Do Old Routers Go Bad?

[sleddriver]

After spending a few hrs with Tier 2 ATT dsl support, we determined my old SMC7004ABR 4-port wired router was the bottleneck. I looked on SMC's site for firmware updates, but no joy.

How does a router slow down over time? (short of a hardware fault)

The dsl modem I'm using is a Motorola 2210-02-1002 which has a built in router, but only one ethernet port. Evidently, it was set up in 'bridge mode' since I already had the SMC. As such, I'm unable to see the Moto status page with a browser.

What do you guys recommend? Another router? What brand? A switch? At this point, I'm wondering what my options are.

Thanks

 

[OVERKILL]

If the Motorola can be set to function as a router, I'd go that route. Pretty easy to get into, it SHOULD give your PC an IP address when you connect directly to it with an Ethernet cable.

From a command prompt: ipconfig /all

Whatever shows as the gateway address (192.168.0.1 for example) will be the address to go in your browser to connect to the web interface of the device.

 

[barlowc]

Just like any electronics device, routers can go bad. I had a D-Link wired router go bad, but when it did I completely lost my connection. It didn't just slow down.

Routers are cheap. I just saw a D-Link wireless router with 4 wired ports for $20 or $30 at OfficeMax yesterday. But if your DSL modem has a built-in router and wireless, then a 100 mbps switch might cost you less and be all you need.

 

[sleddriver]

Yea, the only problem is it has a single ethernet port & I have two 'fusers and an old laptop to plug in, all with wired connections.

The Moto modem seems to have quite a few features, but when used in bridge mode, you can't use any of them.

 

[sleddriver]

The dsl modem does have a built-in router, but no wireless capability.

Wow . . they have gotten cheap! $20 or $30? Geeze . .curious what brands are most reliable, easy to work with, have good support & reputations.

The old SMC did have a printer port which is why I bought it over linksys, d-link, etc.

 

[Quest]

all cheep routers will only last you approx. 2 yrs before they all go bad, in one form or another.

typical issue such as performance problems, or mostly intermittent connectivity issues that was never a problem when new.

Also hard-crash/freeze is not uncommon.

IMHO buy a new one and get on with your life. No use dwelling on this subject (unless you get small office or enterprise grade HW then it would be a different story).

Q.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
what brands are most reliable, easy to work with, have good support & reputations.

Although I had one D-Link go bad, I replaced it with an identical one that's been running for many, many years now with no problems. I also have a Linksys wireless router that's just configured as a switch / wireless access point. Both of those brands are good in my opinion.

 

[Camu Mahubah]

I always think my Linksys is dying because my internet slows down and speeds up and slows down...

So I the laptop directly into the modem and it does the same thing. Difficult to tell when a router is dying at my house with such [censored] internet.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Yea, the only problem is it has a single ethernet port & I have two 'fusers and an old laptop to plug in, all with wired connections.

The Moto modem seems to have quite a few features, but when used in bridge mode, you can't use any of them.


Just grab a cheap switch to plug into it then. There are many Linksys, ASUS and Netgear ones that are very inexpensive and work well for a home network.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Quest
all cheep routers will only last you approx. 2 yrs before they all go bad, in one form or another.

typical issue such as performance problems, or mostly intermittent connectivity issues that was never a problem when new.

Also hard-crash/freeze is not uncommon.

IMHO buy a new one and get on with your life. No use dwelling on this subject (unless you get small office or enterprise grade HW then it would be a different story).

Q.


Correct.

You get what you pay for with consumer-grade equipment.

On this note, I'm trying to get one of my home-business clients to pick up a 3745 from E-bay. They are a couple hundred bucks now used, will handle OC3-class speeds with ease and are FAR more capable than anything he can pick-up new in the same price range from the SMB-class of products.

He wants to serve some relatively high bandwidth content from his home business, and so this was my recommendation. It will be reliable, is more than robust enough and definitely has the flexibility to do what he needs.

 

[Colt45ws]

I used to get about 6 months out of routers before it would no longer stay running long enough to talk about. Two years would surprise me.

 

[Nick R]

Good wireless router is the Linksys E series. We now have an E2000 (was on sale for $79.99) That works really good for netflix streaming, and everything.

 

[brianl703]

I bought a cheap router from Microcenter back in 2002. It lasted until 2008 before it died.

 

[ddrumman2004]

I used a hardwired Netgear router for 4 years until my wife bought her Toshiba laptop and we needed wireless.

So, I bought a Linksys router. I figured it would be a good router from all I have read on the web about how great they were.
Maybe they are but that dang software that comes with them!

So I purchased another Netgear with wireless and all has been well for the last year.

 

[punisher]

I don't know what it is about routers.

I have had the same Motorola cable modem for ~7-8 years, never a problem.

Linksys WRT54G something..router- Dead after 2 years.
D-Link router- dead after 1 year
Replacement D-Link router- DOA
Buffalo wireless router- 3 years
Linksys WRT54GL- Ok...so far

 

[Quest]

I re-certify all of my WRT54G/GL series and they typically last me 5+ yrs (I have 1 failed so far, the rest (7+ still up and running)).

Mainly due to elevated ESR on the filtering capacitors/bypass capacitors and/or the transmitting module starting to go south.

Also: for the later versions that come with a small switch-mode PSU wallwart beware: they will "burn" out your wireless router far sooner than traditional transformer-based PSU (we call that "linear PSU") due to ripple.


Q.

 

[sleddriver]

Interesting how many routers you've had go tango uniform. This SMC is 8-10 yrs old and has never given me any problems until recently. I don't even remember having to reboot it.

Oh well. I'll be looking at wireless models this time, but will turn off the radio until it's needed.

Thanks to all for suggestions.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: punisher


I have had the same Motorola cable modem for ~7-8 years, never a problem.

My Motorola modem only lasted about 1 year. After that, it was still working, but speeds were significantly impaired. Took me a while to figure it out that it was my cable modem that was the culprit.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Interesting how many routers you've had go tango uniform. This SMC is 8-10 yrs old and has never given me any problems until recently. I don't even remember having to reboot it.

Oh well. I'll be looking at wireless models this time, but will turn off the radio until it's needed.

Thanks to all for suggestions.


For an inexpensive replacement, grab an ASUS WL-520GU.

 

[Al]

My netgear went bad after 5 years. Pretty easy to diagnose. Measure the speed with it and without it.

Captain Obvious, out.

As was mentioned. Don't spend more than 1 or 2 minutes to diagnose.