Losing connection to internet by way of router

[brianb22]

so this has been happening for about a month now and i've done extensive research trying to find the solution without much luck.  basically i'm losing my connection to my router at really random times.  i haven't changed any settings lately or anything like that.  my modem has been fine through this whole thing so i'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with my local ISP.  i have been connecting/disconnecting the router and that works but sometimes its for a day and other times for an hour.  no pattern.  i've changed a couple of things and got these suggestions from here:
http://besthubris.com/computers-internet/wireless-network-drop-connection-windows-7-error/

i've ran troubleshooter and hasn't found anything.  one thing i noticed on my routers web page was the LAN ip address.  i don't know much about these things so i was wondering if that ip address is supposed to match my computers ip address or if it has it's own specific one.  i just changed a setting in that link about an hour ago so don't know if it will fix this problem but from what it says i don't hold much hope. 

Running Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit
Dynex Model DX-WGRTR v1000

also i checked for firmware updates on my router and there wasn't any.

[Geek-9pm]

Who made the router? The modem?
Is this DSL or Cable?
How old is the modem?
How old is the router?

Almost new hardware does fail. And it has a lot to due with your ISP. Many ISPs will offer their customers equipment that is marginal to hopefully get a better profit. They are wrong. Customers don't like it when equipment that should last for years breaks down in a few months.

Replace both modem and router with a single unit. Expect to pay $100 for a good one.

[soybean]

...  it has a lot to due with your ISP. Many ISPs will offer their customers equipment that is marginal to hopefully get a better profit.

I have some doubt about the validity of that statement; perhaps it's true for some ISPs but definitely not all.  Some ISPs provide the modem as part of the package to the customer and, if the router fails, the ISP replaces it.  So, providing unreliable modems would just increase the cost of providing support to the customer and create bad PR (Public Relations) for the ISP.

Replace both modem and router with a single unit. Expect to pay $100 for a good one.

I'd be more inclined to advise just replacing the router.  If you still have problems with an unreliable connection, then contact your ISP. 

By the way, are you connected to your router by cable or are you using a wireless connection?

[brianb22]

Yea my ISP provided my modem but not my router.  My modem is obviously run through the router and then the router connects to my PC.  I have a laptop that I connect wirelessly to the router as well as both of my smartphones.  I ended up doing one of the suggestions on the website I listed and if it changed anything it's minimal.  I'm still losing connection but instead of 5 times a day it's more random.  So far today no problems.  I restarted my router last night and has been fine since but it will go out eventually.  From a lot of things I've read on the net it seems like this could be a Windows 7 issue as opposed to a hardware one.  Then again that isn't always the case from what I've read so I don't really know which way to go.  Should I start with replacing the router or do you know of any settings in 7 that might do the trick?  If you need to know what setting I changed I can look it up.  Don't remember offhand. 

[Geek-9pm]

I will chime in again.
In windows you can do the whole network setup again and see if that makes any improvement. Maybe not, not, but worth a try.

[jason2074]

I have a laptop that I connect wirelessly to the router as well as both of my smartphones

Have you tried isolating the problem from a single  computer connecting first? Then allow one machine or device until the problem occurs.

[brianb22]

Are you saying turn off wifi on my laptop and phones and then turn one on at a time to see if one of them knocks the router connection out?  No I haven't but it never really occurred to me that it would make much of a difference.  I'll try it later this afternoon and see if it works.  Right now I'm on the longest connected streak I've had since this started happening.  Haven't lost it since my last post.  I mentioned something in my first post I think about the IP addresses for my PC and router.  I just built my PC about 3 months ago and it obviously was given a new IP address.  The IP address on my router's homepage is not the same and I didn't know if the router had it's own address or if it was supposed to be the same as my PCs.  Haven't done a lot of network stuff so little things like this aren't in my wheelhouse. 

[Raptor]

It seems like a very cheap router as it was made for Belkin. On top of that, you're also using wireless with many devices. I'd bin the thing and buy Linksys. Get cable installed.

Did you check for firmware updates, though? There's a version 1.01.08 available.
Make sure all your devices are set to DHCP ... Once it's stable, you can start manually assigning IP addresses.

[Geek-9pm]

Stop bad blaming the router!
The problem is more likely the modem and the ISP.
He did not say what modem they gave him. The low-end modems have a failure rate above than most routers If That is the case, the ISP already knows about it and is waiting for him to say something.

[Raptor]

He says he is losing his connection to his router. Not modem.

If you are losing the connection to your router, it's your router or your computer.

[Geek-9pm]

He never said how he tested the modem. Nor did he give the model number of the modem or its history. If the modem does not have self-diagnostics, it can take over a day to verify that it works. He seems to to to be a novice. He may have assumed the problem was from the router. An maybe it is. But if ,this had not happened before, there is little reason to think it would be some settings. Why would the settings change?

Pardon me for meddling. Just I think it is the modem.

[Raptor]

Actually, I was the one meddling. It's just that I saw "belkin" and "wireless problems" in the same post.

[Geek-9pm]

Actually, I was the one meddling. It's just that I saw "belkin" and "wireless problems" in the same post.

Fair enough. Wireless is always an issue. The OP ends to tell us if there is a situation where things are better with all devices working.

There is a situation where connection will fail after the first computer is turned off. Some ISPs look for the main computer as a form of ID for the user.

This is why routers have a 'MAC clone' feature.
Not knowing this you can run in circles.

Also, some ISPs will not like it if you have too many people on your connection. Or they may even forbid you for having extra devices, but not enforce the rule in a polite way.
Sp it is helpful to know who the provider is and what policies they have.

[brianb22]

alright so here's the info on the modem.  it's an arris touchstone telephony modem. i am about to go to their website and see if there's any firmware updates for it.  i already checked for updates on the router and there wasn't any.  yea it's a cheap one but it's lasted 4 years so i can't really complain.  definitely got my moneys worth.  so i'm thinking the easiest way to see if it's the modem or the router is to unhook the router and run the cable modem straight to my PC and see if i lose connection.  you have a better way?  i'm not just going to blindly assume it's the modem or the router or both and go spend a bunch of money replacing them.  more than likely my ISP will replace the modem but that's not the point.  right now it's still connected going on two days so even though it's stable i'm sure it will loose it again soon.

[Geek-9pm]

.  so i'm thinking the easiest way to see if it's the modem or the router is to unhook the router and run the cable modem straight to my PC and see if i lose connection.  you have a better way?  i'm not just going to blindly assume it's the modem or the router or both and go spend a bunch of money replacing them.  more than likely my ISP will replace the modem...

You got it! That is the sane way to troubleshoot. Direct replacement or elimination. You can save some money by getting just the router. Once you are sure it is the router.