It is common to be browsing the Internet, performing a series of activities and notice that something is wrong. Suddenly we notice that the connection has some kind of problem (either wired or wireless) and the router has been caught , hung, blocked, frozen or whatever we want to call it. What happens and what causes can lead to it?
There are a multitude of causes that can cause the router to hang, and by analyzing each one we can find possible solutions.
Number of connected devices
Although routers have a certain number of ports to connect wired devices (although they can be branched), the number of wireless devices is seemingly infinite… until the router can not correctly manage each connection and ends up operating in ” all connections ” plan. or none “, which leaves without service and produces those crashes.
On paper, a home router or access point can support up to 254 devices connected simultaneously due to the limitations of the IP addresses it can assign (from 192.168.1.0 to 192.168.1.255).
We are connecting more and more devices to the Internet of Things.
In practice, it will depend on the bandwidth consumed by each connected device . LED bulbs or a smart plug are not the same as a computer or a Smart TV. Restarting the router may be the simplest solution, as it can fix any minor glitches that are taking us offline and restart connection requests from all devices.
Some will still try to connect to WiFi as it becomes available, but others in the background may need to do so actively when we use them again. You can even adjust this maximum number of devices connected at the same time in the router settings.
Use of P2P programs
Among the many uses that can be given to the Internet, P2P programs or torrent exchanges are some of the most demanding for our router.
Downloading torrents can cause router crashes
The router suffers when on each PC there is a P2P client that opens many simultaneous connections in order to get faster download speeds . Each connection established by some device is stored by the router in a table (NAT and PAT) and there comes a time when it simply freezes, leaving no other option than to reset it, so that said table is cleaned.
router overheating
Although the router naturally heats up from its own almost constant use , when the temperature rises too high it affects performance. When the router reaches a very high temperature, it can cause micro-cuts, loss of Internet speed and even momentary or even permanent connection losses until we turn off the device.
router overheating
Placing the router in a more ventilated area as a long-term solution or leaving it turned off for a while to cool down can be solutions that eliminate the problem of the router freezing due to excessive heat.
Outdated firmware or router
Sometimes, having an obsolete device, be it the router itself or its firmware, can translate into having a problem when managing the resources of the router, or even allow some vulnerability or malware.
Newer router models can fix your hangups
Download and install the latest version of the firmware , in case of not having automatic updates, and in the process we will restore the settings to their factory values, it could solve the problem.
Security settings
Related to the above, sometimes it will be the router itself that is blocked so as not to put itself at risk. Within the configuration options we will find some related to security.
router firewall
You should check that you do not have any type of firewall activated that is causing a conflict and preventing the devices from being able to connect correctly.