Is it possible that I'm overloading my router?

[Titanic3]

So I tend to host LAN parties at my house since out of all my friends, I have the best internet, using Verizon Fios. We have something like 5-6 people on laptops using my wifi with the exception of my desktop connected directly to the router. After 3-4 hours of gaming, my router will suddenly turn from green to orange and even restarting it does nothing. I then have to call Verizon itself and have them manually reboot my entire network from their control center. It happened virtually everytime and my friends and I are starting to get fed up with it. Is there any fix?

 

[daswilhelm]

yea, tell verizon to replace your broken router.

 

[dbhosttexas]

Is this a Verizon owned / managed router, or your own device behind a modem of some sort? Either way it sounds like you have a problem with the router basically shutting down after extended heavy use, which leads me to think it is a thermal issue. Run it hard, it gets hot, and shuts down...

 

[daswilhelm]

fios modems have built in routers. you can bypass the internal router and buy your own if verizon isnt willing to replace it.

 

[Titanic3]

Yes this is Verizon's factory router. I leave it on virtually all day 24/7 even in 90 degree room temp and it works flawlessly. It's only when my friends come over that it spazzes out.

 

[daswilhelm]

those routers are made by actiontec, and they are low quality.

 

[USAFRet]

Quite possibly something is wrong with the router. ActionTec? I have 7-10 devices connected 24/7 to my FiOS router, and have exactly 1 issue in 2 years. Not heavy 'gaming' between all the devices, but heavy use nonetheless.

Currently connected:
Main PC
Wife's PC
HTPC/file server
Linux Firewall
work laptop-VPN
secondary laptop downloading Win 8.1 (WiFi)
TV
Onkyo receiver
Dell printer
2 cameras via Eye-Fi if I turn them on (WiFi)
I'm sure I'm forgetting something...

But I've had multiple simultaneous WiFi connections as well.

Buy an inexpensive switch or two, and bypass the WiFi for your gaming. And get that router replaced. It should handle it.

 

[dbhosttexas]

Yes this is Verizon's factory router. I leave it on virtually all day 24/7 even in 90 degree room temp and it works flawlessly. It's only when my friends come over that it spazzes out.

Operating the modem / router in a 90 degree room? I seriously suspect you are operating that router well beyond it's thermal operating range (as should be listed in the owners / operators manual).

Having said that, idling in a hot room is one thing, which isn't good for processors, but hitting it with a heavy load, means you are generating a high thermal load due to passing larger / more frequent amounts of current through the circuits. Oftentimes, a microchip at low load can tolerate a warm / hot room, but when a heavy load is thrown at it, it starts throwing errors... In all honesty, operating the device in a hot environment typically makes devices more prone to thermal issues. At the very least it radically reduces its designed life span.

Adding a switch to the mix and gaming via cabled ethernet would reduce the load on the WiFi and potentially help the issue. If the game is restricted to just the LAN I.E. similar to the old Quake series games running your own Quake server on the LAN and its all connected via the switch, then the router can't be a problem.

I still lean heavily toward the router being the problem though. The fun part will be getting Verizon to help you out with it at all... I dropped them as my phone carrier when I got a cell phone many years ago. Their service was downright dreadful... Made Comcast look like they actually cared about the customer! It has however been a long time, maybe their customer service has improved. It couldn't have possibly gotten worse...