My router won't stop rebooting.. o_o

stevenup7002

Hi guys,
I initially thought that this was an isolated problem, because my Netopia 3347W router is almost 5 years old now, and nearly at the end of its lifespan. But after I consulted one of my friends who also has eircom broadband, and it turns out that he's been having the exact same problem. Our routers are constantly restarting, seemingly at random. Sometimes the routers restart at 1 minute intervals, and sometimes at intervals of 3 hours, it's very annoying.

Is anyone else having this problem?

-Steve

Pyr0

If you're with Eircom ring up technical support about it, they can check the line to make sure it isn't a line fault.

watty

There is no reason for 5 years to be "at end of lifespan".

dub45

stevenup7002 wrote: »

Hi guys,
I initially thought that this was an isolated problem, because my Netopia 3347W router is almost 5 years old now, and nearly at the end of its lifespan. But after I consulted one of my friends who also has eircom broadband, and it turns out that he's been having the exact same problem. Our routers are constantly restarting, seemingly at random. Sometimes the routers restart at 1 minute intervals, and sometimes at intervals of 3 hours, it's very annoying.

Is anyone else having this problem?

-Steve

What are your line stats? Have you uppped your speed lately? Constant disconnects can be due to poor snr.

vibe666

check your firmware level if you haven't updated it. the current firmware for the 3347W is: v7.5.0 R1 according to the netopia website here: http://www.netopia.com/support/hardware/3347w.html

make sure yours is up to date and then if it's no better ring eircom and see what they have to say.

you may want to back up your configuration in case it does not survive the upgrade, just to be on the safe side and make sure you download the manual so you have an offline copy in case the router is reset to it's defaults so you know the default password etc.

may not be necessary as i believe it should keep your settings, but it doesn't hurt to have them just in case.

stevenup7002

I updated my firmware, no change, and I haven't changed my service at all lately. And again, I'd like to make it clear that this isn't a simple disconnection from their service, or DSL sync dropping, the entire router restarts itself, as if you hit the power switch off, and then back on again.

watty

Try a different PSU, of same polarity, plug, voltage and same or greater current. Sounds like a HW or power fault or ESB interference. Do your lights flicker( need a filiment not tube or CFL)?

stevenup7002

It's definitely not the PSU, I just did an experiment, I took out the DSL and let the router run for half an hour, it didn't reboot once, as soon as I plugged the DSL back in, it reset almost a minute later, indicating that Eircom must be sending something that causes the router to crash.

I then decided to disable the wireless on the router, and it seems to work perfectly now, how confusing..

The thing is, my mother is using a macbook downstairs, and she'll be wanting to use the internet.. and a very long cable just won't do for her, she must have her wireless.. . Any ideas on why the wireless would be 'crashing' the router?

Pete67

Have you secured the wireless properly? WPA / WPA2 ? Any chance someone is leeching your broadband and has maxxed out the bandwidth?

stevenup7002

Yeah, I tried changing security settings on the wireless, and even tried turning privacy off, but to no avail

vibe666

you know, i might have an idea about what it could be.

do you live in the country?

i used to work for an ISP many moons ago when DSL was still a baby in Ireland, and we had a dialup user who had similar conection problems. it took ages to trace it, but it turned out to be an earthing rod for an electric cattle fence right near to where the phone line ran that was knocking off his connection.

i've noticed a lot more cows and calves in fields recently, i'm guessing it's baby making season for farm animals about now?

of course if you're in the city then i've no idea, but it could still be some other kind of electrical interference.

it's an idea though.

dub45

Nice to have such a cool mother:)

Any chance of borrowing a router or trying your router in another location?

This might help to determine if there is an extraordinary combination of electrics that is causing the problem.

I doubt if Eircom have either the time or the inclination to be targetting your router!:D

stevenup7002

I laughed quite a bit when I saw that story about the electric fence =P. And no, my mother is not cool, every 5 minutes.. STEVEN, HOW I DO THIS, STEVEN, HOW I DO THAT, STEVEN, PIRATE SOMETHING FOR ME.. AGHHH :mad:.

Anyway, I told my father about the problem, and he said that he cancelled his broadband a while ago (After he figured that he was connecting to his neighbour's router the entire time that he had it.. ), but still had his old router. So I grabbed the router off him today, and fired it up, and it seems to be working perfectly.

One thing puzzles me though.. is it sheer coincidence that my friend in Dublin was having the exact same problem?

dub45

stevenup7002 wrote: »

I laughed quite a bit when I saw that story about the electric fence =P. And no, my mother is not cool, every 5 minutes.. STEVEN, HOW I DO THIS, STEVEN, HOW I DO THAT, STEVEN, PIRATE SOMETHING FOR ME.. AGHHH :mad:.

Anyway, I told my father about the problem, and he said that he cancelled his broadband a while ago (After he figured that he was connecting to his neighbour's router the entire time that he had it.. ), but still had his old router. So I grabbed the router off him today, and fired it up, and it seems to be working perfectly.

One thing puzzles me though.. is it sheer coincidence that my friend in Dublin was having the exact same problem?

No Eircom have this special unit that knows exactly who is friends with who and poisons their routers every so often. It costs a fortune to run and thats why they are in such a financial mess!

docentore

cool family, pirate mom and dad hacker

dub45

docentore wrote: »

cool family, pirate mom and dad hacker

And paranoid son!:D

vibe666

stevenup7002 wrote: »

...So I grabbed the router off him today, and fired it up, and it seems to be working perfectly.

nice one, looks like the cows are in the clear then this time.

glad you got it sorted anyways.

actually, here's a thought. you've upgraded the firmware so you know it wasn't that, so it's almost certainly a hardware fault. tell eircom you've tested it with 'a friends' router but that you only have a lend of it for a short time and can they send you a new one as yours is obviously faulty, etc. etc. and you'll send them back the faulty one.

maybe you'll get a better one than the one you've got off your old man.

if you're feeling guilty you could give his one to someone who doesn't have wireless at all when your new one turns up.

think of it as compensation for your troubles.