How to check if router is damaged or not?

[geno888]

Hi

I have a quite strange problem with my internet connections. Until now I always blamed the internet provider, but they checked everything (a technician also came at my home to check all wires), but they wasn't able to find anything wrong: according to them, everything is good except for a pretty high noise on the line.

The only thing I was able to obtain calling tech support was a reduction of my connection speed (I have about half of speed I had a couple a months ago) because (they said) in this way the probability to get disconnections is lower.

Of course, I still have frequent disconnections. I stopped to call tech support because they menaced me to charge me a lot of money for such "unjustified" complaints... believe me or not, I was really menaced

What makes very difficult to understand where is the problem, is that these disconnections are totally random.

So, at this point, I'm starting to think that maybe the problem is my router.

There is a way (some software) to check if the router is damaged? I mean something like tools available to check RAM or hard disks.

How can I know for sure if the router or the modem is the real problem? Too bad I have no way to check wires, and I have to trust my provider that there is no problem there.

I am in money shortage, so before to buy a new router, I must be sure that the problem is indeed in my hardware. Please, don't laugh, but for me it is really a problem to spend money, so I have to be absolutely sure that the router or the modem are damaged.

My current config is the following:

modem: Linksys AM200
router: D-Link DIR-655 Hardware revision A4, firmware 1.32EU

There are two computers connected to the router, both with cables.

I very rarely use wireless connections, but the Wi-Fi is always enabled in case someone in the family must use it.

The wifi was always enabled, even when the connection was stable, and I changed nothing in configuration (except for wireless password a couple of times, just for safety, but all of this was a lot of time before the problems begun).

I bought this router after reading the review here, and the main feature that made me choose this model was the maximum simultaneous connections (at that time the 655 was one of the very few able to manage so many connections), because I often use uTorrent, and I thought that this feature was important in this regard.

If any other information is needed, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for help

 

[thiggins]

There are no router diagnostic programs that I know of.

Did you always have the problem. If not, when did it start?

If you are downloading a lot of Torrents, your ISP could be forcing the disconnects as a bandwidth management technique.

You can test if the problem is in the router by connecting ONE computer directly to the modem.

 

[tipstir]

Are you renting that modem from your ISP. If so let them do a check to see how your modem and router is doing with a simple test hit. They can do that over the phone. Most use automate test. You might have to do a modem reset by pressing in the reset on the modem. If you do that best to call them up and let them be on the phone line when you do to play it safe. As it could cause your modem go duff on you. DIR-655 A4 with the EU you got there did it ever work right or did you keep on having to flash the Firmware? I had the A3 version and used the Russian ROM that solved a lot of issues. But after time and heavy usage these routers seem to go flaky.

Depends on how you use it. Does your DIR-655 feel hot on the top or bottom? Does it feel hot at all?

 

[geno888]

First of all, thanks for your answers

There are no router diagnostic programs that I know of.

Did you always have the problem. If not, when did it start?

If you are downloading a lot of Torrents, your ISP could be forcing the disconnects as a bandwidth management technique.

You can test if the problem is in the router by connecting ONE computer directly to the modem.

The problem started a couple of months ago. Before everything was working perfectly. Indeed I'm downloading a lot of torrents, but for what I know my provider never caused troubles with torrents. Some providers here in Italy indeed cut bandwidth for torrents, but they usually state this clearly, it is not done without advice.

Is it safe to connect the modem only? I mean the router has a firewall, but for what I know the modem has no protection.

Are you renting that modem from your ISP. If so let them do a check to see how your modem and router is doing with a simple test hit. They can do that over the phone. Most use automate test. You might have to do a modem reset by pressing in the reset on the modem. If you do that best to call them up and let them be on the phone line when you do to play it safe. As it could cause your modem go duff on you. DIR-655 A4 with the EU you got there did it ever work right or did you keep on having to flash the Firmware? I had the A3 version and used the Russian ROM that solved a lot of issues. But after time and heavy usage these routers seem to go flaky.

Depends on how you use it. Does your DIR-655 feel hot on the top or bottom? Does it feel hot at all?

The modem is mine, I purchased it just before it was removed from the market (this is not available anymore for what I know, and is a pity because the only modem I can find in my zone is a crappy D-Link. I bought two, and both failed after a couple of months ).

As I said above, indeed I'm using the router pretty heavily. It is connected 24/7 since I bought it (a couple of years ago). The box is warm but not hot. It never became hot for what I know, and it is not connected directly to the power plug because I have an UPS (an APC 700VA), so I'm pretty sure that it didn't receive any power surge.

I don't know if also the A4 revision go flaky after heavy usage, but if it happens, then I'm sure that with such a heavy usage I killed the poor router

Thanks again for help

I don't know if is better to open another thread in the forum, so I'm asking here. Any suggestions for a new router, considering that it must be able to manage a lot of connections because of torrent and it must run 24/7 as long as possible?

Even if I rarely use the wifi, is the Asus RT-N56U a good choice?

Any suggestions for a modem? I'd like to avoid these crappy D-link if possible.

 

[thiggins]

You should rule out the router as the problem before you replace it. When you get a disconnect, check whether the DSL line is down or up.

If your computer is running up-to-date antivirus / malware protection, you should be fine during your test. Turn on Windows Firewall and Defender if they are not already on.

 

[tipstir]

On the BT side have you change the number for TCP.sys from 10 to lets say for your current router 200 on the PC you use for BT. Make sure your app client is setup too. Balance it out.

Everyone going to say nah but that Router not going to hold up with so much usage. You might want to look into a Business router that can take the heavy traffic. If you need switches then get the business type. Don't have to go overboard with Manage 2-layer switches where unmanaged non-blocking ports can give you very good results.

Running a home network is an investment, it's up to you what you want to spend but after so long it does add up. These plastic router just don't cut the mustard. They overheat with heavy duty traffic and in your case like mine BT traffic is dangerous.

That PC for your BT hope you have PCI-E (better the buffering on it the better for you) Most of these NIC have 64K. I have 256K. I did try 128K and it died so fast.

Get yourself a temp probe and test that router temp out and see what you get. Also check out what you use for Modem. Newer Modems can handle more throughput and are much quicker than prior. What is your ISP using for modem?

 

[geno888]

Thanks again for your help

You should rule out the router as the problem before you replace it. When you get a disconnect, check whether the DSL line is down or up.

If your computer is running up-to-date antivirus / malware protection, you should be fine during your test. Turn on Windows Firewall and Defender if they are not already on.

It is hard to say, because I notice the disconnections some hours later, when I check the speed graph in uTorrent. It never happened to have a disconnection when I was a the keyboard, but I'll pay attention to this if it should happen.

A thing I know for sure is that every time this happen, I have a different IP, so I'm assuming that the DSL line is down when it happen, so when the connection is restored I get a different IP.

Sorry for ignorance, but if the modem remain connected and the router collapse what happen to my IP? I assume that it should remain the same, but I really have no idea.

On the BT side have you change the number for TCP.sys from 10 to lets say for your current router 200 on the PC you use for BT. Make sure your app client is setup too. Balance it out.

Everyone going to say nah but that Router not going to hold up with so much usage. You might want to look into a Business router that can take the heavy traffic. If you need switches then get the business type. Don't have to go overboard with Manage 2-layer switches where unmanaged non-blocking ports can give you very good results.

Running a home network is an investment, it's up to you what you want to spend but after so long it does add up. These plastic router just don't cut the mustard. They overheat with heavy duty traffic and in your case like mine BT traffic is dangerous.

That PC for your BT hope you have PCI-E (better the buffering on it the better for you) Most of these NIC have 64K. I have 256K. I did try 128K and it died so fast.

Get yourself a temp probe and test that router temp out and see what you get. Also check out what you use for Modem. Newer Modems can handle more throughput and are much quicker than prior. What is your ISP using for modem?

If I'm not wrong this patch is not more needed in windows seven family (sorry, I didn't mention the operative system before: I'm using windows Server 2008 R2 Standard). The mainboard is a Zotac NM10 (sorry, my browser redirect to the Italian page, and I'm not able to load the English page). I'm using the onboard NIC to connect computer to the router, and the system worked without any problem for a lot of time, when the problem started a couple of months ago. As I said, I changed nothing in configuration or in hardware setup, so the cause can be the ISP that is making a mess, or my router/modem is damaged.

What make me crazy is the randomness of the problem. I can't figure out a cause. For example, I had a stable connection for 2 days, until around 5 am (local time), when according to the speed graph in uTorrent there was another disconnection

So do you suggest I should use a PCIe NIC card to connect to internet? I have an Intel PRO/1000 PT, I could install it if needed.

What business router do you suggest? Bear in mind that my budget is pretty limited Is the Asus RT-N56U good? I don't need a switch, because the one embedded in router is sufficient for me.

About the router provided by the ISP, I have no idea because I always refused it, but I know that the brand is "Pirelli" (I never heard about this), and is a router with integrated modem.

 

[tipstir]

Changing the TCP.sys from 10 to 200 in OS for some business routers like the one I am using max out at 300 but I haven't change my from 200 to 300 yet. Changing these setting is not only for Windows clients I use to do it on Windows server OS. Just the app will tell you what your current setting is. 7 is what I use now I use run what you doing on 2000 Advanced Server, then 2003 Server then 2008 Server. But have fall back to 7 U-64-bit with IIS 7 Web Server.

So your not in the USA so what can you get in network business gear where you are? ASUS for more home/office usage. I am using TP-LINK Load Balance Enterprise Router. Seems to be getting sold out quickly on Amazon they're changing vendors request on the dime. This is a wired router not Wireless. You would still need to use your ASUS as your Wireless Access Point. You can even purchased business enterprise Wireless Access Points instead. If you needs warrant that?

PCI older but still used
PCI-E this on usually in higher end desktops and laptops
PCI-X this one usually in Workstations and Servers

You'll need a PCI-E slot on your MOBO (motherboard) to use PCI-E NIC. Didn't you say your Server or are you just running Server OS on a Desktop?

 

[thiggins]

If the IP address you get from your ISP is changing, that is a good sign that the DSL line went down. This has nothing to do with your router.

This still could be an ISP issue. Maybe they are not disconnecting you for Torrents. But it could be for general bandwidth management.

I know a situation here in the US in a rural area where the ISP has oversold the service. They use frequent disconnects during busy periods to, uh, "manage" bandwidth use.

 

[geno888]

Changing the TCP.sys from 10 to 200 in OS for some business routers like the one I am using max out at 300 but I haven't change my from 200 to 300 yet. Changing these setting is not only for Windows clients I use to do it on Windows server OS. Just the app will tell you what your current setting is. 7 is what I use now I use run what you doing on 2000 Advanced Server, then 2003 Server then 2008 Server. But have fall back to 7 U-64-bit with IIS 7 Web Server.

So your not in the USA so what can you get in network business gear where you are? ASUS for more home/office usage. I am using TP-LINK Load Balance Enterprise Router. Seems to be getting sold out quickly on Amazon they're changing vendors request on the dime. This is a wired router not Wireless. You would still need to use your ASUS as your Wireless Access Point. You can even purchased business enterprise Wireless Access Points instead. If you needs warrant that?

PCI older but still used
PCI-E this on usually in higher end desktops and laptops
PCI-X this one usually in Workstations and Servers

You'll need a PCI-E slot on your MOBO (motherboard) to use PCI-E NIC. Didn't you say your Server or are you just running Server OS on a Desktop?

As I said I'm using a mini-itx board with Atom CPU, and I installed Windows server as operative system. I installed win server because win 7 was regularly crashing after 4 days (I have no idea why, but win server is a lot more stable (the system is running by 83 days without any problem).

This board has a PCI express 1x slot that I can use to install a discrete NIC if needed. Currently I'm using the onboard NIC to connect the board to router. The main usage of this board is to keep the torrent alive overnight. The atom CPU allow a low power consumption (it is the main reason I choose this board). That board is not used to stream files through a network, so I thought that it was sufficient for my needs.

Before these disconnections the system was able to manage all the torrent connections without any problem, so unless the onboard LAN card is damaged I can assume that the TCP.sys patch is not needed.

I don't know if is an useful information, but CPU temp report a 16C temperature for the CPU (there is a passive cooler on that board, but the case has a 20cm fan on the side panel), so I'm assuming that overheating is not an issue.

I was thinking to try the Intel NIC, but I can't find it anymore. I can't remember if I gave it to someone If needed however I'll buy another (is not bad to have a spare NIC )

Are you using something like this? I think that is excessive for the torrents. Based on the review I read here at SmallNetBuilder, the Asus seems still the best contender.

If the IP address you get from your ISP is changing, that is a good sign that the DSL line went down. This has nothing to do with your router.

This still could be an ISP issue. Maybe they are not disconnecting you for Torrents. But it could be for general bandwidth management.

I know a situation here in the US in a rural area where the ISP has oversold the service. They use frequent disconnects during busy periods to, uh, "manage" bandwidth use.

This is what I suspected from the beginning, even because the connection has been stable for last two days whereas today I had two disconnections

My idea is that they are using the same line for a too high number of users, and algorithms used to balance the bandwidth are so bad that cause a disconnection to the user using most bandwidth (me in this case, because I really use completely all my bandwidth).

Of course I have no way to demonstrate it...

 

[thiggins]

My idea is that they are using the same line for a too high number of users, and algorithms used to balance the bandwidth are so bad that cause a disconnection to the user using most bandwidth (me in this case, because I really use completely all my bandwidth).

Of course I have no way to demonstrate it...

Even if you could, there is nothing you can do about it other than to change ISPs...if you can.

 

[geno888]

Even if you could, there is nothing you can do about it other than to change ISPs...if you can.

Situation here in Italy is not that good... telecom own about 99% of all cables, so even if I change ISP, I still have to use telecom cables. This means that I risk to pay more with no warranty to get a better connection.

Situation is slightly better in big cities like Milan or Rome, where some other companies installed their own cables (in limited zones is also available optical cable connection [at very hogh prices of course ]), but I don't live there so I'm forced to stay with telecom

 

[thiggins]

Don't feel too bad. Here in the U.S. when you live outside of a big city, like I do, there is only one internet provider to serve you, too....IF you are lucky.

Many people in rural U.S. areas still must use dialup!

 

[sfx2000]

First of all, thanks for your answers

The problem started a couple of months ago. Before everything was working perfectly. Indeed I'm downloading a lot of torrents, but for what I know my provider never caused troubles with torrents. Some providers here in Italy indeed cut bandwidth for torrents, but they usually state this clearly, it is not done without advice.

Is it safe to connect the modem only? I mean the router has a firewall, but for what I know the modem has no protection.

I've seen home routers fall to their knees on BitTorrent - they run out of memory due to the number of connections to the WAN side, and basically go catatonic...

On your torrent client - try to limit the number of connections - every client is different (I use Transmission, where the number of Connections is under "Peers" in the preferences) - not that I'm a pirate, but use BT to download and share unbuntu and other linux releases, along with other legit purposes...

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/alternative-downloads

 

[tipstir]

No one really a pirate just another buzz word.. Just a simple down loader. But you really need a router that can handle the traffic. At once it was thought that the

DIR-655
200MSC could handle the task. Well yes and no. It could get really hot with so many peers sending bits of packets back and forth.

ESR9850
Again same task then all of a sudden duff port on the WAN. Like it just burnt out. This has happen on both ESR9850 I had.

TL-WR1043ND
Same issue as the ESR9850 with the WAN port goes duff. Didn't over heat that much though.

E4200V1
Over heats no matter what I threw it.

EA4500V1
Can take the extra beating but later on it starts to get hot too but still keeps going until it just can't go anymore.

TL-ER5120
When configured right is very very quick and can handle those extra 120,000MSC. I can have 3x 1m files come down at the same time without any lag on the system. Plus it doesn't get hot even. I watch so many 1080p movies from the Netflix and Amazon Instant Videos doesn't it hurt it.

My current system is AMD Quad-Core 2.5GHz L3 Caches 8GB of RAM and PCI-E 1GB 128KB TX Buffer and 256KB RX Buffer along with the max Jumbo Frames at 4k. 9k won't work on the PCI-E card. Still that has enough fans in there when I start it for the BT you can hear it blow out the heat.

I set the TCP.sys to 200 and BT software client to 100 to balance it out. TL-ER5120 can do 300. Which I'll have to change Windows 7 U64 to support that by 200 for the software.

Anyway Start with the router get metal one and good metal switch with a 1 to 2MB or even 3MB or 4MB packet buffer.

 

[geno888]

Thanks again for your answers

Don't feel too bad. Here in the U.S. when you live outside of a big city, like I do, there is only one internet provider to serve you, too....IF you are lucky.

Many people in rural U.S. areas still must use dialup!

Ouch!!! I remember that even loading a web page was a pain and moreover (at least here in Italy) it was really costly. Staying online for more than 10-20 minutes every day was like having a hole in the wallet...

Is it possible that being disconnections totally random (last one occurred around 5 AM local time according to the graph reported in uTorrent; it seems difficult to me think that there was a peak in bandwidth usage from other users at that time in the morning) the culprit is indeed the router because is not able anymore to manage the workload?

Any suggestion for a router able to manage a huge amount of workload without fainting quickly? And possibly not failing after one year

I've seen home routers fall to their knees on BitTorrent - they run out of memory due to the number of connections to the WAN side, and basically go catatonic...

On your torrent client - try to limit the number of connections - every client is different (I use Transmission, where the number of Connections is under "Peers" in the preferences) - not that I'm a pirate, but use BT to download and share unbuntu and other linux releases, along with other legit purposes...

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/alternative-downloads

I already set the number of connection to a lower value, but disconnections are still occurring randomly

No one really a pirate just another buzz word.. Just a simple down loader. But you really need a router that can handle the traffic. At once it was thought that the

DIR-655
200MSC could handle the task. Well yes and no. It could get really hot with so many peers sending bits of packets back and forth.

ESR9850
Again same task then all of a sudden duff port on the WAN. Like it just burnt out. This has happen on both ESR9850 I had.

TL-WR1043ND
Same issue as the ESR9850 with the WAN port goes duff. Didn't over heat that much though.

E4200V1
Over heats no matter what I threw it.

EA4500V1
Can take the extra beating but later on it starts to get hot too but still keeps going until it just can't go anymore.

TL-ER5120
When configured right is very very quick and can handle those extra 120,000MSC. I can have 3x 1m files come down at the same time without any lag on the system. Plus it doesn't get hot even. I watch so many 1080p movies from the Netflix and Amazon Instant Videos doesn't it hurt it.

My current system is AMD Quad-Core 2.5GHz L3 Caches 8GB of RAM and PCI-E 1GB 128KB TX Buffer and 256KB RX Buffer along with the max Jumbo Frames at 4k. 9k won't work on the PCI-E card. Still that has enough fans in there when I start it for the BT you can hear it blow out the heat.

I set the TCP.sys to 200 and BT software client to 100 to balance it out. TL-ER5120 can do 300. Which I'll have to change Windows 7 U64 to support that by 200 for the software.

Anyway Start with the router get metal one and good metal switch with a 1 to 2MB or even 3MB or 4MB packet buffer.

So are you suggesting to get a separate switch even if I only connect two machines to the router? Only very rarely I use the wireless connection, when my brother is here and must use his laptop for some reason, but usually when this happen I temporarily stop the torrent.

Only a single computer use the torrent. The other PC is used to surf the net for email and reading news, nothing else.

The TL-ER5120 is really costly, I can't afford it.

Can you suggest alternatives? TIA

 

[tipstir]

The price I got that one for was $188 with free shipping. There are other models you can get they cost less. They are:

Load Balance Broadband Router
TL-R470T+

Load Balance Broadband Router
TL-R480T+

Both are under hundred here.

They'r not Gig they're Fast Ethernet.

Best to have another PC for BT and leave that one alone. That one should have the tightest security ever too.

You can have a small external unmanaged switch. Make sure it has at least 512KB for package buffering. 8K Mac Address. There are so many that don't have these features.

 

[geno888]

I checked at TP-Link web site and I got the user manual. These equipment seems really professional pieces of hardware I'm not sure I'll be able to configure correctly them.

I am having a talk with the wallet (that is pretty empty at the moment ), but the TP-Link seems an overkill for me.

At the moment I configured the torrent with a global max number of connections = 220 (it was 300 before the disconnections, but it was working perfectly).

220 connections is not a so high value... is it really possible that my D-655 randomly faints because of this?

 

[tipstir]

I checked at TP-Link web site and I got the user manual. These equipment seems really professional pieces of hardware I'm not sure I'll be able to configure correctly them.

I am having a talk with the wallet (that is pretty empty at the moment ), but the TP-Link seems an overkill for me.

At the moment I configured the torrent with a global max number of connections = 220 (it was 300 before the disconnections, but it was working perfectly).

220 connections is not a so high value... is it really possible that my D-655 randomly faints because of this?

When I had mine DIR-655 A3 Hardware could only handle 200. So the BT Client software and the OS was set to 100. Now that the TP-link Load Balance 5160 can max out at 300, then I can change the TCP.sys to 200 and set the BT Client software to 200 as well. I have 8GB of RAM in there. I am using AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition 2.5GHz 64-bit Mode on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1.

Trendnet Gig 16-port Switch has 2MB for packets buffering most switches only have 512KB seems tight on the buffering size.

Well as for cost yes stuff cost more right now prices seem to have dropped here so TP-LINK router is working very well. No more buffering of Youtube or Netflix videos. Now if I can get a good enterprise WiFi then I'll be set.

 

[geno888]

Maybe I found an affordable alternative

Browsing the TP-link web site I found the TL-R600VPN.

I read specifications, but I'm not able to find how many connections is able to manage it. If I'm not reading the wrong parameter, the R600 is able to manage 10000 connections, and the 5120 can manage 120000 connections. If I use 200 or 300 connections, then the R600 should be more than enough. However, the R600 has lesser RAM, so which one is better for me?