Router frustrations

After being on cable broadband internet for 10+ years, I've been through
a number of different routers. They work for a while but then start
dropping connections and acting flakey. The don't stay connected to the
internet and / or they seem to lock up the LAN. In either case, power
cycling seems to clear the problem. Power cycling is required more
frequently with time.

This has been the case with Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers. I
guess I've had the best luck with Linksys, but the problem still
develops in time. I've had these devices on UPS so clean power
shouldn't be an issue.

The issue is the worst when I leave town for a few days (to a few weeks)
since I'm the only one in the house that knows the network and its
components. Older daughter is savvy enough when she's home from
college, but she doesn't live at home during the school year. My wife
relies on her computer and connectivity (server on the LAN and internet
access) for her job. She has great application expertise, but almost no
network expertise. (And she get "impatient" when things aren't working
- I can't blame her.)

So I'm looking for something reliable, a robust router that doesn't need
to be reset very often if at all. Something that I can put on a UPS and
forget about. Since we can have as many as 8 to 10 computers accessing
at once during those rare occasions of peak activity (there is a
separate wireless A/P and an 8 power gigabit switch), what are my
options for getting a reliable router? Would something like an
industrial strength 3com or Cisco 800 series router be better than the
current crop of home networking toys? (I have more than passing
technical skills.)

TIA,

CV

What do I know, I have just a Netgear wireless router serving a couple
of wired PCs and 4 or 5 wireless devices. It all works, but your
setup does sound like a business-grade router might be called for.
Hopefully you'll get a reply from somebody who really knows, tho.
--
Politics doesn't make strange bedfellows, marriage does.
Groucho Marx

On Fri, 24 Aug 2007 19:01:20 -0500, Cal Vanize
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>After being on cable broadband internet for 10+ years, I've been through
>a number of different routers. They work for a while but then start
>dropping connections and acting flakey. The don't stay connected to the
>internet and / or they seem to lock up the LAN. In either case, power
>cycling seems to clear the problem. Power cycling is required more
>frequently with time.
>
>This has been the case with Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers. I
>guess I've had the best luck with Linksys, but the problem still
>develops in time. I've had these devices on UPS so clean power
>shouldn't be an issue.
>
>The issue is the worst when I leave town for a few days (to a few weeks)
>since I'm the only one in the house that knows the network and its
>components. Older daughter is savvy enough when she's home from
>college, but she doesn't live at home during the school year. My wife
>relies on her computer and connectivity (server on the LAN and internet
>access) for her job. She has great application expertise, but almost no
>network expertise. (And she get "impatient" when things aren't working
>- I can't blame her.)
>
>So I'm looking for something reliable, a robust router that doesn't need
>to be reset very often if at all. Something that I can put on a UPS and
>forget about. Since we can have as many as 8 to 10 computers accessing
>at once during those rare occasions of peak activity (there is a
>separate wireless A/P and an 8 power gigabit switch), what are my
>options for getting a reliable router? Would something like an
>industrial strength 3com or Cisco 800 series router be better than the
>current crop of home networking toys? (I have more than passing
>technical skills.)
>
>TIA,
>
>CV
I am not sure how to answer your question but will try....I have over
20 computers here on my home network, yes 20! I have a Linksys WRT54GS
router and an 8 port Trendnet hub and a Cisco 25 port switch all
hooked up wired to each other. I also have 4 wireless computers that
connect directly to the Router. I used to have 2 Access Points setup
in brdige mode but stopped that because of the signal loss. I have
only very rarely had to power cycle any of them! Usually I do it when
my cable company, Comcast, has 'issues' and I am trying to figure out
if it is me or them. I am not sure your problem is in your Router is
where I am going with this. If you have gone thru several different
brands of Routers and still have the problem, either your UPS is bad,
batteries do die, or it is not your Router that is the problem. One
Router, maybe two, but not several!!!
On the other hand, teach your wife how to power cycle the Router, she
is old enough to learn something new to help herself out, when you are
away.

Cal Vanize wrote:

>
> After being on cable broadband internet for 10+ years, I've been through
> a number of different routers. They work for a while but then start
> dropping connections and acting flakey. The don't stay connected to the
> internet and / or they seem to lock up the LAN. In either case, power
> cycling seems to clear the problem. Power cycling is required more
> frequently with time.
>
> This has been the case with Linksys, D-Link and Netgear routers. I
> guess I've had the best luck with Linksys, but the problem still
> develops in time. I've had these devices on UPS so clean power
> shouldn't be an issue.
>
> The issue is the worst when I leave town for a few days (to a few weeks)
> since I'm the only one in the house that knows the network and its
> components. Older daughter is savvy enough when she's home from
> college, but she doesn't live at home during the school year. My wife
> relies on her computer and connectivity (server on the LAN and internet
> access) for her job. She has great application expertise, but almost no
> network expertise. (And she get "impatient" when things aren't working
> - I can't blame her.)
>
> So I'm looking for something reliable, a robust router that doesn't need
> to be reset very often if at all. Something that I can put on a UPS and
> forget about. Since we can have as many as 8 to 10 computers accessing
> at once during those rare occasions of peak activity (there is a
> separate wireless A/P and an 8 power gigabit switch), what are my
> options for getting a reliable router? Would something like an
> industrial strength 3com or Cisco 800 series router be better than the
> current crop of home networking toys? (I have more than passing
> technical skills.)
>
> TIA,
>
> CV

FWIW;

You sound as though you have had your share of issues with your home
network. I've set up two of my homes and several of my family's homes with
wired/wireless, cable/dsl and they all seem to work and work and work and
none of these people have any technical skills whatsoever.

The two small scale routers that I have the most luck with are:

Netopia 3387W-ENT and the ZyXel series.

In fact, at approx $100 each for the Netopia I deploy then in commercial
installation because of their reliability and VPN capability.

You might want to take a look at them.