WiFi Router Question

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 8:00pm

Last night my internet service cut out. Called the cable company that provides it, she walked me through a few steps and got it working again. (Basically unplugging and replugging in the router to the transmitter.)

The rep explained to me that sometimes as they send signals to the box which sometimes messes up the router. (Or something like that.)

ANYWAY, the same thing happened again a little while ago. And yet it's never happened before...not in the five years or so that I've had the modem. So, I was wondering if perhaps this means the modem itself it actually getting ready to quit. (or if maybe Comast is just doing some heavy duty signal testing)

Anyone have any words? How long should a modem last?

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 8:25pm

It might be worth it to look into upgrading. I don't know how quickly the modem technology has advanced, but a five year old wifi router would probably struggle with a lot of the wireless demands we place on it these days. I would imagine that a modem of that age might have some of those same issues as well.

[dtzumbrunnen]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 8:49pm

Is it a cable modem provided by Comcast, or is it your own? I had a similar problem with a Time Warner modem and finally just went out and bought my own modem. I eliminated the monthly rental charge as well as the outages.

[HoldThatThought]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 9:07pm

Yep, sounds like your router is going. Since you've had it 5 years, probably best to get a new one now anyway.

"How long should a modem last?"

There's no definitive answer for that. It's an electronic device, and anything plugged into an outlet can get blown out by an outage or power surge. For example, we have had Verizon FIOS for almost 3 years now. We lost power for about 20 seconds yesterday afternoon. Everything seemed fine until we tried to play recorded shows from the DVR from one of the other rooms, but no shows were listed. After 2 hours on the phone with Verizon support, they said our router is messed up and they are sending us a new one. So ours lasted less than 3 years.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 10:09pm

It is one I purchased. Thanks for all your advice. Maybe I'll pick one up to have in case it either continues to happen or it dies. We now have three different computes and three iProducts that run off it.

Thanks for all the advice and thoughts.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 10:19pm

Probably obvious, but make sure that the modem you buy is compatible with your service provider. I know Time Warner has a page on their site that lists their recommended modems if you are going to buy your own, I assume Comcast does as well.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/20/13 at 10:43pm

No, it wasn't obvious. I know I didn't check when I bought this one...but I'll take a look and see!@