configuring routers remotely is like sitting on a branch with a saw in your hand.

good network design may build a treehouse, but its still out on a limb

In reply to a post by gt11990:

now my second question aint there any way on earth i could ever access it with out it having internet connection becuase come on there must be something engineers who make the routers have designed

What you seem to be asking for here is a device, or a combination of devices, which:
- Acts as a broadband modem/router, and has a main function of connecting to the internet using ADSL
- Has a backup communication method when the main method fails
- That the backup method either (a) connects automatically to the internet in some other way,
- Or (b) that the backup methods "waits" for an incoming data connection that is not via the internet.
- When both the main method or the backup method is in use, the router's maintenance page is available remotely
- The backup method needs to be reliable even if the configuration of the main router device goes haywire

Well, I have seen some things that meet your requirements, but not all in one go, and certainly not in cheap domestic routers.

Plain domestic routers are designed to be cheap, and therefore expect to be run in attended operation. If you want to design something that reliably works in unattended operation, you need to be thinking of more expensive options. If you want something that remains reliable even in the event of failures, you need to be building in backup solutions - and test them against a list of failures.

But there are things around that could help you:
- Some devices offer a backup connection should the main ADSL connection be dropped. I have seen routers that offer the backup as a POTS modem that dials out (for example, A Draytek Vigor solution which is available here).
- Other routers are available that use a 3G dongle as a backup. Again, a Draytek solution exists that uses 3G failover (though I don't know how automatic it is).
- Routers are available that can connect to more than one phone line, using it as either a load-balanced solution (both connected simultaneously) or as a failover option. Again, a Draytek solution exists for this too

But do you notice something about all of those solutions? They start with expensive routers, and then require you to have an extra means of connecting to the internet - a second account with an ISP (although some will probably let you have a single DSL and dial-up account).

The last backup method - where the device waits for an incoming connection - is reminiscent of what a POTS modem would do, back before broadband existed. I'm sure you could work a solution out that combined a cheap ADSL router along with a 56K modem configured in auto-answer mode - though you would probably need a 3rd device (with LAN and serial port) that connects all the equipment together. Any competent enthusiast could probably hack that together with, say, a Raspberry Pi.

Finally, you need to accept that there are just some failure modes that will be impossible to recover from automatically, remotely - and so would demand a site visit. Total configuration failure of a single device would certainly be high on the list of these problems, so would suggest that your backup needs to require additional devices - which (unfortunately) multiplies the chances that something goes wrong.

So...

It is all possible, but it requires planning, setup, and almost certainly has ongoing costs associated with it.

What were you wanting to do with this?

which allows connection to be made even if there aint no interent connection come on we cant go locally to every router and check their settings and fix em

If you are building a business that depends on these devices then "come on we cant go locally to every router" is a failure scenario that you ought to have been planning for. Can you afford a 3G dongle (and the associated account at the mobile company)? Can you afford a second phone line? Can you design a local setup with multiple devices? If not, then tough - the business will need to plan a certain number of site visits.

Edit:
But...
If the question relates to a failure that has already happened, in a location where you haven't already planned to cope with failure, then the answer is: Tough.

Edited by deleted (Sat 15-Dec-12 02:28:42)

Heh .

You omitted the option of training one, preferably two, people at the site to follow a set of simple instructions that several ISPs provide to their customers, to be able to reset the connection parameters. A task that nearly every internet-connected household has managed.

The OP still hasn't confirmed that he really meant someone has used the factory reset, and if they did - why. (He seemed to think a reset should leave things unchanged ).

If the target site in this case is a business, using the OP as a "supply and configure" provider, gawd! He'd better make sure he finds a good lawyer. (These come in a range of prices).

I read the "we can't go locally" to mean we as a community and remote routers in general. Rather than we - his business and a number of such sites under his aegis.

I was approaching it from the entirely unattended option, but if there *are* humans present then you make it worse & better simultaneously.

Better because you *can* train someone to take steps, but worse because you can't train *everyone* to act reasonably.

It is hard to work out exactly the level of problem we're looking at here - real or imaginary, actual or planned, personal or business. There are few details...

In reply to a post by gt11990:

these are technicolour ones and once the reset button is pressed the settings are deleted no idea why

If you disable the factory reset button will that prevent further problems.
http://npr.me.uk/telnet.html#button

Neat!