Skype possibly killing internet?

[Eambo]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a big issue with my internet, which as a gamer is very annoying. I upgraded to my 50MB service because I'm constantly on skype as well as gaming, because I'm in a long distance relationship. Well, I went over to my girlfriends for two weeks, and my mum insisted the internet hadn't dropped the two weeks I was gone. As soon as I get home, it drops.

My girlfriend was over during the holidays for two weeks, and again the internet didn't drop. I did however have a slow service issue so an engineer came out. Since she's got home I've had drops again, and it's begin to make me think Skype is the cause.

I've used the following routers, all with the same outcome:
Sitecom Wireless N Extreme Gaming Router (WL-308)
Wireless-N Netgear from Virgin Media
Wireless-N D-Link from Virgin Media
Wireless-N Belkin (Can't remember the model off hand)

They're basically all dropping out. Now, the problem isn't with the modem, as the modem lights all stay solid. I do not reset the modem, only the router, and the internet comes back on. However as you can see I've tested multiple routers with the same issues...

What on earth could be causing the same issue on all routers? I've called up VM, and they just won't help me wireless, although today they said there's an issue on their side. As I'm sure a lot of you are aware VM can tell you ten different things are wrong, so it's hard to pinpoint what issue is truly causing the problems.

Any suggestions or advice are very welcome!

[Stuart]

To make sure that the problem is not with the modem, or VM, I would recommend connecting a PC direct to the modem and bypassing any router. To do this, you will need to power down and up your modem though.

Try doing all the stuff you normally do for an hour or two, see if it drops out.

[Eambo]

To make sure that the problem is not with the modem, or VM, I would recommend connecting a PC direct to the modem and bypassing any router. To do this, you will need to power down and up your modem though.

Try doing all the stuff you normally do for an hour or two, see if it drops out.

Thanks for the reply.

Well, The problem has been ongoing for many months now, and I've called up VM god knows how many times. They've replaced my modem once (For an unrelated issue).

I just dropped again, while using MSN instead of Skype, so it ISN'T Skype. And as mentioned, I've used like 4 different routers, I'm perplexed...

[Stuart]

Try it without the router. There may be something that is causing the wireless to drop the connection. It *is* prone to do that under certain conditions (specifically if there is a lot of metal in the wall for instance), even if Windows (or OSX) is telling you it has a good signal.

[Eambo]

Try it without the router. There may be something that is causing the wireless to drop the connection. It *is* prone to do that under certain conditions (specifically if there is a lot of metal in the wall for instance), even if Windows (or OSX) is telling you it has a good signal.

That's another thing I forgot to mention, sorry. I'm using it both wired and wireless to the router. I have homeplugs set up for my consoles + pc, and my mum and brother use wireless laptops.

Also I've just restarted my router after the last crash, and cannot access certain webpages. I've tried these in both IE and Firefox, and they were both working before the crash:
http://community.dawnofwar2.com/forums/dawn-war-ii/technical-support
http://live.xbox.com/en-GB/profile/MessageCenter/ViewMessages.aspx

I really don't wanna go back to copper cable, but at least when I was with BT the connection stayed up >.<

[Eambo]

Sorry for the double post,

What are the chances that the router can't handle the connections and is just dying? It sounds very similar to THIS POST (http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/34946841-post9.html).

I'm not sure where that leaves me then, like I said I've tried for different routers, two of them costing over £100 each... >.<