FiOS Internet

[#1]

My internet goes out randomly for times varying from 30 min to 9 hours. The internet does not completely cease, there stille exists a connection. The problem is the speed is slower than a terrible dial up connection. The ping averages easily over 1,000 when it acts up. Reaching at some points over 20,000 ping! The bandwidth also drops to a few kbps or less. This can act up a few times a day or not for a few weeks at a time. This makes it very difficult for me to troubleshoot since it corrects on its own at times. 

This does not exist with just Vista and the Actiontech router, since I have read about these problems.This problem has persisted for months. I was going to call Verizon today and ask for help with troubleshooting, but it started working fine again.

Here is a list of our hardware connected to this home network:

Actiontech M1424WR

HP Photosmart C6180 Printer

2 towers,       wired to router,      running XP

1 tower,         wireless,                running XP

4 laptops,      wireless,                running XP

3 laptops,      wireless,                running Vista

1 Xbox 360   running Xbox live (recently added)

As you can see there are many people using the connection, but rarely all at once. Many of the computers are turned off a majority of the time. When it has acted up in the past I have turned off the router and turned it back on same with all the computers. I have tested the connection of each computer seperately when the internet acts up and the problem persists. I even have turned off all but the computer I test the connection on and the problem is still there.

It does not appear this is caused by any one computer since it doesn't matter which computers are connected when this happens.

Does anyone have an idea for the cause of this poor connection and how to fix it?

[#2]

My guess is you are seeing the NAT table problem. your multiple computers have overflowed the NAT table  in the router. One simple experiment. Whe n things are bad, try unplugging the router from the wall outlet for 30 seconds, and see what sort of performance you get when the router comes back up. That wipes the NAT clean. The size of the NAT (network address translation table) is apparently a problem for quite a few users with the Verizon supplied routers.

The fix is to either convince Verizon to increase the size of the NAT table in the router, our use another Router with a bigger NAT table.

[#3]

Do you have or plan to have TV service? Is there COAX or Ethernet to your router from your ONT? There are a few options. You could try a different router. Even if you have TV there are ways to do this. Could be your router is bad.

1st when this happens I would try my best to get tech support on the phone. Have them look at it and ask for a replacement router because you are having trouble. Even if it the same type, it could fix your problem. From what you have stated this is still an issue with any one PC and even after you cycle power. I would think bad router or other hardware issues.

[#4]

When it is dragging slowly -- have you ever ran a trace route to see where the hold up is?

[#5]

I belive you can set the NAT range in the advanced settings of your router. Login to the router and check it out. I would suspect that one of the devices on the network (the x-Box or the Printer) is causing the problem. Also, if one of the devices is a B connection, it may be taking the rest of the wireless network down to B mode. One other problem may be someone hitchhiking on your wireless. Are you running an open wireless network?

[#6]

I had a call yesterday with this exact issue.  We reboot the ONT and all became good again.