DropOut & Web Access Problem

I've tried Apple, I've tried Netgear and I've tried my ISP-they've been very helpful, but.... No one has been able to solve my problem and there is a tendency to pass the problem onwards. I'd really appreciate help or advice.

I have had dropout for a while now. Sometimes more frequent than others, with no pattern of time of day. Although I use wifi throughout the house, connecting via ethernet did not resolve the problem. In addition, there are times when a random webpage (BBC, Apple, etc.) will not load in either Firefox or Safari. Selecting another random page, even from the same website, will work fine and when switching back to the problem page it still fails to connect. Quitting and reopening my web browser commonly solves the problem. I should mention that this problem exists with my iMac, my MacBook Pro and my iPhone.

I have replaced both Airport Expresses and the latest advice is to replace my Netgear DG834 v4 modem/ router as it is about 4 years old. If that is the next step, can anyone recommend a different modem/router or should I stick with Netgear?

Many thanks.

Roughly where are you? I've been having somewhat similar issues and suspect BT related routing issues.

I'm in East London. If it is BT, I can only imagine it getting worse when the Olympics happen. Although, this has been going on for a couple of months now, it has been worse recently.

Ah. Stepney Green has been having all sorts of issues for several weeks now (Am in Herts but I certainly had one outage as a result of fallout from Stepney Green issues). Locally, my chamber of commerce has called a meeting with BT to address broadband issues.

It's a tricky one to diagnose. And while I don't know the answer, I'll add the following:

A friend of mine was convinced BT (his ISP at the time) was throttling him. BT insisted they weren't. Every time he rebooted his Netgear DG834 router, he would get full speed (around 13 Mbps) but after an hour or so, it would slow to around 1 Mbps. He figured he was getting a different IP each time he rebooted and it took a while for BT to catch up. However, one day after the slowdown, he did a speedtest whilst connected wirelessly (previously only over Ethernet) and his speed was fine. Turned out the Netgear Ethernet side was dying. A new router and full speed all the way.

Have you tried switching to OpenDNS for your DNS requirements?

As for a new router, I'd try another Netgear - you can always send it back if it turns out not to be the issue.

Turned out the Netgear Ethernet side was dying.

Yes, I'v had that - the ports died one at a time, getting slower and eventually not connecting at all., although wifi remained OK.