Router restarting especially when gaming

[mattymeemo]

Hi

I have had the Netgear router (think version 2 - the black one) from Sky for nearly a year and it has an annoying tendancy to drop out. I've put up with this as I have only really used it to go on web pages before now.

It is getting increasingly irritating as it seems to happen more often when i'm playing online with my ps3 or streaming internet radio.

The router will just lock up and then the internet light flashes amber for 30 seconds or so before it comes back up.

I've tried unticking the UPNP option but this doesn't seem to have helped. Has anyone experieced something similar or got any good suggestions for a solution? I've logged the issue with Sky but am still waiting for a response.

Some random router stats:
ADSL Firmware Version 6.02.01.00
Modem Status Connected
DownStream Connection Speed 4320 kbps
UpStream Connection Speed 384 kbps
VPI 0
VCI 38


Cheers
Matt

[Saturday]

Can you post your attenuation and noise margin plus details of how your router is connected e.g. into master, extension etc?

[mattymeemo]

Hi

Thanks for your response, sorry my knowledge is a bit limted on this area. I'm connected to the master socket with the filter, one telephone and the router coming from that.

Cheers

Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 1220 1216 0 743 1511 00:08:43
LAN 100M/Full 1239 0 0 7 0 06:06:29
WLAN 11M/54M 244639 197543 0 10554 2084 06:06:17
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 4000 kbps 384 kbps
Line Attenuation 52 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 0 db 13 db

(edit - downstream now showing 2147483647 db)

This is the log;
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:00:33 - Initialize LCP.
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:00:33 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:01:33 - Initialize LCP.
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:01:33 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:02:17 - Loss of synchronization :1
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:02:34 - Initialize LCP.
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:02:34 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:02:38 - CHAP authentication success
Sun, 2002-09-08 12:02:46 - Send out NTP request to ntp1.isp.sky.com
Sun, 2008-11-30 11:25:02 - Receive NTP Reply from ntp1.isp.sky.com
Sun, 2008-11-30 11:22:15 - Router start up
Sun, 2008-11-30 11:50:49 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.2
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:35:23 - LCP down.
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:35:24 - Initialize LCP.
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:35:24 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:35:38 - Loss of synchronization :2
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:35:42 - CHAP authentication success
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:50:32 - LCP down.
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:50:34 - Initialize LCP.
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:50:34 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:50:38 - Loss of synchronization :3
Sun, 2008-11-30 15:50:40 - CHAP authentication success
Sun, 2008-11-30 16:41:12 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.2
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:19:40 - LCP down.
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:19:40 - Loss of synchronization :4
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:19:40 - LCP down.
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:19:41 - Initialize LCP.
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:19:41 - LCP is allowed to come up.
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:20:06 - CHAP authentication success
Sun, 2008-11-30 17:24:49 - Administrator login successful - IP:192.168.0.2

[Saturday]

You have a line noise margin which has driven your noise margin down to 0db. Disconnections are likely once you drop to 3db - at 0db the router has no ability to differentiate between noise and signal.

If you want to know more about noise margin etc check out the first sticky in my signature below, The thread is a little out of date now but the principles still apply.

With regard to fixing the problem you need to determine whether the noise is local (i.e. your wiring) or remote (i.e. the BT line).

To do this you need to connect your router to the test socket hidden inside your master (assuming you have an NTE5) using just a filter and the router, no phone etc. Post the stats from that connection. More info on the test socket can be found in the cabling and faceplate help forum.

Lastly, please confirm that every device e.g. phone, digibox etc has its own filter. Are there any extensions in the property?

[mattymeemo]

I've removed the faceplate and put the filter with the router directly into the test socket. I've pasted the results below, there doesn't seem to be any improvement. The noise margin has been up to 4 at best.

I've only ever had the router and phone plugged into the master socket, running from the same filter.

As far as I'm aware and can tell there are no extensions running from the master socket. Thanks again for your help with this.

Port Status TxPkts RxPkts Collisions Tx B/s Rx B/s Up Time
WAN PPPoA 1117 1122 0 563 1506 00:09:36
LAN 100M/Full 80 0 0 18 0 00:10:20
WLAN 11M/54M 2007 1898 0 2230 679 00:10:08
ADSL Link Downstream Upstream
Connection Speed 3808 kbps 160 kbps
Line Attenuation 51 db 15.5 db
Noise Margin 4 db 7 db

[Saturday]

Still bad.

That low upstream could suggest a filter problem. To eliminate that try swapping for one of the other filters Sky provided. Also, if you have another router cable then try that.

If neither of those then all that leaves is your BT line or a faulty router - the former is far more likely. Do you hear any noise/crackles when you make a phone call? Try just dialling a single number and listening.

[mattymeemo]

No better. I've tried a couple of filters and another router cable with no difference.

The phone line sounds fine, if a little quiet, no crackling at all.

Hopefully Sky will take this seriously, and will be willing to help. We'll see.

Thanks for your help, I now know a lot more about telephone exchanges than I did earlier!

Cheers
Matt

[Saturday]

OK well you've made progress but not achieved a resolution unfortunately.

What you/we now know is it probably isn't your home wiring, filter or cables. What that leaves is your BT line/Sky's exchange equipment or the router - in that order of probability.

If you've never had a good connection then I'd guess it's the line. If things have recently gone downhill then it could be some new factor causing this. Around this time last year there were a batch of sudden problems. Turned out to be Christmas related e.g. Christmas lights and so on. One member even lost his connection because a neighbour a couple of houses away had strung up outside Christmas lights right next to where the street's phone cable ran. Half the street lost their broadband until they'd worked out what it was.

Hope you get things sorted quickly.