When torrenting gets too fast, my modem becomes unresponsive?

Question

I have a Zoom DOCSIS 3.0 modem between my Comcast internet and my wireless router. My tower that's doing the downloading is wired to the router. I've found when large torrents pick up too much speed (8 or 9 MB/s) for too long my router goes comatose. My router's lights stay on as normal but no traffic can go in or out of my network. I also can't SSH into my modem once it enters this state. Power cycling the modem fixes the issue but requires my presence to be there to press the button.

I know it's not the router because devices inside the network can communicate to each other.

What's really odd is that this doesn't seem to happen unless it's torrent traffic. Downloading large games from Steam at the same speeds for just as long don't seem to set off the modem.

I could throttle my torrent traffic but I'd rather diagnose and fix the modem if at all possible. I don't know how I will approach fixing this problem.

How can I troubleshoot and hopefully fix this issue? If I can't prevent the problem, is there any way I can remotely reset my router either from a computer on the network or from outside the network?

Answer 1

This sounds like the modem is overheating. Is it laying on plush carpet or by the heat exhaust of a desktop computer or other heat generating device? I would recommend making sure it has plenty of air flow, maybe even use a can of compressed air to clean out some of the vents and if you have a fan try pointing it at the modem.

As for resetting your modem without being present, it would be very difficult since most services depend on the Internet to remotely power cycle a device. You could try a WeMo outlet or some other competing product but when your modem hangs it's probably not going to pass WeMo traffic either.