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I have cable internet through Charter with a wireless router and every now and then the connection will either be extremely slow or non-existent. Right now, both my laptops are saying that they are connected, but I am not able to access any web page. In the past I have been able to just unplug the modem and/or the router and the connection will be restored. I have already tried this twice today with no results.

What else can I do or check to get this resolved myself? I'd rather not have to have a technician come out and be charged $$ for it.

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I had charter, and if the problem is with their equipment (you rent the modem or cable coming into the house is poor) you won't be charged. – Joel Coehoorn Sep 14 '10 at 17:18
No ISP will charge you for the cable on the street or rented/leased equipment. You will always get charged for IW (inside wiring), your own equipment, or NTF calls. – MaQleod Sep 14 '10 at 23:10
I'm talking about the fee they charge for sending a technician to your home. It's about $20 or something. And the problem is my wireless router, because I can get a connection with no problem when plugging my laptop directly into the modem. – Erich Wahl Sep 15 '10 at 12:33

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First, verify what the problem actually is. Does your connection cut out on the wireless, or does it cut out at the modem? Directly connect a single computer to the modem and see if the problem persists. If it does, you need your ISP to troubleshoot your connection. Swap out the cable between your router and your modem. If it still cuts out after, then something in your router has ceased to function correctly. Check your bandwidth consumption and make sure you are not over-utilizing your connection. It is also important to note that most home routers are not good at handling a high volume of wireless traffic. If you can connect wired to the router and not see problems, check to make sure your wireless is secured and others are not using it (I highly suggest WPA with static assignment and mac address filtering enabled). If all this checks out and you still experience issues, you probably need a new router.

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Thanks a lot for the help! – Erich Wahl Sep 14 '10 at 16:55
"Check your bandwidth consumption and make sure you are not over-utilizing your connection." How can I do this? – Erich Wahl Sep 15 '10 at 17:56
Spiceworks or wireshark can help with network monitoring. – MaQleod Sep 15 '10 at 22:22

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