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There is a DSL connection and a DSL router (Speedport W 701V). After some days or weeks (I didn't record the events) the router makes some problems.

  • Internet connection is ... broken but not completely disconnected. E.g. requesting a website the page either gets "displayed" very slowly or does not beeing "displayed" at all. A retry sometimes results in more success. So the connection isn't completely gone, but very slow and nearly unusable.
  • It is almost the same when I request the router's config web interface.
  • A ping to google and to the router itself, both result in massive package loss.

That's why I think, it is more a router problem. And in fact: If I restart the router, everything works fine again, for weeks until the same problems occur again. This is going for years now.

I personally don't know why this is happening. Looks like a software problem (on some level) of the router, because it is not permanent and a reboot solves the problem temporarily.

But to do something I need more information. Unfortunately the routers web interface is limited and does not show anything suspicious. That's why I ask:

How can I get more information about what's going on there?

Here are some approaches that came to my mind:

  • I may capture some traffic with ethercap / wireshark and analyse it, but that seems to be complex and time-consuming.
  • What's with ICMP? I never used much more than a ping. Aren't there tools with which I can inspect the routers internals?
  • Seems like the router does not support SNMP. At least I got no response on snmpwalk -v1 -c public 192.168.1.1.

Any hint's on cause / root of the problems are welcome, too.

P.S. The router's firmware is up-to-date.

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  • not to drag out the question but; Is this on a wireless or wired connection? If wired, is another cable available to test?
    – DLMono
    Aug 11, 2013 at 14:45
  • Its more or less the same with LAN and WLAN access. I don't know how they are connected internally.
    – user63835
    Aug 11, 2013 at 15:56

1 Answer 1

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Given trends in electronic device manufacturing ("race to the bottom"), devices like this are known to "wear out" and perform worse over time, especially if placed in hot areas or areas without good ventilation.

I'd look into getting another DSL modem from your provider, or purchasing one yourself.

You could also try flashing OpenWRT on your router. Yours is one of the weird AR7 based ones that actually can be flashed via FTP like an Actiontec I had.

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  • Didn't know that OpenWRT would run on this device, but sounds promising. Maybe I'll try that someday.
    – user63835
    Aug 11, 2013 at 16:48

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