Dodgy router?

[regsmyth]

I have a Belkin router at home.
A few miles away I have the exact same model of router at work.
The work one is on an industrial estate and is always reliable.
The one at home is temperamental.
It has various lights to show if there's a phone signal, and a flashing one to show when it's "transmitting/receiving". However over the last few months there have been several times when we can't connect to the internet, and I wonder if it's a dodgy router. Is this possible.
The main question is....
If I were to swap the routers around, is it going to mess up passwords etc, or would this be a good idea to try and establish if the home router is dodgy?
Thanks for any help.

 

[TonyWarrington]

Is your Internet Service Provider the same at your work and home site?

It is possible that it is a dodgy router but also equally possible that your ISP or phone line is causing the problem.

Are you using microfilters on each telephone socket and ensuring that each device that connects to phone line is plugged in correctly?

Have you tried re install of home router e.g How to set up Belkin router -Supanet - important refer to your ISP instructions.

Do you get to a start screen for your router when you type into your web browser 192.168.2.1?
If you do have you checked that any settings for your ISP are correct?

If you swap routers around I believe you will need to reconfigure your system.

 

[regsmyth]

Thanks Tony, I will avoid swapping the routers around for the time being.
I don't know what the problem is. Yesterday, we couldn't get connected at all during the day, then suddenly, we connect.
It's such a pain not knowing how or why it's being temperamental.
The ISPs are different.
I haven't tried the Belkin set up screen thing.
I have filters on all the sockets.

Another problem I have is that I can't get onto certain "secure " sites such as my online banking. Why would this be???

I think perhaps I should try to re-install the router, as you suggest.
Just not tonight.....

 

[TonyWarrington]

Before making any changes I would suggest considering doing some basic housekeeping to eliminate the possibility of your system being corrupted by some form of Malware or incorrect application set up.
You did not say what operating system you are running but assuming Windows XP:

1. What Anti Virus application are you running?
When was the last time you ran it and when was it last updated for new virus definitions?
If up to date do a full system scan.
You are running only one anti virus application concurrently?

2. What Anti spyware applicationare you running?
Is it updated for new definitions?
You are running only one anti spyware application concurrently?

3. What firewall are you running.
You are running only one firewall aren't you?.

You must only run one firewall on your system otherwise you run the risk of not being able to connect or intermittent connection as you describe. If you have a Windows XP firewall enabled and run another firewall application then disable one (suggest XP firewall).
Similarly with anti virus and anti spyware applications you should only run one at any given time - make sure if you do have more than one that they are not all set to operate automatically at start up.

If you are feeling brave (foolhardy?) you could try temporarily disabling all anti virus. firewall, antispyware for a short period and see if this has any effect on your connection issues

 

[regsmyth]

Thanks for the reply Tony.
Windows Vista and XP (two pcs)
Threatfire antivirus (free, updates automatically, doesn't scan)
Spybot s&d anti spyware (free, not regularly updated or scanned)
I think I only have one firewall running. Will check.
The intermittent/temperamental connection happens on all computers - so I guess that would suggest a problem with the router or the phone line or the router setup rather than the computer.
If one computer can't connect, then nor can the others.
Any other thoughts?

 

[regsmyth]

I started, so I'll finish. Lost connection again yesterday when I really needed it, so went and got a new router.
Got it out the box, unwrapped all the bits...
Simultaneously heard a strange buzzing from the phone.

Turns out to be a broken wire in one of the phone sockets. Been playing havoc with my connection for months!

Can I take the new one back if it's not faulty?

Perhaps I should keep it, you know, sods law....

I guess it'll be out of date in 3 months anyway.

 

[TonyWarrington]

Glad you got it sorted finally. Wish I had put more emphasis on the possibility of a phone line fault

You may be able to take the old one back for a refund especially if you have all the original packaging - depends on how generous the shop owner is I suppose.

Of course if you decide to keep it you will have a spare - just in case

 

[regsmyth]

The fault was on one of the wires in one of the wall sockets. The pvc sheath around the broken wire was intact, which generally kept the broken wire touching.
I had checked all sockets, several times, and from visual point of view, all was well.
Is there a gizmo to check your phone lines?
Would a multimeter work?

Anyway, what do I care, it works now. Brill.