Belkin N150 drops connection

[ben7]

The Belkin N150 at school is being annoying. Drops connection, when I get it back, it usually only works for a few minutes. I am not the only one having problems with this. I use windows 7, but others who use mac osx, and linux or ubuntu have the same issues.

We got this thing back in '09. Has been plugged in even since. Bad capacitors maybe? This issue just started recently (about a month or two ago).

Take note, this is the older N150, NOT the new sleek one.

I know its a cheapo, but it was working fine before...

No ISP changes, not much increase in users (max is about 20 at a time). There are no issues with the ISP either.

Oh, and when this connection 'drop' occurs, we all can still connect to the router, but we can't access the internet.

Any ideas?

[retiredcaps]

Re: Belkin N150 drops connection

We got this thing back in '09. Has been plugged in even since. Bad capacitors maybe? This issue just started recently (about a month or two ago).

Oh, and when this connection 'drop' occurs, we all can still connect to the router, but we can't access the internet.

Any ideas?

It could be a number of things.

1) Firmware could be initally buggy, but you never ran into the problem until more users, more wifi interference, etc.

2) Bad caps in the router or power adapter.

3) I suggest opening two DOS windows. In one, do a

ping -t 192.168.1.1 (IP address of router).

In another, do a

ping -t 8.8.8.8 (Google's name server)

When the connection drops, it will be help determine if your router is the problem or the ISP.

PS. 3 years is 24 x 365 x 3 = 26,280 hours power on time. So it could be bad caps if the router is in a hot environment.

[ben7]

Re: Belkin N150 drops connection

It could be a number of things.

1) Firmware could be initally buggy, but you never ran into the problem until more users, more wifi interference, etc.

2) Bad caps in the router or power adapter.

3) I suggest opening two DOS windows. In one, do a

ping -t 192.168.1.1 (IP address of router).

In another, do a

ping -t 8.8.8.8 (Google's name server)

When the connection drops, it will be help determine if your router is the problem or the ISP.

PS. 3 years is 24 x 365 x 3 = 26,280 hours power on time. So it could be bad caps if the router is in a hot environment.

Great, I will try the ping thing during school on monday!

The router always feels only slightly warm on the outside, but it has no vent holes - it might be baking inside. The same thing for the power adapter. I do remember it being a little on the light side, but it is an SMPS, so....

Side note ... my ping to www.google.com at home is around 30ms