• Strange Intermittent Network Problems
    4 replies, posted
I am in desperate need of some advice, Facepunch. We have four computers connected to our WRT54G router (which I understand is an unholy piece of shit). Two of these computers, including mine, are suffering from some strange connectivity issues. Every once in a while we will lose connection, sort of. The symptoms are of a DNS issue (I've had plenty of these before, thanks to Comcast), because applications like Skype still work. Everything else (Steam, games, Facebook) still works as long as it is already connected. I have switched between Comcast's default DNS servers, Google DNS, and OpenDNS to no avail. I have also tried "netsh int ip reset" and "netsh winsock reset" as generic attempts to fix the issue. We have rebooted the afflicted computers three times each since the incident began, and power cycled the modem\router twice. I can't say for certain if both computers experience connection issues at the same time, but the unaffected computers haven't had the slightest hiccup. At the time of posting I have just regained connectivity and successfully logged into Steam, which brings me to the next symptom. Sometimes I will be able to load web pages, and do pretty much anything, but when it comes to logging in to Steam or a game, it doesn't think for more than a second before deciding that it can't do it. Both computers are running Windows 7, but are not the only computers running the OS. Network Diagnosis\Troubleshooting reports that there is a connection issue between the computer and the router. I have checked all the cables, according to the router all computers are connected at all times. I must know, is there anything else I can try next time I lose connection? If you need any more information, feel free to ask.
Open up the router settings and disable any 'smart' traffic handlers. Does your computer's ip change between these internet 'hiccups'? Everything else i can think of you've already checked, you might need to look into buying a new router. v:v:v
The routers QoS and MAC filters are disabled, and neither my external IP or local IP has changed. I've been looking for some other router for a while, gonna get one I can put dd-wrt on. The only issue is getting such a thing approved by the family, unless I pay for it myself.
DD-WRT works on the WRT54G. The problem you describe sounds like the conntrack table in the router is overflowing and not allowing any new connections. This can be caused by several things: 1) The conntrack table is too small. 2) Medium/heavy torrenting (exacerbated by #1.) 3) Several applications across all machines that keep many ports open all the time (Steam, web browsers, etc.)
I would believe that it's being overloaded if it hadn't had issues immediately after power cycling it, and nobody is torrenting or doing anything we don't normally do every day. That does sound like the issue but I can't see why it's suddenly an issue now or how to fix it aside from attempting to put DD-WRT on it or getting a new router. I also have a version that I've read has a shitty amount of RAM even for a lightweight DD-WRT, and requires physically opening the router to flash it. My family wouldn't allow this.
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