Its 2016. Yet modems/routers still cant monitor themselves to see if they are "congested"

[Bobby Corwen]

Does anyone know why engineers, developers and scientists still cant as of 2016 solve the problem of modem/router restart maintenance?

For years I have been using broadband for various things and invariably something will happen where the internet stops working right.

I unplug/replug the power adapter for the box, and it works.

WHY??!!! why didnt it just do that same thing it did when it restarted, by itself?

It confuses me why something like this still happens anyway? Like what is the internet doing that it can get so congested or sluggish??? Like it catches cancer or something and stops working right. The fact that a restart can fix this, but it doesnt happen by itself, infuriates me.

How hard is it to have a little baby program in there that looks at your data up/down and says, hey, they're is a problem here.

Obviously the capacity to work properly is within the box. Just a mess how it has the potential to slow itself down due to heavy or even normal use.

For example I notice if I stream on Twitch, it works better after I do a fresh restart. WHY??!! Why didnt someone invent a modem protocol that just fixes itself dynamically when there is all too common internet slow down.

The Apple router was a huge leap forward in this but it still happens esspecially on the modem level and the router is no use.

I have Cox and have had others, its something that happens to everyone. But it honestly shouldn't be happening to anyone in 2016.

BrB we have Siri technology that can understand human speech in our computers but we cant figure out to tell a modem to reconnect/clean itself after internet problems.

I dont even get how they make software that allows for this to happen, I'm not a programmer, but it seems so simple.

 

[JJayguy23]

It's probably cheap hardware or buggy firmware/software. I never have to restart my equipment. You likely have a localized network problem brought on by one of your devices.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

It's probably cheap hardware or buggy firmware/software. I never have to restart my equipment. You likely have a localized network problem brought on by one of your devices.

I got mine 6 months ago from Cox with the premium everything, both connection style and modem with dual band wifi and it was over 100$ value.

This is their newest one. Before i had an old smaller one and it did the same thing but even more often. I honestly thought buying a modern one would fix it, but not really.

Once a week or so something will get all sluggish and I have to restart.

Theres like 12 different items connected to it but it shouldn't be a problem it works most of the time like it should.

Just so wierd how modem disease exists. Then you restart it its healed like a newborn baby.

 

[JJayguy23]

I got mine 6 months ago from Cox with the premium everything, both connection style and modem with dual band wifi and it was over 100$ value.

This is their newest one. Before i had an old smaller one and it did the same thing but even more often. I honestly thought buying a modern one would fix it, but not really.

Once a week or so something will get all sluggish and I have to restart.

Theres like 12 different items connected to it but it shouldn't be a problem it works most of the time like it should.

Just so wierd how modem disease exists. Then you restart it its healed like a newborn baby.

I'm in the IT field, and what you're dealing with is not in any way normal behavior. If I administrated a network that needed to be reset to function, I'd be out of a job. Your ISP, equipment and/or devices are causing your issues. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a configuration issue; to include hardware and software. 12 devices tell me that you have several possible points of failure.

Oh! And, ISP provided equipment is notorious for being cheaply made, and poorly designed! Their stand alone modems are typically all right (I mean they'd be out of business if they weren't), but anything beyond that is known to have performance "limitations" [read: issues]. If you have the option, just stick with their modem. Then, buy your own WiFi router and plug it into the WAN port of the ISP's modem. I don't known of any ISP that provides outstanding routers to consumers. Just buy your own.... That's a pro tip for ya!

And, did you know that routers, modems and switches are similar to computers in that they have RAM and CPUs? Guess what cheap routers, modems and switches have in common? Low performing CPUs, and small amounts of RAM. That alone will lead to performance issues and crashes.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

I'm in the IT field, and what you're dealing with is not in any way normal behavior. If I administrated a network that needed to be reset to function, I'd be out of a job. Your ISP, equipment and/or devices are causing your issues. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a configuration issue; to include hardware and software. 12 devices tell me that you have several possible points of failure.

Oh! And, ISP provided equipment is notorious for being cheaply made, and poorly designed! Their stand alone modems are typically all right (I mean they'd be out of business if they weren't), but anything beyond that is known to have performance "limitations" [read: issues]. If you have the option, just stick with their modem. Then, buy your own WiFi router and plug it into the WAN port of the ISP's modem. I don't known of any ISP that provides outstanding routers to consumers. Just buy your own.... That's a pro tip for ya!

And, did you know that routers, modems and switches are similar to computers in that they have RAM and CPUs? Guess what cheap routers, modems and switches have in common? Low performing CPUs, and small amounts of RAM. That alone will lead to performance issues and crashes.

That makes total sense about the cheaper hardware with ram. I can feel it.

The way it behaves in general.

I guess I'm just not sure if my provider will let me buy one that's not from them. Or how to even tell what a good one is. My router is apple.

 

[monokakata]

That makes total sense about the cheaper hardware with ram. I can feel it.

The way it behaves in general.

I guess I'm just not sure if my provider will let me buy one that's not from them. Or how to even tell what a good one is. My router is apple.

All you need to do is to learn how to set your ISP-provided modem/router combo to "pass through" (or similar phrase) meaning that it functions only as a modem, passing the data on to your router, which does its thing. If you google the make and model number of what your ISP gave you, you can almost certainly find out how to administer it and make the change.

I've done this several times with combo units from Time-Warner and I think maybe Cox (that was for a friend) and it's no big deal.

 

[boast]

I use a Motorola SB6141 modem that I bought and the latest Airport Extreme with my Cox service and I never have to restart it.

(Actually, I use to have to restart it sometimes but then learned it is an AE ipv6 bug that when disabled fixes the issue)

If you're feeling geeky, you can set up a Home Automation project with a smart switch. Run a script that when no internet is detected it power cycles the modem with the smart switch Something like a WeMo switch with openHAB.


edit: you misc?

 

[Scary Spice]

I use a Motorola SB6141 modem that I bought and the latest Airport Extreme with my Cox service and I never have to restart it.

(Actually, I use to have to restart it sometimes but then learned it is an AE ipv6 bug that when disabled fixes the issue)

If you're feeling geeky, you can set up a Home Automation project with a smart switch. Run a script that when no internet is detected it power cycles the modem with the smart switch Something like a WeMo switch with openHAB.


edit: you misc?

Or you could go to Walmart and buy a $7.00 timer and have the modem power cycle (a 10 minute or what ever the minimum time period is on the timer) off and back on in the wee hours of the morning (either daily or weekly). AKA 'The Redneck Reset'

I have saved my customers thousands by using the 'KISS" principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

 

[JJayguy23]

That makes total sense about the cheaper hardware with ram. I can feel it.

The way it behaves in general.

I guess I'm just not sure if my provider will let me buy one that's not from them. Or how to even tell what a good one is. My router is apple.

They could also be reaching their thermal cut off and/or overheating. Also, the devices could be throttling to cool down! More expensive equipment is designed to keep consistent performance when there is more activity. Like, when things heat up.

 

[mijail]

Does anyone know why engineers, developers and scientists still cant as of 2016 solve the problem of modem/router restart maintenance?

(...)

It confuses me why something like this still happens anyway?

(...)

Like it catches cancer or something and stops working right.

(...)

How hard is it to have a little baby program in there that looks at your data up/down and says, hey, they're is a problem here.

(...)

I dont even get how they make software that allows for this to happen, I'm not a programmer, but it seems so simple.

Just curious: what would you think about someone having a meltdown about "how is it possible that cars break down in 2016, it's like the car got cancer, why don't scientists fix it, I have no idea but must be simple"?

 

[shiekh]

Because a hard reboot is not a dignified way, and just delays the problem rather than solve it.

Better to find the memory leak that may be causing the issue, than disrupt the network.