Downloading causes router to reboot

I've run into a recent strange phenomenon. Whenever my computer attempts to download something, my router drops connection and reboots itself. Most notably, this happens when Steam is updating software or I'm attempting to perform a Windows update, which by de facto has to download first.

Anyone have any idea what's going on here? It's a great annoyance. It's connecting wirelessly to the router, if that has any bearing. The router is a Linksys EA6300.

My computer is custom built:

OS: Windows 7 Pro (64-bit)
CPU: Intel Core i5-760
RAM: 8 GB DDR3 G.Skill
HDD: Seagate 500 GB (OS)
4 other storage drives
Sound: Creative Titanium X-Fi
Video: Nvidia GeForce GTX 580

 

The cable company only provided a modem by Motorola. My family had to get the router ourselves. So, yes, it provides cabled and wireless connections.

Oddly, only my computer causes the router to reboot, but not when surfing the web. Other computers on the network can download fine without causing the router to reboot.

 

Okay, I hardwired my computer directly to the cable modem (via powerline) and connection is maintained, but transfer rate is far lower than other computers through the router wirelessly.

For example, on a different computer I was getting download rates around 2.1Mb/s. On my computer, hardwired to the modem, it's between 170Kb/s and 650Kb/s.

It seems very strange that my computer alone would be "discriminated" against by the router and cause it to reboot.

 

Wondering whether the stress of a full bandwidth download is triggering an overheat scenario in the router - especially if it's a 'bad' line, any bad data would need to be re-transferred, boosting the stress on the router CPU.

Ethernet is hardwired, Powerline (there are several different speed categories/design ages of it) is a workaround with additional drops on each step.

EDIT: @MA, looks like a dupe, needs merging: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=282421 ?

 

I think the merging got a little mixed up as my post did not make it over. Here is what I said in that other thread,

It does not make any sense that it would be slower. The ISP bandwidth is the your bottleneck, not Ethernet or wireless.

Again, I don't like powerline connections - this is especially true in older homes that may not have best wiring, or zero resistance continuity through the wall outlets and other power junctions between the network nodes. Plus, they are susceptible to interference which can surely affect network performance.

The WAP (the wireless access point component of your "wireless router") basically hangs off an internal Ethernet port of your router's Ethernet Switch - just like all your wired device do. And routers don't increase your speeds. At best they can only match the bandwidth provided by your ISP - which is typically much less than the 100Mbit/s (or maybe 1000Mbit/s) network setup by your router. So my guess is your access is slow today - perhaps do to last minute Christmas shopping.

For sure, swap Ethernet cables. They are cheap and not very robust devices that can only handle 1 or 2 good yanks or trip-overs.

 

I think I solved the issue. The router was configured with the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz sharing the same SSID. Once I changed the SSID on the 2.4 GHz, it stopped the router reboots.

Thanks to everyone for their assistance.

 

What you likely did was block access to your router for 2.4GHz devices. That's okay if you don't have any. But if you do and need access for both, consider getting a "simultaneous dual-band wireless router".