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Do routers wear out?
- Thread starter Seal51
- Start date
Mike920
Veteran Member
No. Power supplies might fail and standards might change, but in and of itself, a router does not slow down, unless it burns out. In that case, it is fried.
A car radio is an electronic device as well. Does that slow down? Ask your friend the same question as to why there should be a difference over time.
Best regards,
Mike
A car radio is an electronic device as well. Does that slow down? Ask your friend the same question as to why there should be a difference over time.
Best regards,
Mike
Ron Whitaker
Forum Enthusiast
I had a router go in an unexpected way. First lost ability to network with other home computers and over time was giving unexpected results. Seemed slower because of failures to communicate properly with both computer and provider.
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RonWhitaker.ca
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RonWhitaker.ca
I had a router that just gave up on two out of the four ports it had. The two just woudn't work anymore.
And I had another one that would intermittently have slowdowns for everyone on the network.
The last one I just replaced worked fine, but you could not access it to configure anything.
And I had another one that would intermittently have slowdowns for everyone on the network.
The last one I just replaced worked fine, but you could not access it to configure anything.
Routers are some of the most cheaply made electronic components there are. They either work or they don't and there's no slowdown involved. This reminds me of a friend who is absolutely convinced that mp3 files wear out over time, a totally ridiculous notion. I've had very bad luck with Linksys routers (Cisco evidently agrees, because they're dropping the Linksys name) and while I had one excellent DLink router, it was fried by lightning and the replacement DLink loses its mind nearly every day and requires unplugging the power supply and then plugging it in again to reset the thing. I would replace it, but from everything I've read and heard lately, buying a router is a crapshoot. You'll either get one that works or one that won't. Whatever the case, the Cox representative lied to you.
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The brand new Dlink router that I had that would have intermittent slowdowns for everyone on my LAN is sitting right here in front of me in the box, ready to go back to NewEgg, model EBR-2310
I believe they are very susceptible to heat, and over time they degrade internally, capacitors, resistors, etc. They are also subject to voltage spikes, power surges, and the like.
If you think a Dlink or Linksys is bad, try a Netgear, EL-cheapo in my book.
Pyogenes
Veteran Member
Cisco is not dropping the Linksys brand. That was a rumor that spread about 6 months ago that was confirmed to be untrue shortly after the rumor came out.
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Joe
My craptacular photos: http://www.pbase.com/pyogenes/favorites
Any perceived rudeness, condescending tone, or insults are not intended, but rather the result of my inability to properly express myself with the written word.
tocar
Veteran Member
I've been using D-Link routers and never ever gave me problems. I've also used Belkin and it's all good. The D-Link DIR-655 got raved reviews (which I have btw). D-Link routers are easy to set up. My brother had a LinkSys and it was a bit intimidating to set up for him. My DSL modem is still working and it's been 7 years! And it had it's share of power outages and still working.
Really?! I hadn't seen that it was a rumor. In any case, Cisco should drop the name. I've had 3 bad ones and know several other people who will never buy another Linksys for the same reason.
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The first DLink I had performed flawlessly right up until the night it got fried by lightning. I'd give anything to have it back.
You might want to look into a newer modem, though. I don't know about DSL modems, but I had the same cable modem for 6 years until one of the cable company's support people noticed that fact and got me a new one. The newer one was dramatically faster. Technology does sometimes improve.
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http://www.pbase.com/tmalcom/
I was only talking about routers that sometimes work. Netgear is essentially two tin cans and a string.
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http://www.pbase.com/tmalcom/
smcaul
Well-known member
Thats odd, I have never had any problems with Linksys routers, I always supply them to my clients when setting up broadband for them, as yet, touch wood, not a single failure!! have had problems with 3com routers though and some non branded cheepies that I foolishly tried - lesson well learned that day I can tell you!!
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http://smcaul.zenfolio.com/p944356585
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http://smcaul.zenfolio.com/p944356585
linuxworks
Veteran Member
I do beg to differ.
software based ones can definitely have buffering issues, memory leaks and possibly even rely on watchdog timers to keep them up and running!
pure hardware (chip) based ones are not like that but true software routers (that have upgradable code) can really have issues if the designer didn't do a good job.
just like pc's, sometimes a reboot DOES help. but this is really for the badly made boxes. the better ones should run for well over a year before needing a reboot.
the last really bad box I had was an alcatel 1000 (that I called CRASHcatel). it was the worst dsl modem I've ever seen. hourly, almost, it would lock up and need a reboot. I even went so far as to write a ping-poller job that tests to see if the default WAN router is still pingable and if not, it turns power off on the dsl modem, waits, powers up, waits 30 secs (a magic 'bridge converge' time), then powers up, then tests again. it would also log an event so I could see the history. without that ping/cron job my home dsl 7x24 servers would not be always on the net. so in that sense, there WAS a 'loss' over time. not in the strict sense, but to some people it might appear that resources were running out and a reboot was needed.
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Bryan
linuxworks
Veteran Member
two cans, some string and some BLOWN CAPS:I was only talking about routers that sometimes work. Netgear is
essentially two tin cans and a string.
just went thru the cap replacement a few days ago. don't mention netgear to me - grrrr!!!
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Bryan
Eric Carlson
Veteran Member
Nice. Does it work properly now that the new caps are installed?
I just got a used Linksys WRT54G v2 (for $10) this past weekend so I could play with the various 3rd party firmware available to run on it, though I'm actually using it as my broadband router/switch right now, with the latest stock Linksys firmware, because today I switched from DSL to Cable, and the cable modem doesn't have wireless, and only provides a single non-NAT LAN port, unlike the DSL modem, which had a built-in NAT router with wireless and 4-port switch.
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I just got a used Linksys WRT54G v2 (for $10) this past weekend so I could play with the various 3rd party firmware available to run on it, though I'm actually using it as my broadband router/switch right now, with the latest stock Linksys firmware, because today I switched from DSL to Cable, and the cable modem doesn't have wireless, and only provides a single non-NAT LAN port, unlike the DSL modem, which had a built-in NAT router with wireless and 4-port switch.
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linuxworks
Veteran Member
it actually does! its sitting under my desk a-blinkin away
actually, while it was open, I thought about overclocking it. I did that once - to 10MB ethernet. the thing ran to 11, it did! but then I had to overclock everything on my network. that was a huge PITA.
I am using the freebsd 'm0n0wall' software on some embedded hardware. I think monowall also runs on that 54g box (?). I really trust monowall and its one of those things that runs for a year at a time, or more.
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Bryan
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