Internet drops infrequently for a year with different hardware configurations

Networking Networking Hardware
1

Hi Network Hardware gurus!

I'm administering a small LAN. We are 9 people in the house.
As the title says, the internet has dropped infrequently for a year with different hardware configurations.
I'm learning to troubleshoot this as it occurs, so in the beginning I just rebooted the router/modem. Later I learned to check if I could connect to the router, and I have indeed been able to, but it did not have internet. Today when it happened I tried pinging 8.8.8.8 with no luck.

Quick facts (please ask for more if needed):
- I do know it's probably not DoS, as the ones reported by the router is only on port 443 and 80 to facebook and dropbox and the like. However, my logging game has not been strong.
- I once did a search to find rogue routers on the network, none were found.
- Most devices are connected via WIFI only playstations and a smart TV (and access points obv.) is usually wired.
- It's pure copper (did the burn test) solid wire CAT 5E all throughout the house. Longest cables are upwards of 30m or more. All the patch cables are CAT 5E too.
- One time I observed (felt) a surge coming from an ethernet port in the house. Neither the router nor the switch has PoE.

When I came here the network was: ADSL-->modem-->switch-->rooms and 1 wireless router. The connection dropped several time a week.

I scrambled together some hardware and did this: ADSL-->modem-->router-->access points (old routers with disabled DHCP) & switch to all the rooms. The connection dropped once a week.

The modem died and we got a new modem/router combo. I hoped the problem would disappear, but no. The connection dropped once every two weeks.

Now we've got: Fiber-->fiber box-->router-->access points and switch. The connection drops once every month.

What do you reckon is the problem? Is it infrequent enough that simple problems or DNS (I do not use 8.8.8.8 as the primary one, I use the ISP's) is to blame?

I've though about:
- A good surge protector to minimize noise to the fiber box, router and switch.
- Some way of checking if the surge from the ethernet port is coming from the switch or some other device, got a suggestion?
- Better cooling for the router and switch, lifting them up off the shelf a couple of cm.

Looking forward to your thoughts on this - Zumps

EDIT: I should add:
Fiber box is: I do not know
Router is: Netgear JNR1010v2 (192.168.1.100)
Switch is: Trendnet te100-s8p
Acces points are:
- Buffalo WHR-G125 (192.168.1.110)
- TP-Link TL-WR841N (192.168.1.120)
- D-Link DIR-501 (192.168.1.130) (It keeps dropping the wifi and needs a reboot, wired connections work fine)

2

so whats the problem if internet frequently drops for a year?
:)

3

What? Sorry English is not my first language.

4

1) please take out old backtrack or kali, and take a peak if someone is not playing with you over wifi... you can send deauth packets into wifi and deauth anyone you want **(not even being part of network or being authenticated user)

2) look in your modem logs, if your connection dropped from a modem then it should log it in event log...
3) setup event logger like port down etc on your router...
4) look at your mac table on your switch...
5) use opendns... don't use one from isp -- they use it to spy on people.

6) why have you configured them with different IP's? they should all be running with same IP, and be configured with same channel only with slight difference between frequency few mhz's to accomplish seamless handoff/transfer of person from one to the other. There should be difference in their eth port address to accomplish success with this.

5

1) I will look into it one of these days. I do know my way around basic linux use.

2 & 3) I can only log from the router. As of now it logs:
- Attempted access to allowed sites (none configured)
- Attempted access to blocked sites and services (none configured)
- Connections to the Web-based interface of this Router
- Router operation (startup, get time etc) (Next time it happens I will be sure to look at the logs BEFORE I restart the router)
- Known DoS attacks and Port Scans
- Port Forwarding / Port Triggering (UPnP disabled and no port forwarding or triggering configured)
- Wireless access
That is all the things it can log.

PS: I have tried to lock it down to the best of my ability: Disabled PIN, UPnP, WEP (using WPA2-PSK [AES]), no remote management and some other things. Please ask if you need more details on a specific setting.

4) I have no idea what this is, besides it being an unmanaged switch with:
Transmission Method: Store-and-Forward
MAC Address Table: TE100-S8P: 1K Entries Per Device
MAC Address Learning: Automatic update
.pdf where I found the info

5) 10 years ago I used openDNS but it was more unstable than the one provided from my ISP, so I have not tried it since, but I will try it now.

6) I thought that's how it should be done. At the time I put in the router it would not let me have the .100 on the access points as it said it was the same as the router. They do have the same SSID and password.

They have different channels to try to avoid neighbouring WIFI network interference, one needs one channel to one side of the house, it's another story at the other end of the house. I thought this is how it is supposed to be. Besides, (and stop me here if I misread what you wrote) they don't transmit on a single frequency, a wifi signal (any data signal actually) is comprised of simultaneous frequencies, banded together in a channel, to positively or negatively interfere to create the data stream.

Ethernet port address, is this MAC or IP or something else?

Thanks for the suggestions :)

6

what i meant with multiple ap's is seamless transition of client across ap's without loosing connection at all etc.

look more, maybe contact your isp about your modem you should be able to access it.

as for router connect to it using console cable, or ssh into it; look for guides for your routers to see whats up and where.

switch, same thing connect to it using console cable or ssh if you set ip to it.

7

You have given me homework. I will work on it the next couple of weeks when I've got time for it. I might update this tread or make a new one. Until then, thanks man!