Router problems

Hi,
The TL-WDR4300 I am using at home is getting really f***ing annoying.
Out of nowhere the internet status icon changes from normal to warning "No Internet Access" and the internet stops working. If you try to troubleshoot with the built-in Windows troubleshooter, it just stops at "Resetting Ethernet adapter". And manually resetting the adapter doesn't work either.
The only way to fix it is to turn the router off, wait 5-10 minutes and turn it back on.
There's still no (wired) connection, but the troubleshooter works and every time the problem is "Ethernet did not have a valid IP configuration - Fixed".

At the same time, it also drops the wireless connection - you can't connect to it or it doesn't work.

The router is on a football table, so cooling shouldn't be a problem, yet it doesn't have any heatsinks inside, but it's not hot here.

What could the problem be?
overheating, software or it has started to go?

 

TP-Link hardware is absolute garbage in my experience. You'd be better off with a different router. I have a mid-range Netgear AC router and it works great.

 

How old is the router? New routers are very inexpensive but each router is so different these days. I've use a whole lot of routers and that sounds like a lemon. Can you try a different computer connected to the same router to see if the problem persists? How often does it happen? Have you upgraded the firmware?

Changes are it can be something else like a bad ethernet cable, poor connection? May need to troubleshoot some more...

Good luck!

 

The issue is with the WiFi radio signal, not the physical connection. A bad RJ45 (aka ethernet) port or cable would not cause a loss of connection to the WiFi, only whatever that ethernet cable was connecting (usually internet via a modem). This issue could either be on the router, or the end device that is losing signal. However, based on the fact he said that restarting the router fixes it, I'm sure the router is the problem.

 

The router is around 4 to 5 years old.
Yes, I have upgraded the firmware.
Is there a chance that the problems are caused by going to dd-wrt firmware and going back?
It happens randomly, last was 3 days ago, but I do restart it every evening just to be sure it doesn't do that.

 

Interesting and yes possibly going to unsupported firmware and back may cause issues. I have used all types of routers, from Ciscos, NetGear, Linksys, and some custom units like Pepwave. The strangest case I had was when I plugged in a network cable into the Pepwave port it would just reboot the whole router. A firmware fixed the issue.