router uptime

[lodore]

Hello,
if you router has the guts to show the uptime please post if here along with make and model of the router.

it should be easy to find in the web interface. find the manual in the box or online to find the ip address of the router.
while your there make sure you have changed the default username and password and have wireless security if you have wireless.
ive got a bthomehub 2 which has terrible uptime. max i had was 30days.
current uptime is 7days.

hexus forum had a similar thread ages ago and im mainly wondering what are the more reliable routers.

[YeOldeStonecat]

I know I've had routers at clients that have had uptimes of over a year. Often the runtime will be reset because I'll do something that requires a reboot...such as a firmware update. But these are business grade routers..like Linksys/Cisco RV0 series, Sonicwalls, PIX, etc.

For home grade routers your experience can vary greatly, they're often subject to many different factors, such as setup, what kind of loads they experience...how many clients behind them, what type of traffic...IE heavy downloading such as torrents will overwhelm home grade routers with their slow CPUs and low amounts of RAM which get flooded with high concurrent sessions.

I usually run *nix router distros at home...they can exceed a year of uptime, usually rebooting only when adding packages or doing an upgrade.

Also what you have them behind..are they behind a bridged modem, or..as many people do with DSL..most newer DSL modems that the ISP gives you are already little NAT routers..so you're double NAT'ing...which is not ideal.

Quite a few makes/models of routers are supported by 3rd party firmware such as DD-WRT or Tomato. This free alternative firmware often improves performance and stability a little bit, as well as adds many features.

[Bill_Bright]

Also, with many home routers uptime information is not available unless logging is enabled and logging is often disabled by default.

[lodore]

Hello YeOldeStonecat,
have you setup any small business routers recently?
depending on cost i may think about getting a small business router since i know they are more reliable.

[1boss1]

Not much at the moment

-{ Quote: "Uptime: 2 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes, 39 seconds" }-

My ISP has IP space in different A blocks, and when i power off the router i get a new one so i do this every so often.

Modem is a Thompson 782, i have no doubt it would stay up for several months at a time if i didn't keep killing the power on it.

My main servers router is at 67 days, downtime was due to a cabling upgrade and before that it was 340 days.

[BlueZannetti]

My own routers are a combination of Zyxel ZyWall 2 Plus and Buffalo wireless (WHR-G125, WHR-HP-G54) ones running DD-WRT firmware. They never hang up on their own. I know that one time that I checked, the Zyxel continuous uptime was over a year. If they fall short of that, it's either due to a power glitch causing a restart or firmware upgrade.

Blue

[YeOldeStonecat]

-{ Quote: "Hello YeOldeStonecat,
have you setup any small business routers recently?
depending on cost i may think about getting a small business router since i know they are more reliable." }-

Yeah, fairly frequently, often several a month.

What are your needs? Wireless? Do you do heavy traffic on them like torrenting? What make/model broadband modem is in front of them? How many users?

[lodore]

-{ Quote: "Yeah, fairly frequently, often several a month.

What are your needs? Wireless? Do you do heavy traffic on them like torrenting? What make/model broadband modem is in front of them? How many users?" }-

In this case the router is for my home.
I want wireless. i rarely use torrents. max say 5 users.
atm ive got an all in one adsl modem router but its unreliable so i want to replace it with something more reliable that doesnt cost the earth.
it eiether needs an adsl modem bultin or a cheap standalone adsl modem.
btw i live in the UK.
it doesnt need to be a business grade router it just needs to be reliable and not randomly reboot every few weeks.

[YeOldeStonecat]

What I run at home, and it's budget friendly....
I have cable..so it's a Motorola Surfboard modem..pure modem.
I use an old IBM Thinkpad T23 laptop and I installed PFSense distro as my router. It's very strong in QoS/Traffic shaping, since I only game a lot and the other 5 PCs in my house don't affect my ping much.
Laptops make great platforms for linux router distros...just slap in a PCMCIA NIC for the 2nd NIC. Built in keyboard and screen, built in battery backup, low AC consumption, low noise, fairly small footprint. You can pick them up dirt cheap, only need a P3.

I have a Linksys wrt150n router flashed with DD-WRT, running in access point mode, for my wireless. I live in a 3 story farmhouse, great coverage throughout all 3 floors, AP is on 3rd floor, I get full 54 megs even on the first floor.

[noone_particular]

While not actually a router, my Smoothwall has been running steady for 92 days.It's an old P5-133 with 3 network cards. I don't know how long it can run without being rebooted. The electric manages to go out every few months or so. It's only for a few seconds but it's enough to make everything restart.

[Threedog]

My router only gets shut down during a power outage. Other than that it never shuts off or gets rebooted.

[Bill_Bright]

-{ Quote: "My router only gets shut down during a power outage. " }-Mine doesn't even then because my computer, two LCD monitors, PDA, WAP, Router, and cable modem are all on a UPS with AVR. :) Of course the AVR is the important part - power during power outages is just the icing on the cake. But living in Nebraska, we have our share of bad weather.

[funkydude]

My router stays connected pretty much indefinitely, the main problem I have is it needs a "refresh" at it tends to get a little laggy (like 100ms or so) after 200+ hours. A simple reboot tends to work wonders.

[Bill_Bright]

200+ hours!!!??? - that's less than 10 days and not normal, or good. You should never have to reboot a router on any sort of routine basis. I would check your cables, ask the ISP to check to check the lines, and if still having problems, consider a new router.

[funkydude]

2000* ::)

[Creer]

Linksys ~30days

[Bill_Bright]

-{ Quote: "2000*" }-That's much better. Still, I have been using a popular Linksys 8-port Ethernet router for several years now and have never had to reboot it on any sort of routine basis. I have had to reboot it a couple times during that time because of total loss of connectivity - that is, the router forgot its IP assignment from the cable modem and would not let any of my systems out. That said, for all I know, it could have been the cable modem that was the culprit too.

But going back to what I said earlier, all computers should be on an UPS with AVR so - put your network gear on it too. We must not forget that EVERY time the air conditioner, microwave oven, coffee pot, water cooler, refrigerator, hair dryer, space heater, toaster, or any other high wattage appliance in the house, office, or the entire apartment building cycles on or off, it sends "anomalies" down the line in the form of surges, spikes, sags (the opposite of surges) and dips or dropouts (the opposite of spikes). Surge and spike protectors are NOTHING more than fancy and expensive extension cords for they do NOTHING for sags, dips, or extended surges, forcing the power supplies and regulators circuits on the various devices take the blow and compensate - which they are not always able to do. The UPS with AVR (automatic voltage regulation) takes the worry out of that.

[funkydude]

Thanks for the advice, I've been thinking of getting a new router, but If I do I'll be getting an -N one.

[Bill_Bright]

-{ Quote: "I've been thinking of getting a new router, but If I do I'll be getting an -N one." }-No such thing. Thanks to marketing weenies, they have everyone confused with misused terminology.

A router has one input and one output. Period!!!! However, most routers include a 4-port Ethernet switch inside the same case, but technically, they are separate, discrete, network devices. A so-called "wireless router" is a router that includes a wireless access point (WAP) (and typically a 4-port switch too) in the same case. Again, separate network devices that just happen to be in the same case and use the same power supply.

But to your point, yes, if you are going wireless, go with 802.11n - but wait a month or so for all the 11n "Draft" versions to be replaced with the recently approved, finalized 11n versions. And unless all your wireless devices have 11n adapters, you will need a dual-band router for the best performance, which means more money.

[kC_]

draytek 2820vn - can be measured in years ;)

[funkydude]

-{ Quote: "No such thing. Thanks to marketing weenies, they have everyone confused with misused terminology.

A router has one input and one output. Period!!!! However, most routers include a 4-port Ethernet switch inside the same case, but technically, they are separate, discrete, network devices. A so-called "wireless router" is a router that includes a wireless access point (WAP) (and typically a 4-port switch too) in the same case. Again, separate network devices that just happen to be in the same case and use the same power supply.

But to your point, yes, if you are going wireless, go with 802.11n - but wait a month or so for all the 11n "Draft" versions to be replaced with the recently approved, finalized 11n versions. And unless all your wireless devices have 11n adapters, you will need a dual-band router for the best performance, which means more money." }-

Thank you again ;D

[tipstir]

2x Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 DD-WRT Router/Access Points AP for 802.11g only

Current Time
Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:00:39

Uptime
47 days, 23:43

Current Time
Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:59:39

Uptime
55 days, 48 min

Belkin N+ (802.11n mode only) was running the time I was gone until I couldn't log into the Web Admin that require are power cycle.
Dlink DIR-655 just gone back into service as 802.11n only access point so 3 days up. Belkin N+ still not a bad router. I think there was PO on the Electric Grid while I was away from home base. But everyone was working. Routers do need to be power cycle after so many months of usage.

[lodore]

-{ Quote: "draytek 2820vn - can be measured in years ;)" }-
im thinking of getting the draytek 2820N

[YeOldeStonecat]

-{ Quote: " However, most routers include a 4-port Ethernet switch inside the same case," }-

I disagree. For "home grade" routers, true. But overall, you have to include routers for the SMB to enterprise environment, you'll find they're more commonly 2 or 3 (3rd being hardware DMZ)

[Bill_Bright]

-{ Quote: "-{ Quote: "However, most routers include a 4-port Ethernet switch inside the same case" }-
-{ Quote: "I disagree. For "home grade" routers, true. But overall, you have to include routers for the SMB to enterprise environment, you'll find they're more commonly 2 or 3 (3rd being hardware DMZ)" }-" }-I think you are splitting hairs, but still incorrect. How many folks reading this forum are concerned with corporate networks, SMBs, DMZs and enterprise class, network hardware? Those networks are, or should be, supported by a trained IT professional staff. If any people with those concerns are here, they are probably providing help rather than seeking it. If seeking, they should be seeking, and paying, an IT consultant.

That said, I stand confidently by my original statement and say again, even including routers for the SMB to enterprise environment, most routers include a 4-port Ethernet switch inside the same case. I say that with confidence because (1) there are way more connected homes in the world than there are businesses and (2) I've done the research.

Note the following from WebSiteOptimization.com (http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0809/), -{ Quote: "Ranked by household penetration, the spread of broadband looks more rosy. Monaco again leads all countries surveyed with 100% of households on broadband, followed by South Korea at 97.17%, Singapore at 89.65%, Macau at 87.24%, Hong Kong at 86.91%, Israel at 80.69%, Denmark at 80.31%, Netherlands at 80.24%, Iceland at 80.21% and Switzerland at 79.84% of households on broadband. Over the past year, the US moved up one place from 19th at 57.82% in Q2 2008 to 18th place at 67.14% in Q2 2008, just ahead of the UK at 66.6% of households on broadband.

US broadband penetration grew to 91.54% in August 2008. Dial-up users connecting at 56Kbps or less now make up 8.46% of active Internet users, down 0.78 percentage points from 9.24% in July 2008 (see Figure 3)." }-

Internet World Stats (http://www.internetworldstats.com/dsl.htm) reports in 2007, there were more than 300,000,000 broadband subscribers world wide. 300 Million!!! The prestigious Gartner Research (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=501276) reports that will increase to more than 360 Million next year in 2010. Now granted, not all households have routers but more and more households do have multiple computers sharing a single Internet access via routers. More and more individuals have multiple PCs. There are already more than 1Billion PCs in used today, with Gartner (http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=703807) projecting that will double to 2Billion in 2014. Liniksys/Cisco, D-Link, and NetGear are selling millions and millions of 4-port routers (wired and wireless) every year, and millions more generic knock-offs are being sold too, and with the numbers increasing every year. That's still WAY more home routers being sold than SMB to enterprise class routers.