[SOLVED] Can old wifi router cause breaking connection intermittently ?

[sushrut87]

Hello,

I am using TP Link WiFi router WR740N v4 which is 5-6 years old. I am getting "Request timed out error" 2-3 times intermittently every 5-10 minutes. Since I am working on VM hosted on Azure, this stops me working for few seconds. For normal browsing/streaming that would not be an issue.

I recently updated the firmware which was provided in 2015 (this was the latest on TP Links website). Whenever I contact my internet provider they told me there is no issue from their side.

I have 50 Mbps connection and using internet on my desktop using ethernet cable. On speed test I see 48-49Mbps for download and similar for upload.

I don't have heavy internet usage like 4K video etc. I use you tube, amazon prime on Full HD TV. I have maximum 3-4 devices connected at a time. But internet issue occurs even if only 1 device that is my working desktop is connected.

I would like to know/confirm what is causing the internet connection breaking every few minutes whether it is due to older router or the internet provider.

Can some one help me finding this?

Thank you!

 

[JWNoctis]

What happens if you bypass your router, and connect your desktop directly to the modem?

 

[sushrut87]

I don't have modem but a direct cable from ISP. So I have connected that cable to my WiFi router and then connected cable to the port in the router which is connected to my desktop.

I think ISP has bound connection to the MAC. But I can try getting MAC reset request and connecting my desktop to the cable. I was trying to avoid that since for some time till I observe direct connection to desktop other device won't be able to connect via WiFi.

Thank you!

 

[bill001g]

That is strange there must be some kind of modem device in your house. Ethernet can only go 100 meters and I doubt you live in the ISP office.

In any case the reason it is recommended you bypass the router is it simplest way to determine if it is the router that is bad.

Your other way to test is to leave a constant ping run to the router IP address. You want to test on a ethernet connection. If you get packet loss then the problem might be the router.

You can also leave a ping run to a ip like 8.8.8.8. If you get loss to this one but not your router that tends to be a problem with the ISP.

 

[sushrut87]

I don't live in the ISP office 😀. But I just have cable coming into my home and I connected that to my own WiFi router. ISP may have modem somewhere else nearby my home.

I tried bypassing the router. Then I got very few packet loss. But I quickly had connection back. It took hardly 1-2 sec but since working on cloud hosted VM I realized about frozen screen. When I used to connect my desktop using ethernet through WiFi router port, if there used to be a packet loss (request time out on ping) it used to take 5-10 seconds. Is that expected since I get connection via WiFi router vs getting connection from cable directly?

So in my observation there are still very few packet losses. I will also test during day time when bandwidth usage by people is more if that affects my connection quality.

I will also leave a const ping to the router and 8.8.8.8. Thank you JWNoctis, bill001g for suggestions.

 

[bill001g]

Loss to 8.8.8.8 means something in the path is going down....but you already knew that.

Testing on wifi is always unpredictable because it will get loss because of a neighbor using their wifi.

My guess is your internet has intermittent outages. The ISP unless they test during that time will say everything looks fine. You goal now is to do their work and prove it is their problem.

This is why ping to the router is important. You will show them that you have no loss to your router at the same time there is packet loss to the internet.

In some ways it would be nice to know where the modem or other equipment is. Sometime it is not the ISP, some apartment have a switch and other equipment to provide internet to apartments and it can be that. You quickly get into situations where neither will fix issue.

 

[sushrut87]

Thank you bill001g!

I see that ping to 8.8.8.8 timed out few times however at the same time ping to router (192.168.0.1) didn't time out. Does this mean my router is working fine but there is issue with my internet provider's connection?

 

[bill001g]

Yes that what it means. You can try to convince the ISP with the information you have. Otherwise run tracert to 8.8.8.8 and do the same with the ip you see in hop2. In most cases hop 2 is the connection to the ISP from your house. If you show no loss to your router but loss to the ISP router the ISP should agree it is some issue with their equipment.

If hop 2 works it gets messy. You can try other hops to find the first you see issues but it might not be in your ISP network in some cases.

 

[sushrut87]

Thank you bill001g! I will work with ISP on this issue and provide this information.