Is my router sick?

In the last few days broadband has become very slow (e.g. about 150Kb/s download speed, normally it's about 4Mb/s). The internal network seems to be OK and hasn't been altered - the PC & laptop connections both register at 100Mb/s, and speeds seem OK. The modem/router is a Linksys WAG54GX2. I'm wondering if the router is sick, as when I ping it, about one time in four it fails to respond - the other times it responds in <1ms. Could this indicate that something broken in the router is slowing down the Internet world? Do I have to buy a new router? (Preferably not!)

 

When you're running these "tests", are all the PCs connected to the router? If so, only test with one PC/laptop at a time. It's a stretch, but its very possible that one of the devices is "hammering" the router and causing it to drop connections. If you have the same problems using both machines on that router independently, then I'd narrow it down to the router.

 

Are the computers connected wirelessly? Also, how are you measuring the speed?

 

Parolyn, welcome to MajorGeeks! Are you using wired and wireless connections, or just wired? As suggested by Riot, try one computer at a time. Also, check all your Cat5 Cables, and make sure they don't have a bad crimp on the RJ-45 jack.