Is my router dodgy?

SlyReaper · 4 May 2012 at 15:34

My internet connection keeps dying. Several times a day in fact. It's only a minor irritation because if I just disable and re-enable my WiFi adapter (it's a PCI card), it restores my connection - I don't even have to reset the router. But I get the same problem on another USB WiFi dongle, so I don't think it's the WiFi card that's broken. I've also changed my DNS server to google, so it's not that either.

Internet connection is Virgin Media 50Mb/s (although it never reaches that speed) cable.

So what do you reckon? The router I have is the free one VM gave me about a year ago. Does it sound like it's the router that's the culprit?

toasteh · 4 May 2012 at 15:51

If your router's anything like the virgin media one I had in my house at uni last year it required restarting almost every day, so I guess you can either put up with it or find a replacement

demonix · 4 May 2012 at 16:08

Would that happen to be the 'super' hub.

If so then just buy a wireless router and place the hub into modem only mode.

SlyReaper · 4 May 2012 at 16:46

demonix said:
Would that happen to be the 'super' hub.

If so then just buy a wireless router and place the hub into modem only mode.

You can do that?

Okay, I do have a better router, but it's for non-cable connections (ie, connections that come over a BT landline) so it's just sitting in a cupboard somewhere. Am I somehow able to use it to connect to the virgin hub thing, and connect wirelessly to the better router?

PistolPete · 4 May 2012 at 16:47

Is it the WNR2000 - if so my wifes is doing the exact same thing.

SlyReaper · 4 May 2012 at 16:53

PistolPete said:
Is it the WNR2000 - if so my wifes is doing the exact same thing.

I didn't find a model number, but it looks like this.

No, I never dust.

SlyReaper · 4 May 2012 at 22:12

demonix said:
Would that happen to be the 'super' hub.

If so then just buy a wireless router and place the hub into modem only mode.

No seriously, how do you do that?

Audigex · 4 May 2012 at 22:58

(Works for HomeHub or most other routers)

1) Go into the superhub admin IP (should be in the manual) and log on.
2) Disable wireless.
3) Note down the IP address you just used (probably along the lines of 192.168.0.1) of the superhub, along with the subnet mask (usually 255.255.255.0).
4) Go to DHCP in the settings (may be hidden away)
5) Find the DHCP range - almost always 0.0.0.2 - 0.0.0.255 where 0.0.0.1 was the router's IP address
6) Move the start of this up by 1 (so it's now 0.0.0.3 - 0.0.0.255 or whatever) and note down the old start (0.0.0.2)
7) Remove all ethernet cables from the superhub
8) Turn the other router on (referred to as router for the rest of this), but do not attach to the superhub.
9) Connect via ethernet to the router
10) Go to the admin IP of the router (should be in the manual) and log on
11) Go to the LAN/IP settings
12) Set the IP to the same as the one you noted in step 6
13) Set the subnet mask to the same as the one you noted in step 3
14) Set the default gateway to the same as you noted in step 3
15) Go to DHCP and turn it off
16) Set up the WiFi - I normally find it easiest to set it up with the same SSID and password as was on the superhub, so you don't have to change it on your devices
17) Plug the router into the superhub via ethernet
18) Connect any ethernet connections to the router (NOT the superhub, ideally, although if you're not having problems with wired connections, it may not matter)
19) Connect everything else to the router via WiFi, and continue as normal.
... I think I covered everything there.

Tip: If you have a combination of 802.11g and 802.11n devices, you could repeat the above with a second access point/router and have a second WiFi for 802.11n devices, giving them better range and performance.

demonix · 5 May 2012 at 15:55

SlyReaper said:
No seriously, how do you do that?

Access the routers setup page and somewhere there should be a option to put it into modem only mode (which will disable wireless and all but one of the LAN ports).

As I don't have that (or have virgin broadband any more) I can't advise any further.

Also I doubt that the other router you have will work since it doesn't have a WAN port that would allow it to connect to the hub (you should be able to find a decent wireless router for around £30 or so).

SlyReaper · 5 May 2012 at 16:45

Actually, even better. I just got myself one of these, allowing me to connect physically to the superhub without WiFi or crazy long ethernet cABLES. My connection has not dropped once since I started using it, and as an added bonus, I'm now getting the full 50Mb/s speed on my internet. Apparently, the WiFi was bottlenecking it.

And my old netgear router goes back into storage.