Internet Connectivity Problems - Router Mostly Seems Fine

[SmallBug]

Hello there. I apologise in advance for my lack of advanced knowledge, but I've been experiencing several problems with my internet connection recently.

The issue is that my connection randomly cuts out for no apparent reason. It doesn't usually happen often (once an evening or so is typical and sometimes not for several days) and "power cycling" the router -I.e. turning it off and on again- usually works to fix it after a couple of tries.

I am using the speedtouch router. I think it's this one (looks like it though may be a later model?): http://www.speedguide.net/routers/technicolor-thomson-speedtouch-585-residential-71

Here are some things that occur when my net goes down and some general facts about my connection:

• 
  
  ■ I am with AOL broadband (known here in the UK as TalkTalk) and while they recently sent me a letter indicating there would be line upgrades (which have happened) I believe this problem existed before that. I have not contacted them regarding this.
  ■The five lights on the router (Labelled Power, Ethernet, WLAN, DSL, Internet) all go off when the connection fails, seemingly spontaneously. They then come back on all except for the INTERNET light, which remains red until I power cycle (and sometimes after that). This suggests to me (?) that these things are all fine.
  ■ The rotuer is a few years old -perhaps four or five- (I actually have a new spare one from them, which I got when I asked about this problem last time it occurred on my old computer, but since the net seemed okay usually I opted not to go through the fuss of replacing the router with a new one as I'm not sure it'll work.
  ■ I am using a Wired connection, not wireless (The wireless just about works here but it's pretty bad). We have a wire going right through the whole house for this purpose!
  ■ All computers in the house and all other connections go down (the laptop downstairs, and my ipad) but the phone line appears to be fine.
  ■ Most of our street is BT or BT infinity at this point, but we have been with AOL since before it was rebranded as TalkTalk in the UK. That's at least ten years.
  ■ It appears to cut out more often in the evening or late at night
  ■ The router itself is on almost constantly 24 hours except when I restart it because this happens as I had this problem in the past and am afraid to turn it off.
  ■ My computer is a Chillblast Elixir which I have owned for roughly five months: http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Elixir.html
  

Sorry, I know this doesn't tell you all much, but I'd really appreciate some help with this. I am extremely nervous and anxious concerning my internet and worried I might do something to make the problem worse. Would anybody here suggest contacting them? I find discussions with AOL tech support to be... strained at best. (Nice people I'm sure but I struggle with phones at the best of times and cannot always understand what's being said.)

Could anybody please advise me on steps to take to stop this happening? Could it just be the age of the router, or something like that? I an unsure.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[Karsten75]

Talk to your ISP about this.