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davidflas · Feb 3, 2008, 01:03 PM

I have two late 2007 Macbooks that are constantly losing their connection, ..it happens once every 5-10 minutes. They are connected to a Belkin N router. I have a web password on the network as well. Signal strength isn't an issue, all the bars are always displayed..I just lose my connection to the internet....alot

What can I do to make it more reliable? When I connect the the network at University I never have this issue....Should I buy an airport extreme? Any other suggestions?

naphtali · Feb 3, 2008, 01:27 PM

Perhaps you could check to see if there are any firmware updates for your router? There might have been some reliability issues patched up after you got it. Try googling the exact model name of your router, see if there are any others sharing your problem?

davidflas · Feb 3, 2008, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by naphtali

Perhaps you could check to see if there are any firmware updates for your router? There might have been some reliability issues patched up after you got it. Try googling the exact model name of your router, see if there are any others sharing your problem?

I appreciate your suggestion, actually the setup cd that comes with the router has a "check for new firmware" option, that I used..no new firmware is available for this router...

mduell · Feb 3, 2008, 02:59 PM

Belkin

What's your current backup solution? Perhaps you could use a Time Capsule...

davidflas · Feb 3, 2008, 03:12 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

Belkin

What's your current backup solution? Perhaps you could use a Time Capsule...

I currently back up my files either to DVD or an external hd... I have been eyeing the 1TB Time Capsule as I have nearly 20k 10 Mega-pixel digital photos, and I keep taking more.... I don't mind spending money to make this work, I'm busy, and don't want to spend a lot of time fiddling with my router just to get it working....

mduell · Feb 3, 2008, 06:08 PM

Don't have a great backup solution, don't mind spending money, and don't want to spend a lot of time on hassle with wifi? Dude, you're like the ideal Time Capsule user. Buy the terabyte and be done with it.

ghporter · Feb 3, 2008, 06:51 PM

I agree with mduell on both his assessment of Belkin network products in general and your being a perfect customer for Time Capsule. But first, let's look at where your problem really is.

In general the "connection to the Internet drops" thing has more to do with the router than most people think-they often blame their computers for it. It could be that your ISP dumps you if you don't have continuous traffic for a while (most routers offer a "keep alive" setting that makes sure you have some sort of traffic going on every so often), or that your modem isn't keeping a good connection with your router, or that your ISP is providing a flaky line.

Here's how you figure out where the issue is. I'm assuming that you usually/always connect to the router by WiFi and that your Internet connection is with DSL (if not, ignore the DSL specific instructions)

Connect your computer with a Cat5 cable directly to the modem (you'll have to tell Networking Preferences your ISP logon data and to log you on if you're using DSL). Using the button in Network Preferences, renew your computer's DHCP lease (even if you usually have a manual address-this actually connects you to the modem) and see how you do. I'd give it an hour just to be sure, but if you have one of the "every 15 minutes" drop outs while connected this way, it's likely you've identified the culprit already.

If you don't have any problems while connected directly to the modem, move your cable back one device and plug into the router. UNDO the PPPoE settings you used for the modem, and again renew the DHCP lease. Same process here-if you have a drop out in about 15 minutes then it's gotta be the router.

Finally use just ONE computer via wireless to see if the WiFi part of the router is just easily overwhelmed by traffic. (That's not terribly likely but it can happen.) You should find out within an hour or so where the problem is. If it's in the modem, contact your ISP and tell 'em about it-they'll either tell you what product to get to replace it or replace it themselves. If it's the router, you already have a plan.

Since you read all the way down to here, you'll also have to write a Time Capsule review and post it. Small change for figuring out what's been giving you fits, eh?

davidflas · Feb 3, 2008, 07:10 PM

@ghporter, Thanks for the detailed response. I did read the entire thing, and if I get the time capsule I'll be sure to write a detailed response. I feel that I unintentionally left out some background details. Prior to owning my MacBook, I had a Macpro connected to the router via ethernet. My connection to the internet is via cable. Prior to going wireless, I never had any issues with dropped connections. The connections drop, but I still have a full signal indicated. The router I have is a MIMO model, so I don't think its getting over whelmed by connection requests. Other than going from a Macpro to a Macbook, the only other difference is that I had 10.4 on the Macpro, and the Macbook will only run on 10.5. Other info...since I've been back in school I moved back in with my mother to cut living expenses(

)...my point is that her iMac DV400 had connection issues with this router too. It was one of the reasons that she upgraded to a Macbook too... We've both become quite fed up with this situation.

here's my router if it helps... Belkin : N Wireless Router

mduell · Feb 3, 2008, 08:40 PM

You'd be surprised how little it can take to overwhelm a low quality router (a single torrent, for example), and Belkin sure knows how to make low quality stuff.

ghporter · Feb 3, 2008, 09:10 PM

The router is certainly suspect if your mom's iMac had problems with it to begin with. As mduell says, it's pretty easy to overwhelm the data capacity of many routers, and Belkin hasn't done much to change most impressions of their network hardware, so you could pretty easily be hurting things that were not terribly good to begin with.

The good news is that your mom doesn't have to stick with her router if she doesn't want to-WiFi N routers are widely available at less than $90, and it sounds like you're having a lot more than $90 worth of problems right now. Time Capsule is more expensive, but it brings a lot more with it too. I agree that it's time to change something, and that router looks like the best candidate.

mduell · Feb 3, 2008, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

The router is certainly suspect if your mom's iMac had problems with it to begin with. As mduell says, it's pretty easy to overwhelm the data capacity of many routers, and Belkin hasn't done much to change most impressions of their network hardware, so you could pretty easily be hurting things that were not terribly good to begin with.

It's not a data issue, it's an issue with the number of open connections and/or ARP floods from bots. I had some issues with my D-link and replaced it with a WRT54G.

davidflas · Feb 5, 2008, 12:02 AM

Since the Time Capsules don't seem to actually be available yet, I'm going to try an experiment. I'm going to remove the WEP password I have on my router, and see if that solves my dropped connection issue....

ginoledesma · Feb 5, 2008, 01:16 AM

When your Internet connection is "dropped", are you still able to talk to the other computers in your network, including the router? Does it affect both the wired and wireless clients? I'm curious to know if the problem is between your ISP and your router, or your router and your computers. The most common problem I've seen is the "router" crapping out, that in spite of broadcasting a strong signal, is no longer routing packets from your computer onto the Internet. I've experienced this with various products, even those made by D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, and Apple.

I don't really recommend disabling WEP (use WPA or WPA2 if you can), but that's worth a shot to see if it helps your situation, though I'd do that as a last resort. You might want to disable Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall protection on the router end first if it has one. That should lessen the burden of your router a bit.

Lastly, what types of Internet activity is going on just prior to the router giving up? Video streaming? File sharing (e.g. bittorrent)? VPN? etc.?

ghporter · Feb 5, 2008, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

It's not a data issue, it's an issue with the number of open connections and/or ARP floods from bots. I had some issues with my D-link and replaced it with a WRT54G.

I oversimplified my statement-too many data connections can overwhelm a router is what I should have said. Which version of WRT54G did you get? Some of the later ones are less powerful/capable than earlier ones.

mduell · Feb 5, 2008, 09:51 AM

I bought the WRT54GC and stuck a big antenna on it.

The later WRT54G models switched from Linux to a lighter weight OS, so they can get by with less hardware. Hackers are welcome to buy the WRT54GL which is still Linux based and has additional memory.

bearcatrp · Feb 5, 2008, 10:00 AM

Could be a possible conflict in frequency if you have a wireless phone. I would suggest you change do a different channel to see if that works. Don't know much about belkin except from what I have read (don't buy) but some wireless routers let you adjust signal strength. If yours in capable, max it out. Do you have your ssid hidden or open?
Randy

davidflas · Feb 5, 2008, 11:08 AM

Originally Posted by bearcatrp

Could be a possible conflict in frequency if you have a wireless phone. I would suggest you change do a different channel to see if that works. Don't know much about belkin except from what I have read (don't buy) but some wireless routers let you adjust signal strength. If yours in capable, max it out. Do you have your ssid hidden or open?
Randy

By wireless phone, do you mean a cellular phone, or a landline based cordless phone? I have no landline, and use my cell phone rarely, so I know its not a conflict with that. I have my ssid out in the open. The router is set to N mode only, so I think that will keep most people off while I'm conducting my password free experiment. There's another network in the area called wireless that's also wide open, so I'm hoping most freeloaders will use that one. I've tried changing channels, and that seems unrelated to my issue.

davidflas · Feb 5, 2008, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by ginoledesma

When your Internet connection is "dropped", are you still able to talk to the other computers in your network, including the router? Does it affect both the wired and wireless clients? I'm curious to know if the problem is between your ISP and your router, or your router and your computers. The most common problem I've seen is the "router" crapping out, that in spite of broadcasting a strong signal, is no longer routing packets from your computer onto the Internet. I've experienced this with various products, even those made by D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, and Apple.

I don't really recommend disabling WEP (use WPA or WPA2 if you can), but that's worth a shot to see if it helps your situation, though I'd do that as a last resort. You might want to disable Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) firewall protection on the router end first if it has one. That should lessen the burden of your router a bit.

Lastly, what types of Internet activity is going on just prior to the router giving up? Video streaming? File sharing (e.g. bittorrent)? VPN? etc.?

The type of activity seems unrelated to the drop outs. I never use file sharing services. Most of my activity is light websurfing, some instant messaging, etc...