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Netgear router resets/drops connection after some time


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#1
out4knowledge

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Hello Geekstogo users,



I'm been having some type of connection problem with my Netgear router, where it resets after some time connected. Usually, I get a time frame between 45 minutes to an hour and a half, before the router resets itself. After the first reset occurs, the router takes about 10 to 15 seconds to reconnect, but after a few more seconds, it will drop out again. This cycle continues until I am forced to disconnect the power completely from the router and modem. I would then try to connect after 4 or 5 hours later, but the cycle will continue to repeat all over again, pretty much always the same way. It has been a little over a year now with this issue, and I still can not figure it out. I was hoping it would have stop after a few months it first happened, thinking it was probably my ISP not being reliable around this time. But when the problem still persisted, I started to think it was definitely a security flaw somewhere on my system or router settings. Before I proceed more about this issue, I should provide some information of my system and router which is listed below.



System Information:


· OS.............................Windows Media Center Edition 2005 with SP3

· Firewall.......................COMODO Internet Security v3.12.111745.560

· Browser......................Mozilla Firefox v3.5.5

· Network Adapter..........Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection

· Router........................Netgear Ruckus RangeMax Wireless Router WPN824 v2

· ISP............................Comcast Cable Service



I have been trying to think of what can be causing this issue, but I can never pin point exactly what it is. I have been changing security settings in numerous different ways, but never risking to the point of damaging my system, or not even connecting at all. After I realize it was not going away, I trace back my steps of the whole time I used the router. So I came up with 3 possible causes it could be, but definitely not sure about it. The 3 causes I think that it could be is listed below.



1. Some type of wireless DoS attack from local wireless laptops in the range of my router. Sometimes I think they are trying to bypass the router’s built-in firewall, and this is when the router resets, and I don't even know if they succeeded getting passed it or not. I’m not even sure if there is some type of hack tools out there, that can attack router in such a way, but I would never doubt it.

2. Here is where I sound really crazy, but here it goes anyway. When I use to play Battlefield 2 online like 10 months ago (at this time I was only using my cable modem with firewall software), after some time playing on a known server that I would go on often, I would hear voices of laughter over the speakers while I was playing. In the beginning I was thinking it is the players doing it in the game, and that they were just using cheap microphones that were breaking up a lot. But then after a week or so, it was always the same similar laughter voice that I would hear, and then I knew I had a problem. Just by the tone of the laughter, it was like they were saying to me, “we got control of your whole system now". The laughter also sounded like it could have been multiple people able to do this, at least 2 to 3 people at most. So say I just connected to the server I usually go on, my normal ping would be around 18-24 ping, without moving or shooting. When I would hear the laughter, I would check my ping after some time, and the ping range was around 35-55, without moving or shooting. I would feel like they are taking or checking personal information from my system when the ping would rise, and it would also hold for a few minutes at that ping level. I don’t know what it is exactly for sure, but I get the feeling like it might be some PunkBuster members are abusing the software provided to stop cheaters, and are using it to go deeper into player’s systems while gaming. I also was thinking it can even be admins on the server that I would connected to, because some younger clan members would have to be admins to keep control of the server. I would never think about cheating, especially on a video game, which I felt I was pretty good in it anyway. But what I was also thinking is when they use the PunkBuster software to check your system for cheat applications, they probably came across the IP blocker program that I was running, PeerGuardian. Maybe they felt like I was ultra paranoid even when playing online games, so maybe they wanted to mess with my head a little bit and make laughter sounds trying to scare me off the game completely. The only reason why I even used PeerGuardian, was to stop other IP’s from pinging me while gaming. And even before I started using PeerGuardian to block IP’s when gaming, it was used primarily for internet browsing and P2P purposes. I was trying to get the most out of my connection speed, and did not want to get lag spikes because of update checks or anything to that affect. Also when hearing the laughter while playing, I never even had programs installed that allow voice chat like TeamSpeak or Roger Wilco. I also did not install VoIP server service when installing Battlefield 2, because I did not have good microphone at the time.

3. Maybe my ISP is attempting to send some type of ICMP packet after a period of time, which I am not receiving, because it is blocked in my firewall settings. The only reason why I did this was because I felt it cause the whole wireless DoS attack issue in the first place as I explained above. Now, you see where I am at with this problem, it has me changing settings that should be safe to allow, but I do not because of the issue on hand. The modem never resets itself when the router does, so I am pretty sure it is not my ISP. I called up one time a few months ago, to let them know about my router resetting issue, but they don't want to get involve in helping me since it is not their product they supplied me with, and told me that I should talk to the manufacturer which made the router.



If anyone can help me out in any kind of way with my issue, I would be very grateful for the help given. I will try to gather more information and hope it be useful to better troubleshoot the problem. I will try to check the post at least once a day, if I am not having any problems getting connected.



Thank you for your time,


- out4knowledge -

Edited by out4knowledge, 25 December 2009 - 02:34 AM.

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#2
dsenette

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what do you mean by "resets" when you're talking about the router? does it power down?
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#3
out4knowledge

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I am sorry I did not explain it better in the post. What I mean when it resets itself is that it acts like you just pulled the power plug out and put it back in. You will see the check mark light up solid green, and then the activity light is blinking orange. The activity light blinks for about 10 to 15 seconds, then it goes green, but it usually drops always around the same time repeatedly. This process will pretty much continue with the same pattern, until I pull the power out completely, and try to connect later on during the day.



Thanks,


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#4
dsenette

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sounds like you've got a faulty router....you should attempt to replace it
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#5
out4knowledge

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Yea, that definitely passed my mind after awhile having this problem, and trying different ways to fix it. But just the way the router ended up like that was kinda weird, it just seem to happen one day, and never been the same. The router was never dropped, mistreated, and always was plugged into a surge protector. It has about 2 and a half years on it, which I don't think is that old for a router, but maybe I should upgrade the router as soon as possible. I really hope that it is the router which needs to get replaced, and not because of some type of security flaw that I don't have patched, or security settings not configured properly.



Thanks for the help,


- out4knowledge
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