Netgear Router keeps dropping connection

[Mokona]

Been reading this thread, as yes I'm having the same problems >.<

We have the wireless netgear DG834G - and like all it seems to randomly drop its connection every so often (most times when I'm downloading, and away from the computer). I then have to disable the connection and enable it again to pick it back up (or simply just restarting the PC).

However, and this is the weird bit - my partner and I use the same connection (with the same wireless reciever cards) BUT his never drops connection.... and suprise suprise he has Windows Vista... I have XP (home).

We have taken your advice too, and placed the router and its little feet clips so its standing up now - but if that doesn't work I'll be upgrading to Vista to see if there's a difference. :/

Fingers crossed!

[Splash]

is your partner wireless or wired? Does he use his machine for downloading? Do you lose your connection to the router, or does the WAN connection drop? Is the router resetting when the connection drops? These kind of problems are usually caused by badly setup P2P apps, and Vista won't make a blind bit of difference.

[Betty_Swallocks]

I have a Netgear WPN824 and I had exactly the same problem when I first got it.

The heat problem was one that was suggested on the (now defunct) Netgear forums and I found that the situation improved when I followed Netgears advice and stood the unit on top of the box it came in. (Honestly, you couldn't make it up, could you?)

I also found the PSU to be delivering 17 volts and replaced it with a 12 volt one.

The router was still rebooting itself frequently though, and I found a firmware update on the Netgear site which again improved things slightly but again still not completely. It was still rebooting on a regular basis.

The problem was finally eradicated completely when my wife got a new laptop with an 802.11g wireless built in and we stopped using the Netgear WPN511 PCMCIA card. Haven't had a reboot since.

Yep, that's right. You heard it here first. The Netgear router and the matching wireless card are apparently incompatible.

Last time I EVER buy Netgear. The fact that the equipment is a complete POS is compounded by the fact that their support is non-existant.

[IAmATeaf]

Netgears' CS from my experience seems to consist of disconnecting your call once they've run out ideas, truely shocking. I have both an 834G and a 834PN, the 834G suffers from poor wireless coverage and disconnects. The 834PN has better coverage but just randomly drops the internet connection, the only real bonus is that it does recover a few seconds later but it seems to have an inherent routing issue in that it won't NAT and pass a request from another router to it's WAN connection. Netgear sort of agreed that there was a problem but then cut me off.

[Chunkers]

I have a Netgear router also, a DG834G. On occasions it randomly drops (loses synchronisation) its internet connection, sometimes every few miinutes and immediately re-connects. On other occasions it will then be stable for days.

After trying everything I spoke to my ISP (Zen) who brought my attention to this :

ISP blows the whistle on router chip 'fault' | The Register

Apparently the AR7 chipset in my router is unable to handle noisy lines due to a bug and if the connection becomes noisey it just drops.

Zen advised me to bin my Netgear and get a Speedtouch or another router without the AR7 chipset, for the time being im just going to stick with the Netgear and put up with the drops.

Sorry if this has been done to death and you know already, was news to me.......

Chunks

[Paul Boy]

Try switching off uPnP in your router.

The Torrent program may use this to automatically set up firewall in the router. You will have to manually set the gateways and port forwarding, if that the case


PS i know your using XP, but FYI there is a well known issue with Vista and uPnP in routers (connection keeps dropping) switching it off sorts it

[Scribbler]

Hi I've a similiar problem, my flatmates bought a netgear WTG624 wireless router to leach the internet off me. Trouble is it keeps failing to connect to the internet and not reconnecting (its set up to use a PPPoE -but changing any settings is an utter nightmare as its in Chinese, a language I read like a 5 year old).

Rebooting the router/modem usually fixes things but given I'm loath to let said flatmates start playing with my electronics is there a way to ensure it automatically reconnects?

help would be enormously aprechiated.

[schmunk]

I have a Netgear WPN824 and I had exactly the same problem when I first got it.

To be fair, my WPN824 has been nothing but rock solid in the ~18 months I've owned it. It is stood on its box inside a cupboard (as I got NTL to put the cable through the front wall of the house straight into the cupboard, which also contains a power socket and is next to the TV ).

[joshwa]

My netgear router has been pretty crappy from day 1... (it's only a month or 2 old)

Vista wireless regularly looses connection.
XP machines loose LAN connection, then a second later gets it back again.
DNS doesn't work if left set to router (192....) and I have to manually put in virginmedia's DNS settings on my PCs to get to certain sites.

Also a friend has been testing all wireless routers, and has had 3 netgear routers all doing the same thing... the other routers haven't.

I've been thinking about switching to a Homeplug networking solution:
Broadbandbuyer.co.uk | HomePlug AV

... or going back to Linksys

[Prismatic]

How's this for an anomaly: I've been running my DG834G for the past month and a half without a reboot. I'm with Be internet (ADSL2+) with slightly dodgy phone wiring in my house. 2 PCs connected via ethernet and 1 via wifi, all using XP.

We regularly use torrents (any time the PC is on really). I used to have issues with the wireless connection but since I changed adapters (edimax usb wifi thingy) it's been working well.

There was a time I had issues with torrents. I can't remember exactly but I think I turned off firewall logging in the router, or maybe it was uPnP or something else.

So all in all there's at least 1 working piece of netgear hardware. I wouldn't touch the rest with a barge pole mind you!

[imroberts]

I had exactly the same problem with two Belkin routers. They were both different models which really surprised me.

If I capped the speed of my torrent client to less than 200kb/sec then the routers would be fine, but anything above that and it was just a matter of time before the routers locked up solid.

I've actually switched TO a Netgear DG834GT and have not had the same problem since...

[CrazyMonkey]

I also had constant connection drops on my DG834G (No stand ) The problem was that it would lose connection to the internet and then reconnect within 27seconds... This was in the summer though... Now its alot colded i have not had a connection drop... Ill try proping the router up or getting it ventilated in the summer...

However on a side note, i stopped multiplayer gaming in september and since then the problems have also gone... I'll try a few heavy internet RTS games and post any results...


Thanks

[Chunkers]

Just as a follow up to my earlier post where I described the problems I was having with de-syncs and drop-outs whilst using a Netgear DG834G.

I invested £23 in a new Speedtouch 585 router off ebay and all my connection problems have gone away. Now rock solid.

My experience seems to absolutely verify the report that routers with the AR7 chipset like the Netgear cannot cope with long noisy phone lines like mine. The advice I got from Zen support on this was also spot-on.

Chunks

[Betty_Swallocks]

To be fair, my WPN824 has been nothing but rock solid in the ~18 months I've owned it.

Also to be fair so has mine now that I'm not using the Netgear WPN511 card in my wife's laptop.

[G4Z]

Wll, I have a Netgear DG834 that I used with Zen for several years with hardly a single reboot in that time. However, I decided to switch to Sky 16mb ADSL and since they make you use their router I have had loads of problems with their Netgear (not sure about he model as I am at work)

1. Internet will slow to a crawl (like 200 kbits per sec) seemingly randomly - reboot fixes it.

2. Wireless is really flaky for my XP laptop (was not a problem with the old one).

I am tempted to lift the user/pass out of my Sky router and flash my DG834 so it will run ADSL2. The other option is to disable wireless on my sky router and use my old one for wireless duties.

Anybody have any idea how much work is involved in making my DG834 compatible with ADSL2?

[MadduckUK]

Anybody have any idea how much work is involved in making my DG834 compatible with ADSL2?

could do with knowing what version of the DG834 it is, but it could be as easy as a firmware flash. as a quick look about shows the firmware updates for a few of them adding it in, while i guess the newer versions came with it already.