Internet Connection Lost Immediately When D/Ling Certain Torrent

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Latest Version of BC - 1.28

Using Cox Cable with a Motorolla Surfboard sb5100 and an old Dell Router True Mobile 2300

No Port Forwarding and using Win7 with no firewall

Recently I have occasionally been losing my internet connection while d/ling torrents. Most of the time its after several hours. I recently tried to d/l a certain torrent and almost immediately my connection goes down. The only solution I've found is to restart the modem and sometimes I have to restart the modem and the router. After researching this forum I have tried limiting my max number of connections and turning off DHT. None of this works. I really don't thinks this is an issue with too many peers as I can still d/l popular torrents and most of the time my connection stays alive. I've been using BC for many years and have never had any problems. Thanks

[The UnUsual Suspect]

You've pinpointed the problem to be your modem, router or perhaps both. I suggest you remove the router (as a test), if the problem remains, then check if the modem has a firmware update available.

If it works properly without the router, then check for a firmware update for the router.

Also consider that routers are very cheap if you'r not looking for the latest state of the art technology, so replacing it may be your best option.

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Ok. Ive been needing a new router anyway so I tried a new linksys with the same results. Any chance my ISP is disrupitng my service?

[The UnUsual Suspect]

I doubt it's your isp, more likely a buggy firmware in your modem. If my memory serves, that model is at least 5years old so there probably have been updates over the years.

edit: a quick google search revealed that firmware updates have to be done by your ISP on this modem. I'd ask them about it. There are many guides for hacking this model, but do so at your own risk. Here is one I found in my search. http://stol3n.cc/modem-hacking/sb5100/

[adstal]

Well it seems that this probably only occurs while d/ling certain torrents. I just d/led crysis 2 demo at 1.6 gb without any problem. It was over 1000 kb/s the whole time. Not sure what the problem is.

[The UnUsual Suspect]

usually when a piece of hardware resets like this, it's the number of connections that it can't handle, not the speed of the connections. If you get all or most of your speed from few peers, then there isn't likely to be a problem, but if you have many peers each contributing small amounts, weak hardware tends to fail and the connection is reset.

[adstal]

thanks for the help. any reccomendations for an inexpensive cable modem?

[The UnUsual Suspect]

Actually, my best recommendation would be to see if Verizon offers FiOS service in your area, or if there are any other companies that offer fiber optic broadband. If your choices are limited to only cable and dsl, then you're probably best sticking with Cox, and I'd recommend asking them what modems they recommend. If they provided the modem you're using now, then I'd ask them to either replace it, or give you a firmware update that will prevent it from cutting out. I'd say you're well within your rights to demand internet that works and doesn't crash under heavy load. They probably know of this issue and only replace the hardware for users that complain. A user who only checks email and watches an occasional youtube video can use such a device for years without any issue, but for someone that wants to use the connection to it's full potential, it would be completely unacceptable, so unless you complain, they may assume you're happy with the hardware you have.