Understanding Routers

Understanding Routers:

The router is perhaps one of the best things out in the market, they allow you to connect multiple computers to your modem or Internet access point so that you can connect all of your computers to the Internet at the same. Their nature is very simple and explained in the following diagram..

As you can see by the identifications of the computers, they're incremental. A router has a default number show in the diagram 192.168.1.1 - This is the default number assigned to all routers. As computers connect to the router via ports 1 through 4, they're assigned a routing number so that when data is requested or received, it forwards that information back and forth between the points they belong to.

An example:

Let's say your on living room computer (labeled 192.168.1.104 by your router) and you wish to visit a website like google.com, but now your kids are in their room using their computer (192.168.1.102) to visit a gaming website such as gamespot.com. When you request google.com, your request is forwarded to the router who then forwards that request to the modem, who then forwards to server in which that website is being hosted on to retrieve information. As the information comes back the other way, it hits the modem, who forwards that page to your router.

Now, since your router understood that your computer ( 192.168.1.104) requested that page, it basically shifts lanes again to forward your google page to your screen and not to your kids computer ( 192.168.1.102) This process happens automatically within the routers database, otherwise known as the routing table. This process is the same for wireless connectivity as well, as you can tell by the diagram even though the laptops connect wirelessly they're still treated the same as wired desktops computers.


Common Router Issues - Wired & Wireless

Distance - Wireless

Sometimes if you're too far away from your router your connection WILL drop out randomly in and out. Distance is just one of the factors with wireless connectivity. Making sure good placement when setting up a wireless network in your home is key. Ideally you'll want to setup wireless router somewhere central to the home so that the signal radiates throughout the home. Also the surrounding area for your router is important, try avoiding placing routers in basements or areas that are surrounded by thick walls which will weaken the wireless signal.

Interference - Wireless

Frequency range is another factor. Most routers now a days ship at a standard 2.4 Ghz transmission frequency. What else runs that this frequency? Look around you. You probably use this everyday. Give up? Your portable phones. That's right, your very own phones may be causing your troubles. Check the phones to see what frequency they run at, most people would be surprised at the fact that their phones maybe causing their connection woes. An easy way to tell if this is the cause is to try to use the Internet and then use the phone while your browsing, if your connection cuts out or your phone conversations cut out, it's a clear indication that the frequencies are interfering with each other causing poor connectivity. The only way around this is to hope your router has internal settings to change the frequency at which they transmit at or... change your phones! You can find internal frequency settings in your router internal page, otherwise contact the manufacturer.

Firmware and Drivers - Wireless & Wired

Both routers and wireless access cards are controlled by software otherwise known as drivers. The internal brain of the router otherwise known as the firmware is what literally controls your device to route your computers. Sometimes when you rule out all the possibilities a firmware upgrade just might be the fix. With all the updates done a pc that's regularly maintained it's possible some recent upgrades or software changes could influence your connectivity. By default i usually encourage everyone to update their firmware by visiting their manufacturers website (ie: www.linksys.com) and follow their instructions as listed on their updating page.

Duplicate Network Names - Wireless

Another scenario that may lead to dropped connections occurs when your wireless computer is confused about which wireless access point to connect with. If your home or office is near others, they may have a wireless network with the same name as yours. This is especially common when people don't change their network names (known as SSID's) when setting up their router.Suppose you didn't change your wireless network name, so it defaults to the very common "LINKSYS". Your neighbor next door has the same brand of router and didn't change her network name either. If your wireless networks overlap, your computer can see both. Windows XP will not show both as separate available networks — instead, it will show only "LINKSYS." When you connect to "LINKSYS" Windows will try to connect with the one with a stronger signal. It may be that both your signals are similar, but small fluctuations change which is stronger at any given moment. Windows will start hopping between them, trying to stay with the strongest, and dropping your connection with each transfer. Assign your wireless network a unique name and avoid the duplicate SSID problem.

Router Malfunction - Wired .

Sometimes routers just go bad. As with all electronics, after heavy use or even overheating of the device will cause problems with your router and thus your connection. Consider where your router is placed. Does it feel very hot? Excessive use will cause routers to sometimes heat up significantly more then usual causing slowdowns, random disconnections. Some people tie this into poor internal software management by the manufacturer to which some people can attest to be true. Sometimes within the router the actual port where the Ethernet wire is located may sometimes become damaged if excessive use swapping is done. Any damage the seating pins or jacks and even the cable may cause intermittent connection issues or may prevent you from connecting at all.

Easy Fixes

You may hear this from the cable companies a lot, but it works. Reseting the router usually will fix a lot of preliminary issues associated with it. So before all else, try unplugging the router for about 10 seconds and the connect it back. Allowing it another 15 seconds for the connectivity process to happen and you should be back online without a problem.