We have a network at our house. But our Netgear MR814 V3 is dropping our Local and internet connection randomly about 3 times a day. Then i need to go unplug the router and plug it back in. The connection will drop at ANY time.

Here is the setup of our network:

Cable Modem connects to the router

Router Connects to downstairs computer and to a network switch upstairs in my room

Switch connects to my desktop computer and my laptop

I know it is the router causing the problems because when the connection drops, if I plug the downstairs machine directly into the cable modem the internet works. And then when i plug it back in to the router the internet stops working.

Does the routers wan interface have the cloned address for the pc that works?

Here's how it works. ISP registers your pc's nic cards mac address. You can get this address by typing ipconfig /all and noting the 'physical address'.

This is why your pc works.

Now if you hook up your router its going to present ITS mac address to the ISP. ISP compares mac addresses and says "hold on buddy you aint the right guy". This only works as good as their monitoring programs are. Some get too busy and let things slide.

There is a entry in the wan config page to put the pcs mac address in. Do so and save the config. Then try again.

This isn't to say the router may physically be failing. I had the exact same model and it worked great but it could only do wep and I wanted wpa+ so I replaced it. It was getting old.

You can always try setting it back to factory defaults and then reconfigure from scratch.

Now all this is assuming your test and its results are valid.

It could very well be the switch is causing a packet flood which knocks out the switch in the router.

You could test this by the next time everything goes out, unplug the switch from the router, reboot the router and then see if the pc directly connected to the router gets internet. If it does you know where to start looking.

Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?

There are a variety of things that could be wrong.

First, try plugging your laptop in to different ports on the router when the connection goes down.(wait 30secs each port) -> no internet still? try using a different cable and port to connect your router to your modem. -> nothing?
try fixing an IP for your laptop -> no internet still?
check the logs on the router - if these make no sense, copy and paste them on here so we can intepret them - they should provide some idea why the connection has been lost. -> STILL no internet?
Panic!!! no not really. Can all PCs connect to each other? ie does the router still provide services but no internet connectivity?

-D-

nosey aren't ya, readin me sig?

We use MAC Adddress Filtering. I have tried different cables and ports. The only way to get it working again is to unplug the power for the router and plug it back in. When it drops the connection ALL of the PC'S lose there connections and ALL Network activity Stops.

You have not addressed the downstream switch issue with what you are doing.

Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search

Those flakey routers tend to go bad, especially in homes. I have a wireless Linksys that worked great for months, then all of a sudden kept dropping its connection. I had to do the same thing as you.....unplug and replug in. I reset it to factory defaults, upgraded its firmware, but it still kept acting up. It did seem kind of hot to the touch.

So I chalked it up to a loss and bought another router. Its only $50, or even cheaper online. See if its still under warranty, and if so, call the manufacturer. Hardware does tend to fail. Sometimes that's an easier solution then racking your brain trying to fix it.

John Carr
Network Analyst

Thanks. I will buy a new router.