Why do ADSL routers freeze ?

daveza

daveza

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Regardless of which brand of router a client uses, when they call in to say ' the internet is not working ' I ask them to turn the router off and on again and 99% of the time the problem is solved.

Does anyone know the cause of routers hanging ? I would really like an answer for my clients as they seem to imply that somehow it must be my fault for installing it incorrectly !
 
Where is the router?

Heat is a big factor.

I had a client phoning every afternoon complaining that the router freezes round about 4.
It happened because the router gets sun in the afternoon and then locks up.

It could also be that the line is really bad and that the router builds up so much CRC errors that it locks up and needs a manual restart.
 
I think there are too many different routers in different places for it to be a heat issue.

If it's an expired IP issue wouldn't every router need a reboot ?
 
Dave,

there could be a multitude of issues. Expired IP addresses though, are very unlikely in 99.9% of cases, as the router acts as the DHCP server, and has a static IP address itself. One thing that I have noticed though, is that running the DHCP server on another device does indeed mean things run more reliably (I have a setup at a clients where the router works as a modem and access point, and all DHCP requests are handled by a W2k3 server box). I think the last time I touched that router was around a year ago.

Heat could be an issue. Buffer overflows could also come into play.
 
I doubt heat is the issue. Because the box stays the same temp after its been rebooted.
I idea about the logs seems probable.
 
I've had the router freezing problem with two notable routers i've used:
The first being a Linksys AG241 (brilliant modem besides for the freez), and the second a Telkom Mega 100WR.
In both cases the jams happen when a power spike takes place. If the modems' transformers are being run on a UPS, the problem is no more. Seems the transformers dont like south africa's unstable power supply.

Speaking of power supply, I urge you all to cut down on power consumption. My electricity bill last month was R3500, this month R5500, and I've made no change in average use over the last 2 months so obviously pricing has changed. Time to make some drastic changes!
 
fragtion_ said:
Speaking of power supply, I urge you all to cut down on power consumption. My electricity bill last month was R3500, this month R5500, and I've made no change in average use over the last 2 months so obviously pricing has changed. Time to make some drastic changes!
Click to expand...

:sick::sick::sick::sick:
 
daveza said:
Regardless of which brand of router a client uses, when they call in to say ' the internet is not working ' I ask them to turn the router off and on again and 99% of the time the problem is solved.

Does anyone know the cause of routers hanging ? I would really like an answer for my clients as they seem to imply that somehow it must be my fault for installing it incorrectly !
Click to expand...

I know on most brands of routers if the code is new then the programmers usually have a bug some where which causes a memory leak and if it runs out of memory then the router will crash.

I think thou for us to help you'll have to give more specific info on the routers and situations.
 
I have this issue with the school's Microcom piece of junk router. It has smoothed out a bit lately, but it's frozen many many times in the past.

Before this we had a nice SMC router that worked brilliantly, but sadly it just died on us one day and we had to get this Microcom as a replacement. I don't think Microcom are even still in business anymore.
 
Is seems that this issue does not have anything to do with the manufacturer of the router. Almost all routers freeze up now and then.
 
On the heat question, it can be overheating in one area (affecting one chip) and not others. I've got an old netgear router on which the wireless-access part freezes, but the wired router part keeps on working, and extra (forced) ventilation fixes the wireless freeze.
 
Would I be wrong in thinking that if heat were in fact the cause, that rebooting the router would incur the same problem?

It is a bit of a mystery as the routers after a reboot are fine for days, weeks or sometimes never freeze again.

They always show PPP and ADSL as active, yet though the lights are on no-one is home.
 
Yotch said:
If it's a cooling issue maybe a cheap laptop cooler might help ...
http://pcdiscounters.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=136
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/9359975/Triple_Fan_Notebook_Cooling_Pad_with_USB_connection.html
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/9317...ebook_Cooling_Cooler_Pad_LED_Light_OT_11.html
Click to expand...

I don't even think that's necessary just make sure it's well ventilated. I've had ADSL routers up for months without rebooting. The one difference was they were connected to a UPS.
 
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