Keeping internet up at home

[kgtest]

As for the which component is failing question. I would "guess" it's from some components prolonged exposure to heat. The modem kicks off some level of heat when its "working" and that overtime probably degrades some of the components, circuitry, memory or something else. As soon as you lose your memory, you don't know where you are and need a "reset". Its just a guess, sort of like dementia in older people...only we don't have a replacement part for that disease. It's likely just chalked up to normal wear and tear. I send Terrabytes of data each month through our Cable Modem and Router. I haven't had to reset my router or cable modem since I last replaced them both. But when the day comes that I DO need to reset it due to it malfunctioning, I will just buy a new one.

I take this same approach to phone's and laptops. I get a new phone every 2 years, and a new laptop every year. I resell the other ones on fakebook marketplace at a depreciated price. This way, I never have to worry about it.

Laptops and phone's are too important and essential for me to be messing with when they start experiencing issues. My ole man has a phone that the battery won't hold a charge. It's a few years old, and I don't know why he continues to frustrate himself with it, often times its dead when I try and call him. I would have just replaced it...but he seems to be looking for some sort of goldilocks phone "deal" where he doesn't need to pay too much money. Mostly with him its his frugality, but it comes at a cost in terms of quality of life. He seems really bothered by the draining battery, but doesn't do anything about it. :facepalm

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by youbet View Post
But, more specifically, what I'm wondering is what changes (firmware, software, hardware, whatever-ware) that causes the need for re-booting the modem? What is brought up to date by getting a new modem? The modem isn't broken or defective. It just one day needs to be regularly rebooted because it's "old." And getting a new modem fixes that?

Or is it just a non-technical "they get flaky" as skyking1 said in post #42?

For me, these are two different issues. One is that after a few years I'm inclined to replace my router because a lot of changes have been coming to the technology and more are on the drawing board. Some of these are worth it for me --- my wi-fi is stronger, faster, and more reliable than it was with a previous router for example.


The rebooting issue is separate for me and isn't tied to the age of the router. It's just a recognition that for any such collection of hardware, firmware, and software is bound to have some bugs. There is this naive feeling that some have that such a device can be built and deployed entirely free of the slightest flaw, but with complicated hardware/software like this that just isn't true. You want a device that is *relatively* bug free, but for a device like a router that's in service 24 hours per day year round, it's good IMO once in a while to force it to restart from a clean state now and then.

Agreed. I just don't buy (putting it mildly) a lot of recent posts about a modem/router "wearing out". I have electronics that I've used daily for 40 years, a netbook from 2009 that still is perfectly functional (the battery needs replacement, but I use it plugged in as a music server).

If your ISP no longer supports your old modem (not just 'recommends' replacement for new features/speed), and it stops working due to network protocol changes or ISP configuration changes, then yes, you need a new one. Or you could choose to get a new one if you want those new features/speed. And ending support doesn't even always mean it won't work, just that you won't get the latest firmware upgrades if they are the ones supplying them. That may or may not be important to its use/security. But the old one is likely still doing 100% of what it did when it was new. Nothing 'wears out'.

As far as occasional reboots - as mentioned above, there is a *lot* of data being handled by that modem, at some point there could be a glitch or software bug, memory over-run, that causes things to hang up. This happens from time to time with computers, it's bound to happen to a device like that running 24/7/365 w/o a reboot.

Maybe some of those reporting poor experiences with modems live in areas with a lot of lightning strikes, or other power line surge issues? Maybe some power line protection is in order?

-ERD50

 

[JoeWras]

All those bits flying through, sanding against the wires, can really cause wear.

Seriously, with electronics, the one thing that does happen a lot are blown capacitors. With the exception of badly designed hot devices like TVs, this usually takes a decade or so.

Routers usually keep components like that to a minimum and don't wear out that way. Sometimes memory can fail, however. This is the most likely failure scenario that can occur in the 3 to 5 year time frame. It isn't wear, it is just bad design or components.

 

[ERD50]

... I take this same approach to phone's and laptops. I get a new phone every 2 years, and a new laptop every year. ...

Well, to each their own, but for me, a computer is like my favorite pair of jeans, or comfortable shoes. I gotta 'wear 'em in' to make them comfy.

It probably takes me a month or two before I have every setting just where I want it. I change a lot of settings and add some stuff to get everything laid out just right across two monitors, to get the key functions to do just what I want. Redoing that every year would eb a pain!

Ubuntu/Xubuntu Linux is on a 4 year cycle for their LTS (Long Term Support) releases. I generally time my computer upgrades with those releases. Four years, eight years, whatever it takes.

I replaced my previous daily-driver laptop (used as a desktop, with external monitor, keypad, and mouse) from 2014 end of 2021, so 7.x years on that. And I then updated it to 22.04 LTS, and DW is using it to replace her 2009 MacBook Pro, which functions fine, but Apple dropped support for it, we can no longer load newer OS versions, and several programs need the upgrade, so it's become less useful for her. That's one reason I switched to Linux, you can almost always load the latest version on ancient hardware.

My 2010 laptop also didn't 'wear out', but the screen back-light failed. Still works fine if I connect an external monitor.

So there's a few more examples of electrical hardware running fine for a long time with no 'wear' issues (other than batteries).

-ERD50

 

[jim584672]

A new laptop every year, wow. Nice to have but totally not needed. Phones are designed to have the battery die so they got you on that.

 

[KarenF]

I can reboot my modem from my ISP phone app. Did you try that? You can also call your ISP. And they can reboot it. You could have a neighbor reboot it. Adding another gadget just seems like something else to go wrong.

 

[catii]

Maybe the rest of you are lucky, but I've found that today's consumer-level equipment is made to fail after a few years. I own a computer consulting company, with 22 computers connected to two servers, so tracking MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) is just business as usual.

About 75% of our in-house equipment is professional-level, & failures are few & far between. But everything else ranges from 10 months to four years until I have to replace a component. This isn't guesswork, just tracking what quits, & why. Connecting to a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) can double the life of most equipment.

 

[Exchme]

Maybe the reliability needed can be achieved more simply. We were having all kinds of problems with the internet dropping and it turned out it was a bad cable modem (from the cable company). We got a new one for free and haven't had any issues in two years now.

 

[ERD50]

I can reboot my modem from my ISP phone app. Did you try that? You can also call your ISP. And they can reboot it. You could have a neighbor reboot it. Adding another gadget just seems like something else to go wrong.

But I think that only can work if the modem is responding - if it's locked up, it isn't going to able to respond to a command to reboot.

For example, if your modem is up and running, your ISP may be able to force a reboot to push a firmware upgrade. But the modem needs to be up to do that.

-ERD50

 

[rayvt]

Easiest thing to do is the cheapest. A timer that turns off and back on once a day. Plug your internet modem & router (if any) into it. You can get them after Christmas for half-price. If you want to get fancy, buy one with a digital clock that still keeps the time when the power goes out.

No, your external IP address is probably not going to change. Your ISP's DHCP server that assigns the IP address when your modem/router comes up will first try to assign the same IP that it gave last time. That's how they are default configured. We've had AT&T internet for 15+ years and the external IP addr has never changed, even with dozens of power outages.

 

[target2019]

Yeah, that all makes sense. But, more specifically, what I'm wondering is what changes (firmware, software, hardware, whatever-ware) that causes the need for re-booting the modem? What is brought up to date by getting a new modem? The modem isn't broken or defective. It just one day needs to be regularly rebooted because it's "old." And getting a new modem fixes that?

Or is it just a non-technical "they get flaky" as skyking1 said in post #42?

Look at DOCSIS standard, and the supported ISP version changing.
It also happens that your router must work in concert with the cable modem.
Your devices can also update and change network features.

Since all network devices inside and outside of your home must work together, a change to one, or a flaw, can cause many problems. The details of what can go wrong would take up a lot of your time.

 

[marko]

Had the same problem when we were living part time in Europe.

KISS: I used a simple timer; off at 4AM for 10 minutes. (not one that works off the internet!!)

 

[tutan]

We were out of town last week and our internet went down.
I like to check the security cameras and the Nest thermostat occasionally when we're away, and it was kind of frustrating not to have them available.

At first I thought there might have been a power outage, but I checked our electric company's website and nothing had been reported. So I had to conclude that it was the cable modem. That happens occasionally, and I always just reboot it to get back online.

Since it's kind of hard to reboot something when you can't connect to it and you're hundreds of miles away, I started thinking about what I might do to preclude this from happening again.

Seems to me that if I put the modem and router on a timer that would shut them off and turn them back on again once a day (like in the middle of the night), that would do the job.

Then after doing a bit of research, I found this gadget. Supposedly, you can plug your modem and router into it, and it pings a server periodically. If it can't connect, it reboots your machines by turning their power off and back on, doing the same thing as a timer, but only when necessary.

Have others gone this route, and is this a reasonable solution or is there something even better?

MSNSwitch Internet Enabled IP Remote Power Switch with Reboot

Yes I have one. I was having intermittent connectivity and thought I needed this to help the powerup process specifically powering up the modem, pause, and then the router. I schedule this device to power cycle twice a week. Of course it will power cycle the outlets if it detects a connection loss. Although I believe this device helps, what ultimately fixed my connection problem was that the ISP fixed some cable/connector issue and also I upgraded my modem.