A few years ago, when your first when wireless in your home network, everything seemed to be working just fine. It was painless to connect to the internet, painless to stay connected, and painless to disconnect. Regardless of where you were in your home (or even the backyard) you had a strong, consistent internet connection. The signal rarely seemed to fade and you were quite happy with its performance. Suddenly, something changed! You never seem to be able to connect, what is wrong?

The Assumptions
1. Something wrong on the ISP event. The first step in our agony is usually to call our internet service provider. Whether it be Comcast, Verizon, or COX or anyone else, they are the first place to go when we are having internet problems. The ISP dispatches a technician to your home a few days later only to discover that there is no problems on their end.
2. A virus infection. This one is usually even more complicated than the first because of the amount of time it could take to diagnose an internet connection error on the computer side. You call up your local computer repair company and they dispatch a technician to your home. He spends hours there troubleshooting, diagnosing, and troubleshooting some more. He scans your computer for viruses only to discover that is clear of viruses.
3. Bad wireless card. Because the internet has been working in spots for a few days you figure that maybe there is a bad part on the computer. You call your local computer repair company again and a technician comes out and troubleshoots the problem. He changes the wireless card and the same problem persists.

The Elephant in the Room
Here you are now, a few weeks later, a couple hundred dollars poorer, and you’re still stuck right where you started. A bad and spotty internet connection that can’t seem to hold onto a decent connection. You look around your house in pure agony until you realize the blinking lights of the router are no longer. It then hits you. The Router. You call your local computer repair company again and a technician replaces the router. Happiness. Joy. These are the emotions that follow. Like years ago, your internet works like a dream! The truth is, commercially available routers (less than $200) have the tendency to overheat over the course of time. Properly ventilation, as well as blowing your router with compressed air cans can do wonders. In addition, if you know you are going to be away from the home for a long period of time, simply unplug the router and help it stay cool. These minor steps may prevent the headache of losing your valuable wireless connection.