Router problem?

[Dorkspawn]

Hi all,

I think I have this diagnosed, but I'd like another opinion. Lately I lose my internet access and I've found that if I disconnect and reconnect the power to
my router, my internet access comes back. Sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for a few hours. Rebooting the modem has no effect. Think I should replace the router?

Thanks in advance.

[mjc]

What band router, how old is it and have you ever changed the default password?

[Paul Komski]

Rebooting the modem has no effect.
What sort of internet access? ADSL, Cable, Wifi, Satellite?

Possibly the modem has changed its Public IP address and the router has not responded automatically or otherwise depending on its WAN side settings.

Rebooting all modems/routers is the standard procedure if intenet connectivity has become compromised for whatever reason.

[Dorkspawn]

Thanks guys.

It's a Trendnet TW100-S4W1CA. It's 2 years, 3 months old. I haven't changed anything on it since it was connected. I'm on DSL. It's been doing this off and on for 2 days now. Up until then, I've never had a problem with it. I don't mind so much rebooting it once or twice a day, but every 5 or 6 minutes gets kinda old.

[classicsoftware]

Replace the router. They are cheap. Newer will be faster as well...

[mjc]

And on the new one...change the default password and try manually sweeping through the channels.

[Dorkspawn]

Ok, new router it is. But changing passwords and sweeping channels? You got me there. I'm not router savvy. This one is the only one I've ever had and I've never messed with it.

And classicsoftware, would a new one be faster even though they all say 10/100 Mbps?

[Dorkspawn]

Well, I bought a new router and as luck would have it, I've not had any more problems since I ordered it. Until today. So I hooked up the new one, and still no joy. I called my ISP and after 2 hours on the phone, everything's back to normal. And with my old router, no less. I don't know if they did anything on their end to change anything, but the only thing I changed on my end was the password for the router. I changed it to a password that the service rep gave me. I don't see how that helped, but it's working now so I won't argue.

[mjc]

Simple...there's a host of malware that will infect routers. Most often, it will infect a router that does't have a password set or uses the default password. Just changing the password and rebooting the router will eliminate the problem.

The head tech at my ISP were talking about this a year or two ago...the most common router infected is a Linksys, but almost any router can be hit. He was wondering why I was one of the few with a Linksys that was a) still on line and b) not calling in and complaining about no service/slow service. It was really bad for those customers from the ISP that had a router/PAP integrated unit...they lost phone, too.

[Cuc Tu]

I lost service...after I changed my email password, the one that came with the original SBC service...the service rep told me the passwords had to be the same.

It is now AT&T and I still have an sbcglobal.net email, but have never used it and forgot what the address actually is. I think it is in my router though...

[Dorkspawn]

Well, there you go. Thanks mjc. I'm thinking my router was using the default password. The service rep tried but couldn't explain what actually fixed the problem. She was probably just going down a check list and was as surprised as I was when it started working.