Netgear DM602 - Weird behaviour

Hi,

I have a Netgear DM602 (6 years old) ADSL router and it has been
behaving very strange lately.

For some reason, when I boot up a workstation (Mac, PC, Linux box, etx.
does not matter) I can initially ping the box and access the Internet
(for about 10 to 15 seconds) and then the connection's dead.

If I ping the router, it drops all the packets for about two to three
minutes, after that time, I can then resume using the Internet and the
box responds to ping, weird! During this black out period, I can ping
other devices in my network, and they all respond normally, so I know
my network and workstation is working. As I stated above, does not
matter which workstation I'm using, they all behave the same way.
Note, once this two to three minute black-out period has passed, the
connection / access is normal for the length of my session.

If I leave my workstation ideal for a long period, say four hours, it
repeats the same pattern. Two to three minutes of dead time and then
its working normally again... what a pain.

And clues?

Thanks,
-John




--
WiresAndStuff801

On 5-Nov-2009, WiresAndStuff801
wrote:

I can initially ping the box and access the Internet
(for about 10 to 15 seconds) and then the connection's dead.

As I stated above, does not
matter which workstation I'm using, they all behave the same way.
Note, once this two to three minute black-out period has passed, the
connection / access is normal for the length of my session.

If I leave my workstation ideal for a long period, say four hours, it
repeats the same pattern. Two to three minutes of dead time and then
its working normally again... what a pain.

And clues?

Sounds to me a bit like a DHCP or DNS problem, the delay/dead
period being while an address is being aquired. DHCP leases
addresses for a time period, and renews if asked. If the
DNS server is unreachable then most other things are
unreachable.
Usual test of DNS function is if a web address is unreachable
by name, but there if you use its dotted quad.
There are a number of utilities that will repetitively
ping or repetively do a traceroute, or a graphical
traceroute.
One of these should show whether the problem is
local or between you and your ISP.
Does the router log show anything unusual, like
link restarts?
Is your router configured correctly? I
set one of my DNS servers to my routers IP
address, had problems until I did that.
For some problems I have used WireShark to
monitor what is going in and out of the PC,
then I can watch packets going in and out,
ping shows as echo requests, DNS requests as
whohas requests, DHCP you see the lease time,
and so on.
There are several built in MS tools, tracert to
see where the connection stops is useful,
do you just reach the router, and are you reaching
your ISP during the dead period.
Immediately after the dead period see how long the link
has been up, etc.

Ato_Zee;279562 Wrote:
On 5-Nov-2009, WiresAndStuff801
wrote:
-
I can initially ping the box and access the Internet
(for about 10 to 15 seconds) and then the connection's dead.-
-
As I stated above, does not
matter which workstation I'm using, they all behave the same way.
Note, once this two to three minute black-out period has passed, the
connection / access is normal for the length of my session.

If I leave my workstation ideal for a long period, say four hours, it
repeats the same pattern. Two to three minutes of dead time and then
its working normally again... what a pain.

And clues?-

Sounds to me a bit like a DHCP or DNS problem, the delay/dead
period being while an address is being aquired. DHCP leases
addresses for a time period, and renews if asked. If the
DNS server is unreachable then most other things are
unreachable.
Usual test of DNS function is if a web address is unreachable
by name, but there if you use its dotted quad.
There are a number of utilities that will repetitively
ping or repetively do a traceroute, or a graphical
traceroute.
One of these should show whether the problem is
local or between you and your ISP.
Does the router log show anything unusual, like
link restarts?
Is your router configured correctly? I
set one of my DNS servers to my routers IP
address, had problems until I did that.
For some problems I have used WireShark to
monitor what is going in and out of the PC,
then I can watch packets going in and out,
ping shows as echo requests, DNS requests as
whohas requests, DHCP you see the lease time,
and so on.
There are several built in MS tools, tracert to
see where the connection stops is useful,
do you just reach the router, and are you reaching
your ISP during the dead period.
Immediately after the dead period see how long the link
has been up, etc.

Hi Ato_Zee,

Thanks for the reply. Please note, I do not use DHCP, I have fixed IP
Addresses. I checked with my local ISP and the primary and secondary
DNS servers that my DM602 points at are correct.

In terms of the DM602 log, just normal start up and shut down messages,
nothing abnormal.

I've been using the same ISP and have not done any confutation changes
for months...

The dead period if between my workstation and my ADSL, which is all
plugged into the same network, so there are 0 hops to get from my PC to
the DM602 router.

I'll take at WireShark to see if that helps to uncover what is going
on.

Cheers,
-John




--
WiresAndStuff801