# Solved: Router seems to constantly disconnect from my network, wireless signal drops



## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hello everyone, this problem has got to the point to where I am not sure what to do next. I am a pc technician for a living so I never usually have problems I cannot fix on my own,

I have a Dell Studio 1745 Laptop and its only a few years old, I recently upgraded my router to be wireless a year or so ago and have had a few d/c issues here and there but mostly has not been a problem.

Recently I have had tons of d/c issues while playing warcraft or browsing the internet in general, anything really.


So I made the mistake of recently updating my WNR1000V3 router's firmware from my laptop's wireless connection. After I did this I saw all sorts of warnings (none built into the firmware itself, sigh) that this was a big no no.

Since then my d/c issues have been horrible but what it does now is my connection will be completely normal then all of a sudden my wireless access point will switch to 'No Internet Access' and it will drop my internet.

The only way I can get it back is to go into the other room and reset the router by either unplugging it, or pressing the reset button on the back, once it reboots and everything, my laptop sees the connection again, and it has Internet Access fine.


Soo I went and made the problem much worse, the lame part of the situation is before I had this firmware issue I was getting this problem anyways.

I decided if I could flash a older version of firmware to the router using my desktop that is wired to the router I could then reupdate it to the current version, fixing these current issues hopefully.

I found a old firmware version on netgear.com and went to upload it through the router login for my router, it then said the file format was unrecognizable or not the right one (it was a .img file). I even tried to mount the file and explore it, no go. I found another firmware version older than that and attempted to flash that to the router and it began to update, then gave me a warning that this firmware was older than my current, I click yes and my internet drops and the update never happens.

So if I did screw the modem up this way I have no idea how to fix it now  I have reset it to factory settings but this doesn't affect the firmware version. I suspect the firmware has something to do with the recent problems because I have seen the 'Congratulations, You have setup your router and are connected to the internet" like 20 times these past 48 hrs.

I downloaded Xirrus wifi inspector and have it running now. I tried the ip flush and release stuff, and a bunch of tricks ive seen on other forums.

My system is Windows 7 with a Intel wi-fi link 5100 AGN network adapter. I have tried rolling back that network driver and messing with the advanced and tcp/ip settings.

Please if anyone can offer any insight or any things to try please do. I know something really simple is going on that I am overlooking, but I have to start with fixing the firmware, or even making sure that has anything to do with this.

Thanks

I should add that the internet works fine wired, this is purely a wireless signal/router issue I think. Also, I have the router in the next room over, full strength all the time, I'm on a different channel than every other wireless channel I can see in my neighborhood, and I have no interference from devices.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

whilst working can we see the following and then when it disconnects can we see all the tests again - the three ping tests are important

*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* ipconfig /all *
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to paste the results into something like notepad and then copy onto a machine that can access the internet and post results here

We would like to see the results from ipconfig /all post back the results in a reply here

Hold the *Windows* key and press *R*, then type *CMD* then press *Enter* to open a command prompt box (A new dialogue box - black with white font, will appear on screen ):

In the command prompt window that opens, type the following command:

_Note that there is a space before the /ALL, but there is *NOT* a space after the / in the following command._

* ipconfig /all > network.txt & network.txt *

It will export the results to notepad and then automatically open notepad.

Now all you need to do is copy and paste those results to a reply here
to do that:
From the notepad menu - choose *Edit* - *Select all* 
all the text will be highlighted
Next
From the notepad menu - choose *Edit* - *Copy*
Now go back to the forum - reply and then right click in the reply box and *paste* 
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*

*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* Ping Tests *
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to paste the results into something like notepad and then copy onto a machine that can access the internet and post results here
Save the file to a USB flash drive or other removable media. Plug it into the working computer with internet access and copy the file and paste here.

Start> Run {search bar in Vista/W7}> CMD to open a DOS window and type:

Type the following command 
*Ping* {plus the number thats shown against the default gateway shown in above ipconfig /all}
Post back the results
rightclick in the box
select all
enter
control key + C key - to copy
then reply here and 
control key + V to paste

Type the following command
*Ping google.com*
Post back the results
rightclick in the box
select all
enter
control key + C key - to copy
then reply here and 
control key + V to paste

Type the following command
*Ping 209.183.226.152*
post back results
rightclick in the box
select all
enter
control key + C key - to copy
then reply here and 
control key + V to paste


> _*For your information only*
> these tests will check various stages of the connection, the first ping test, *ping default gateway* checks to see if you still have a connection to the router the next two
> *Ping google.com & Ping 209.183.226.152* tests the connection to internet , one by name and one by number which checks that the dns is working_


 
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*

*------------------------------------------------------------------------*
* Run Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector  
Download and install*
If you cannot access the internet with this PC, then you will need to copy the program across to the faulty PC
Save the file to a USB flash drive or other removable media. Plug it into the working computer with internet access and copy the file and paste here.

http://www.xirrus.com/Products/Wi-Fi-Inspector.aspx
Direct link to the program is here http://wpc.475a.edgecastcdn.net/00475A/XirrusWiFiInspectorSetup.1.2.0.exe

_{If the above link does not work heres another link http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,77196-order,4/download.html}_

Then run and install the program - on a wireless enabled PC/Laptop
if you get an error - You need NET Framework installed for the WiFi Inspector to function.

Run the program

A user guide is available here http://www.xirrus.com/Products/Wi-Fi-Inspector/xirruswifiinspectorguide1-2-0.aspx

post a screen shot of the program running - if there are a lot of networks showing can you click on "networks" top lefthand area - so we can see all the network information, and also post which network "Adapter Name" (1st column) is yours on the list

To post a screen shot of the active window, hold the Alt key and press the PrtScn key. Open the Windows PAINT application and Paste the screen shot. You can then use PAINT to trim to suit, and save it as a JPG format file. 
To upload it to the forum, open the full reply window and use the Manage Attachments button to upload it here.
Full details are here http://library.techguy.org/wiki/TSG_Posting_a_Screenshot

Note:
For a reliable (or robust as the Xirrus user guide says) wireless connection you need a signal of about -70 dBm or better.

If you are using the Mac OS then use http://www.istumbler.net/
*------------------------------------------------------------------------*


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hey, thanks for the reply, here is the information you requested.

I stayed on all last night with no problems amazingly, woke up this morning and got dc/ed every 30m-1hr or so as usual again.

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Jay
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . : 
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : 
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-D6-4E-D5-C2
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::ac10:26d6:737f:8eaf%11(Preferred) 
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred) 
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, January 12, 2012 3:59:24 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, January 13, 2012 3:59:24 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218113238
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-11-FB-27-A3-00-24-E8-F5-DF-48
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : 
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-E8-F5-DF-48
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : 
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IPv6 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 2001:0:4137:9e76:87b:20df:9d46:e758(Preferred) 
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::87b:20df:9d46:e758%14(Preferred) 
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : ::
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Disabled

Tunnel adapter isatap.{75918FA7-0763-4D60-8204-74895615C2EB}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : 
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{929A8D20-739B-4E2A-A591-7D1BCB4B5F73}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : 
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

----

C:\Users\Jay>ping 192.186.1.1

Pinging 192.186.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.186.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss),

C:\Users\Jay>

----

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Jay>ping google.com

Pinging google.com [74.125.227.82] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.227.82: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.82: bytes=32 time=66ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.82: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=53
Reply from 74.125.227.82: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 74.125.227.82:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 62ms, Maximum = 66ms, Average = 63ms

C:\Users\Jay>

----

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Jay>ping 209.183.226.152

Pinging 209.183.226.152 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=18ms TTL=53
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=21ms TTL=53
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=53
Reply from 209.183.226.152: bytes=32 time=19ms TTL=53

Ping statistics for 209.183.226.152:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 18ms, Maximum = 21ms, Average = 19ms

C:\Users\Jay>

--------------

Trying to ping my default gateway once more yielded this:

C:\Users\Jay>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64
Reply from 192.168.1.1: bytes=32 time=3ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3ms, Maximum = 3ms, Average = 3ms

C:\Users\Jay>

So next time I am dc/ed you want me to try the ping stuff again and paste it here?


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

if you would post back all tests - ipconfig /all - xirrus and also ALL three ping tests


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hey, Got the d/c a little while ago and I got everything except one of the ping tests.. because I couldn't get online to get the ip to use, I'll get it next time.

Heres everything else, right after disconnecting, going to my router and pushing the reset button and giving it 5m brings back internet access every single time.

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Jay>ping google.com
Ping request could not find host google.com. Please check the name and try again
.

C:\Users\Jay>ping 192.168.1.1

Pinging 192.168.1.1 with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.2: Destination host unreachable.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 1, Lost = 3 (75% loss),

C:\Users\Jay>ipconfig /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : Jay
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Mixed
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) WiFi Link 5100 AGN
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-D6-4E-D5-C2
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::ac10:26d6:737f:8eaf%11(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.2(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Thursday, January 12, 2012 3:59:24 PM
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Friday, January 13, 2012 3:59:24 PM
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 218113238
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-11-FB-27-A3-00-24-E8-F5-DF-48

DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-24-E8-F5-DF-48
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Teredo Tunneling Pseudo-Interface
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{75918FA7-0763-4D60-8204-74895615C2EB}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

Tunnel adapter isatap.{929A8D20-739B-4E2A-A591-7D1BCB4B5F73}:

Media State . . . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #2
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-00-00-00-00-00-00-E0
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes

C:\Users\Jay>


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

you have lost connection to the router on that ping test 
so it would be useful to see the xirrus shot

if you connect the PC to the router with a cable - does it still disconnect - want to isolate this to a wireless issue only and if the firmware maybe the issue at all


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hey dude, thanks again for trying to help

Just got a d/c a second ago but it reconnected fairly quickly (within 20seconds)

I snapped a shot of Xirrus for you when it happened. When this laptop is connected to my home modem this does not happen. I also have a desktop in the living room that is wired to my router and this never happens. (Although I don't game and download on that pc so this isn't 100%)

I did notice as soon as it reconnected, the external IP in Xirrus showed back up.

Keep in mind it usually doesn't reconnect itself, usually it'll stay and on the bottom right itll say No Internet Access and sometimes my wireless hotspot disappears completely.. But when I reset the router this fixes those problems every time.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

> I also have a desktop in the living room that is wired to my router and this never happens.


 so points to a wireless issue



> When this laptop is connected to my home modem this does not happen.


 is this a different location ?
and still wireless or wired to the modem ?



> I snapped a shot of Xirrus for you when it happened.


 that looks OK

how many devices connected by wireless and did they all disconnect ?


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Same location, when I go to my living room and wire the laptop to my router it works fine seemingly. So yea it does seem to be a wireless/router only issue.

Only 2 computers in my house, my wired desktop in my living room and my wireless laptop in my bedroom. The only other thing connected is my xbox 360 to my wireless network and it hasn't been turned on in 2 weeks I rarely play it.

The laptop has always had a few spotty dc issues but never to the amount I get them now. I can't seem to stay connected for longer than a hr or two before it at least drops me once.


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## etaf (Oct 2, 2003)

can you test out the xbox , just to confirm all wireless devices disconnect at the same time - which would then point at the router and basically goback to your first post and firmware issues


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Yea good idea, what I'll do is play some xbox live for a hr or two and see if it d/cs me.

I'll post back tonight with the results.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Okay just played around with xbox live a lot.

It disconnects whenever my laptop disconnects, at the same exact times.

Before I had this problem, my laptop still had the occasional d/c (maybe 5-6 in a 24hr period, and it would always reconnect immediately, I never had to reset the router) but the xbox would never disconnect, my friends would play call of duty for like 7 hours uninterrupted.

Also I grabbed some more screenshots, what happened was it disconnected, then suddenly worked for like a minute, then it appeared connected but the internet wouldn't work, then the access point disappeared altogether.

Thanks again for your time, I am ready to try anything at this point, it's making my internet experience worthless haha.

Update: Just got another DC and got this new interesting message.

It says Windows has detected an IP Address conflict.. Then it says another computer on this network has the same IP address, yet my desktop has been off all day today. The 360 has been offline as well. How weird, I hope this sheds some light on my problem.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Heres the screenshot of that above message I just got.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Also decided to check into my event viewer to read up on that conflict.. and oh man something is definitely messed up here..


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

With respect to the dup. IP issue, make absolutely sure you have no other device that could be on the network now. I have occasionally been surprised to find that my iPod Touch is on, after not using it for a day or two.

If your WPA2 passphrase is guessable, or is a dictionary word, or if you at some time let a neighbor connect to your Wi-Fi you could be providing somebody else's internet access.

If you haven't done so since the firmware update reset the router to factory default settings and reconfigure it.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hey TerryNet, thanks for jumping in, man.

Yea I am absolutely positive there isn't a hidden/forgotten device because I don't own a smartphone, or tablet, I just have 2 computers and a xbox in my house.

Right now, a buddy is online in my living room on the pc wired to the router named SONNIE. My laptop is wireless and named JAY, and it is showing my xbox on the wireless below JAY.

I am getting more hopeful tho, a little bit of googling shows this to be common enough that I can hope it can be easily resolved.

When I reset my router to factory settings I did reconfigure it, honestly tho I didn't have too change much its pretty much automatic, maybe theres something thats on by default that should be off? I can post screenshots of options and what not just let me know what you wanna see.

Heres my router's thing showing the connected devices, so I know for sure someone else isn't on my network. My password is impossible to guess and has like 19 characters.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

At the bottom of the attachment for post # 14 it says that the IP conflict was with your Xbox (comparing MAC Addresses, of course). That router screen shot agrees--your computer now has a different address.

If the Xbox has a static IP address then you have to either
a. change it to be outside the router's Dhcp server's address range, or
b. change the router's Dhcp server's address range to not include 192.168.1.2.

My concern about the router was that it was reset to factory default settings after the firmware upgrade. Doubt that anything you configured or did not configure matters for this problem, except maybe for what I just said about the Xbox IP.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Hmm.. interesting. Not sure what to think of that since I just turned on the xbox today and have had this problem for like 2 weeks now or so.

I cannot find a option to edit/see if the xbox has a static ip..

I found this in my router setup options, it has a thing where you can make a device have a perm ip, dunno if this has any relevance.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

Thought i'd provide a update to this issue because I really hate it when I find threads on google that never have a solved response.

This issue was a LOT more common than I had thought. Windows 7 apparently isn't completely compatible with every router out there, and especially has a history of problems with my WNR1000V3.

I tried every single trick I came across, prob 40 different little registry/service/advanced setting fixes, all which did nothing.

I hooked my laptop up to the router directly, then the modem directly, and got a flawless, perfect connection with no problems whatsoever.

I was determined to try everything and it appears the last round of fixes I tried has actually did something, everything seems really fast and solid on my wifi right now.. but I will reply back in 12 hrs or so to verify everything is fixed for sure.

Anyways, what I did is go into my routers firmware and changed the wireless setting to 54mbps instead of 74mbps or 150mbps.. I then I turned OFF 'use this router as a dhcp', and re-ran the wireless and internet setup 'wizards' through the router's login.

I then finally went to my device manager, and rolled back my wireless adapter and realtek onboard ethernet controller adapters. Then I changed my password settings on my wireless to WPA2. (all of these I found in a related forum with users having my exact same problem.) I rebooted and power cycled everything and so far this seems to be back to how it was a few weeks ago, and I do vaguely remember updating one of those drivers, but I am not sure which of these last round of fixes actually did anything.

I hope someone can find this and have some luck too, this is a way annoying problem that seems to be affecting tons of people. I'll come back tomorrow and mark as solved if my issues never returns, which my exhausted brain really hopes for.

Also: I managed to find a way to flash old firmware onto the router and then re-update it to the current all using my wired desktop connection to the router, although that didn't seem to fix the problem, as that was a day ago, but I figure I'd mention I did find a way to do it.


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## Jay2112 (Jan 12, 2012)

8 hours later, not a single problem.

Woohoo, I was at my wits end there for a bit.

I haven't had a issue all night my games run smooth under 100ms latency and haven't been disconnected all night.

Thanks everyone for helping me get on the right road


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