Is my Router packing up?

[GMX]

This afternoon one of my routers (Netgear DGN3500) suddenly started and has kept up; on and off since, it's ability to keep it's settings. 

With little warning, the wi-fi switched off, followed by the the wired LAN and then the broadband connection itself. 

When I logged into it, it immediately started trying to perform a firmware upgrade which it didn't complete, as it had lost the all ADSL settings

In the wi-fi section, where there should have been my two wireless channels (AWG87 and GMX21) with their respective encryption keys: it had defaulted back to NETGEAR1 and NETGEAR2 and blank keys.

The LAN addresses are being reported wrongly but the LAN is at least working,

I reset everything and rebooted it, only to find it had lost them again, when it had finished rebooting.  It did this about twelve times before it seemed to settle down for now.

It still, however, keeps trying to update it's firmware moments after I log into it.  It never used to do so before, I periodically check for a firmware update but it's not configured to so automatically.

Oddly, although I've had a lot of routers, I've never had one actually pack up.  I've always changed routers to upgrade to something better: rather than have to replace a dying one, so this would be a new experience.  I can't think of one that ever kept losing it's setting like this!

Is it on it's way out?

 

 

 

[alexp999]

Have you tried re flashing the latest firmware and restoring to factory defaults?

[GMX]

15 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

Have you tried re flashing the latest firmware and restoring to factory defaults?

No, I'll try that, thanks Alex

[GMX]

I apparently had the latest firmware when I went Netgear's download page but I re-flashed it anyway, in case mine had become corrupted, restored to factory defaults and then re-entered my settings.

It's been stable ever since

[jeebowhite]

sadly hardware is designed to fail these days, and it wouldnt surprise me if people have coded this sort of behaviour into firmwares, so that when the smelly stuff hits the fan, you just go and buy another of their products...

[alexp999]

if ( 24 months < $first_uptime ) {

  self_destruct();

}

haha.

[jeebowhite]

Nailed it!

[goldtail77]

On 06/06/2016 at 4:04 PM, alexp999 said:

if ( 24 months < $first_uptime ) {

  self_destruct();

}

haha.

That's the Car industry standard config for DMF failure, though they prefer 48 months.