What could this be (router issue)?

[Hyphen]

Parents just got a new router from their service provider, they do this every year or two. Already tried convincing them to just get a new router since this one seems problematic, but it appears not to be an option (because they're weird).

Last router they had worked just fine.
This router is a lot different, internally and externally. The issue they're experiencing is that their connection just seems to sort of drop every 5-8 minutes. I was over at their house and noticed it. They don't completely disconnect from the internet, but their internet just seems to choke up at this interval. If you're connected to some sort of game server online, you'll be disconnected/timed out. If you're just doing casual browsing, you'll hardly even notice it.

Any idea what type of internal router settings could be causing that?

 

[Jay_2]

can you run a ping test and see if it drops the ping.

I have seen this type of thing before and its the routers own threat detection system thinking there is a UDP flood etc.

 

[gimp]

what kind of internet? DSL using PPPoE?

I've seen the "Connect on Demand" option cause issues, and not work like it's supposed to on a multitude of routers.

 

[Hyphen]

can you run a ping test and see if it drops the ping.

I have seen this type of thing before and its the routers own threat detection system thinking there is a UDP flood etc.

Ping to the router or to any outside website? For me to really test that, I'd need to run the ping in the middle of one of these dropoffs. I'll try to see if I can do that sometime soon.

what kind of internet? DSL using PPPoE?

I've seen the "Connect on Demand" option cause issues, and not work like it's supposed to on a multitude of routers.

Yep, a DSL connection and PPPoE apparently. I honestly don't know what PPPoE is, other than what the acronyms stand for. This happens on both wireless and ethernet, it's really frustrating. Thanks, and I'll check in the router settings via browser to see if I find that toggle. If not, are there any others I should be looking for? I could screenshot each relevant page of the router configuration for you if you'd be willing to look at that since you seem to know what you're doing.

My original post was sort of short and vague, but only because everything OTHER than the router is a constant in this scenario. Some service provider, same internet usage, just a different router. It's a lot different than the last router in several ways (has an antennae that isn't omnidirection, uses WPA-TSK instead of WEP, etc.). Just trying to pinpoint what this is because it's got me going nuts.

 

[Hyphen]

The current router being used is a Windstream Sagem F@st 1704. Old one was a Windstream 2Wire 2701HG Modem/Router. Windstream is the DSL provider, they've branded both of these routers though.

I just did a little searching and noticed this thread: http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/r25059010-Sagem-1704-Wireless-Router-MTU-Issues
However, I don't use an Xbox or PS3 or anything like that. Nonetheless, does this sound like my issue and is that what I should be looking into, an MTU problem?

 

[Hyphen]

And a support ticket I just sent in to Windstream, if it's any help:

Recently, a technician came out to look at a problem with my Windstream DSL. Apparently, I had an older model router (2Wire 2701HG Modem/Router) and he replaced that with your newer model (Sagem F@st 1704). Since this replacement, the stability and performance of the internet has been awful.

A technician came out and looked at the new box, said it needed replaced, etc. He ended up having to put a filter on the DSL line, because apparently this router will not perform up to par without the filter? Not sure why the last router worked fine without it and this one apparently doesn't, I assumed the new router would be an upgrade. The new router also has an external antennae, nothing omnidirectional. Also a big downgrade. The point here is that a filter was installed.

Other than that, absolutely nothing has changed except switching those two routers. Internet usage, number of connected devices, etc., all the same. However, every 5-8 minutes, the connection slows down or completely drops off for about 60 seconds. It is very frustrating.
Another issue that was coming up was our DSL was connecting, but no devices could access the internet. Doing some troubleshooting, I noticed we were not resolving our DNS properly. I went into the router configuration via browser and stopped automatically resolving a DNS via the device and instead replaced that with static DNS servers from Google's DNS. That's another issue you might want to look into, because since using Google's DNS we haven't noticed a single problem.

Still though, every 5-8 minutes the connection drops off. Why is this? Please don't tell me it is a bad router or an issue with our connection. We have called about this numerous times. THREE times now someone has come out and concluded that it was a "bad router" and three times this exact same scenario came up. I have every reason to be convinced that it is a setting within the new Windstream Sagem F@st 1704 routers that is causing this. Can you please let me know what this might be?

 

[gimp]

wait wait wait...

the technician put a DSL filter on the phone line going to the DSL modem?
do the lights on the modem/router change when the internet drops?
My guess, with you mentioning the DSL filter, is that the modem is dropping the signal due to the filter in the line.

What's on the in-line plug the tech put in? It may be possible it's an in-line attenuator, which can actually help.

also; PPPoE = Point to Point Protocol over Ethernet. Essentially, it's a protocol call to allow a "dial-up connection" over ethernet. You definitely want the router config to be set to Keep Alive instead of Connect on Demand.