Modem, Homeplug, Or Something Else?

kah22

I'm trying to figure out whether my modem is up the left and whether my homeplugs are up the left, hopefully readers can offer some advice. And maybe it is something else I haven't thought about!

Here is where I am at. About six weeks back I began to experience trouble with my internet connection, I'd be going well and then the connection would drop for no apparent reason. For the first few days I put it down to my ISP but once it persisted for a week and I had been on to them a number of times I began to look for other causes.

What was happening was that after the connection dropped I would turn of my homeplug and modem at the mains wait for 30-60 seconds and then power up again. Generally speaking this seemed to fix the problem and away I could go again.

In the beginning the problem was more of an annoyance than anything else but lately it seems to be happening more frequently and the turning on and off of the power supply, while mostly effective is not hitting base all the time and I have to just walk away and come back later.

My thinking is that either my modem and/or homeplugs have reached the end of their life. The modem Netgear DG824M is seven perhaps eight years old by now but has given me no bother in the past. The homeplugs are lidil own brand and have served me well over this past, say two possibly three years. The Netgear's software is up to date. At this stage I should add that because of where the gear is positioned it is left on 24/7

The most obvious test for the modem would be to bother one and try it for a while, at the moment though none of my mates have a spare.
Homeplugs will that's a different matter I wouldn't expect people to have two spares sitting idle.

You can understand where I'm coming from; if any of the gear is in terminal decline then I'm going to have to replace; but neither homeplugs or a decent modem are cheap. So any tests I can run to check the health of the gear. I'm discounting it been a laptop fault as I've only had the machine for about six months.

So what do you think: Modem, Homeplug or Something Else?

kwikbreaks

It's a modem/router not just a modem.

When it is faulty try accessing the config page - http://192.168.0.1 - default login credentials are apparently admin / password - if you can then it isn't the homeplugs. I'd be very surprised if it were anyway as I've never heard of them having intermittent problems - they either work or they don't.

If you can access the config when you have a disconnect take a look at what the stats say and check if you can reboot it via software.

If you can't access the config then just power cycle the router - if you can then access it this once again pretty much rules out a homeplug issue.

Are you running any P2P software - some routers can croak and hang because of the high number of connections used.

spinybif_2

Just make sure there are no appliances with transformers on the same ring main. We had intermittent problems with homeplug connection which drove us mad until I discovered it was a rechargeble instrument pack with lithium ion batteries - when charged it switched itself off, when trickle charging homeplug speed dropped dramatically - sometimes to zero.

Enterprise_1701C

This is the problem we had with our router - we swapped it out and no longer have any problems.

exup

spinybif wrote: »

Just make sure there are no appliances with transformers on the same ring main. We had intermittent problems with homeplug connection which drove us mad until I discovered it was a rechargeble instrument pack with lithium ion batteries - when charged it switched itself off, when trickle charging homeplug speed dropped dramatically - sometimes to zero.

one of the main drawbacks with homeplug system - as they use the mains wiring which is unsheilded and untwisted, the wires are susceptible to noise (interference) from various sources

debitcardmayhem

I saw someone having similar problems, and it appeared that using static addresses for the PC's at the end of the Homeplugs sorted it. Might be worth a try no cost .

letsbehonest

Do you turn off your router with your PC ? I had a similar problem with the internet dropping out, part of the problem was that you should alway's leave the router on for reason's I won't go into, the other part of the problem was that there is a lot of old buried aluminium cable still being used by BT this will degrade your connection and add to it's drop out. (BT's BB engineer's verdict) once he re-routed my connection coupled with me leaving my router always on problem solved