermittency on the connection can really ramp something up like that. Alternatively at the other end of the spectrum, it could even be a slowly degrading hardware situation or a bug in the firmware/OS that puts the device in a state that requires a reboot. Folks who run Windows on their computers have had a lot of experience with that over the years!

'Sure wish you could get better Internet service, Bruce. It's a serious problem in many parts of the US.

[Lee Schierer]

I don't know who your carrier is, we have Verizon for our DSL. When I noticed that it had really slowed down, I called Verizon and complained, they transferred me to tech support and what do you know after a few minutes we suddenly had the fastest DSL we ever had almost 2.5 mb/s.

[mike stenson]

All routers are effectively a computer. In consumer grade stuff, there is simply less automated fault handling than there is in professional grade equipment (the stuff I work on requires that it be up 99.9999% of the time by specification). Rebooting clears any memory leaks, or other issues that are causing the processors to be overly utilized. That will speed things up. This can also be caused by things like the aforementioned IP conflicts, etc. (in higher end stuff, these are handled by noticing the condition and taking automated actions that reset JUST the components experiencing the issue)

Now, these things also do not do much heat management. Ok, and I really mean AT ALL. They might have heatsinks, but they don't have fans etc. Heat kills electronics over time and this is one of the reasons cable modems tend to last about 2-3 years in my experience. If you're suddenly doing this far more often than you used to, it's probably time to replace it.

[glenn bradley]

As mentioned, many possible reasons that your connection / session could fail and not self-recover. The correct answer is to contact your provider and ask them unless this is your own router. If you selected the hardware . . . you're on your own Roscoe. Once your router connects regardless of whether it is a dynamic protocol, static or a form of label switching relying on same, network protocols are extremely robust if operating properly. Your "last mile" is the hop under the full control of your ISP. If it is their hardware, the question should go to them. If it is not their hardware, they can at least provide a spec that will allow you to confirm you have an appropriate device.

Things change more frequently in consumer electronics than in enterprise gear that is further up the path. Upgrades are required in some scenarios, forklift replacement is required in others. The basic routing protocols are fairly consistent. Lower layer protocols or protocol extensions can cause issues over time. For example, a DOCSIS 2.0 complaint terminating unit may not play well with equipment that has been upgraded on the other end. How long has this unit been in service?

[mike stenson]

if this is aDSL, I'm really not aware that the standards have changed much recently (2008ish?)

[Bruce Wrenn]

This is DSl, and AT&T has absolutely no interest in up grading service in this area. The only reason they are still here is phone service (which they would like to get rid of) is a regulated utility. Spectrum is less than a mile from us across the creek, but service requests fall on deaf ears there also. FYI, we are a subdivision of 18 houses, surrounded by Duke Energy property (40,000 acres, including a nuclear reactor with 5000 acre lake.)

[glenn bradley]

My sympathy on having to have anything to do with the current version of at&t. U-verse used to be the poster child for how a consumer level ISP ought to work; no more. I still have the question as to whether this is their 'modem' or not.

The Spectrum DOCSIS 3.0 compatibility problem I ran into was early 2014. I am now on a different system. I just wanted to point out that with a router/modem/whatever that is not being managed by the ISP one can run into things that get confusing if the perfect storm comes along.

[Mike Soaper]

They probably will, but don't count on fixes at the provider office to stay.

A couple of years ago we had some performance issues with a provider fiber connection, their cable box, their router. At first everything was fine with cable tv, but at some point we started seeing slight pixilation, but eventually it would get so bad that even slow moving B&W movies were unwatchable, some channels would not display at all. The wife would contact service, they would make some changes from their end, things would be better for a while, then degrade again, we would again contact service again etc., this happened several times. It seemed as if what ever changes were being made by service were being wiped out from time to time.

Eventually a tech came to the house and said everything looked good spec wise but he still upgraded something on their end of the fiber run which did solve the issue

Unfortunately there's also the possibility that your router has been hacked, and it might being used to redirect hacker data/spam/attacks etc. that your data is competing with for bandwidth.