Re: Can excessive downloading mess up the router?

Theresa <theresa.dunn@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> All 3 of us divide the cable broadband costs between us, therefore all 3
> of us have a right to use the connection. We have a Linksys wireless
> router ( WRT54G ) for a 2MB broadband connection, where our ISP imposes no
> limitations on our download quota.

But your cable ISP might have a secret quota on uploading, which is
something that BitTorrent "clients" also do a lot of. Your tenant's
online activities might look to the cable company like you're running a
server -- which is exactly what you're doing, thanks to your tenant. ISP
areements or acceptable use policies sometimes explicitly forbid running
servers on consumer accounts. Even without an explicit policy, some
cable ISPs have been known to discourage servers on consumer accounts by
shutting down a connection after a prolonged period of flat-out
uploading.


> When all this happens, the actual internet connection still works fine
> when the main ISP cable is removed from the router and plugged directly
> into a PC, so the problem is definitely happening within the router, not
> from our ISP.

Well, your router is the prime suspect; but the cable modem knows (from
the differing hardware addresses) when you unplug it from the router and
plug it into a computer, and it might reset itself on that event.
Likewise, rebooting the router may also trigger a reset of the cable
modem, restoring your Internet connection.

When you say that your "connection" dies every few days, it sounds like
you mean that it's just your Internet connectivity that is lost. The
router hasn't really crashed if you can still configure it. Check the
its information pages to see what's happening to the router's WAN
connection during these incidents.

In addition to the nuisance you're currently experiencing, your tenant's
activities might bring on other woes. It's extremely unlikely that the
RIAA or MPAA will sic their lawyers on you, but your ISP might take
steps. Maybe it already is.

.

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