Why Does My Modem Keep Resetting? [9 Reasons & Fixes]

Is your cable modem behaving unusually and keeps resetting randomly throughout the day? This may be due to faulty firmware, overheating, excessive usage, or random connectivity glitches. Knowing WHY can aid in identifying the issue and resolving it effectively.

As someone who has been testing & reviewing modems and routers for over 7 years, I have encountered such problems many times. This post outlines 10 reasons why your modem is resetting on its own and how to fix it.

Let’s dive in without any delay!

9 Reasons Why Your Modem is Keep Resetting [& Ways To Fix It]

Before you even delve deep into the potential causes, it is important to understand what resetting looks like.

A reset is in progress when all the LED lights on a modem suddenly turn green, with the US/DS lights flashing frantically. This is followed by a reboot, and the device gets back to normal within a few minutes.

Only to reset after a short while, making life extremely difficult for a standard user. And that needs to be fixed, right? Well, here are some of the more common issues that might lead to frequent modem resets. And guess what, each issue has a corresponding solution as well. So, let’s get going!

1. Your Modem is Overworking

If your modem has been working tirelessly for months, it might start acting up by resetting frequently. This might be due to a memory needing a refresh. If don’t restart your internet equipment (including modem) once a month, there’s a chance this happens.

Solution: The best approach to handle this issue is by power cycling the modem. It’ll refresh your modem and may stop resetting randomly.

Steps To Power Cycle your Modem:

• Unplug the modem (and other equipment like router)
• Wait for a minute or two, and then plug it back
• Turn on the devices and see if it is working fine

2. Your Modem is Affected by Critical issues

The broader canopy of critical problems can include frequent data packet loss, no internet light on the modem, and the modem behaving oddly. This may be caused by a hardware or technical fault.

This may also be a result of many devices on the network, which puts way too much pressure on the modem’s data packet transmission, resulting in the modem trying to reset automatically.

Or, it can be a standard DDoS attack or any other network security issue that might compromise the well-being of the modem itself, either making it unresponsive or constantly resetting a well-configured attack.

Solution: The only way to handle critical issues is by resetting the modem manually.

Steps To Manually Reset the Modem:

• Locate the reset button in the rear
• Press it with a pointy tool, like a paper clip, until the modem lights start flickering.
• Wait for other indicators to turn green.
• Once the process is complete, you can head over to the web interface to re-configure it.

If the above method doesn’t work, you can try different reset methods from the below-linked resources:

• Reset Xfinity Modem
• Reset Cox Modem
• Reset ARRIS Modem
• Reset CenturyLink Modem
• Reset Spectrum Modem

3. Your Modem is Running a Dated Firmware

Most electronic devices have built-in firmware that can get dated and obsolete over time. The malfunctioning modem can therefore cause the modem to reset quite frequently or randomly.

Solution: One way to scale beyond this issue is by manually updating the firmware. It will install the latest security patches. Plus, you should ensure that the modem even accepts the performance updates to get rid of the software bugs, if any.

The steps to update the firmware vary for modem manufacturers and models. You can follow the official guides linked below.

• Updating Motorola modem
• Updating ARRIS modem
• Updating Hitron modem
• Updating CenturyLink modem

4. Your Modem Has Loose Cables or Connection

More of a hardware issue, loose cables can go undetected for a long. Therefore, if you have tried all the strategies till now, kindly check how the coaxial cable (For cable modems) is paired and tighten the same if it isn’t fastened properly. 

Solution: The best way to fix loose cables is by rechecking the connection and fastening the wires tightly if they aren’t already.

5. Your Modem is Overheating

Your modem, despite being configured and connected correctly, can start acting up due to overheating. While it might feel like nothing to a certain group of users, overheating causes throttling and eventually starts resetting itself.

Solution: The physical structure of modems is meant to dissipate heat. However, if the vents aren’t clean and end up getting clogged, overheating becomes a cause for concern. Therefore, you must first clean the vents and ensure that the modem is placed in an open area where airflow is adequate.

6. Poor Processing Setup of a Modem

Just like routers and wireless access points, modems need to have a strong processing setup for seamless data packet transmission. If you’ve rented the modem from your cable internet provider, there is high chance it has poor hardware.

If your modem is on the list of bad-rated equipment (ones that are having serious latency issues due to Intel Puma 6 chipset).

You can either request a free modem upgrade or better get your own modem with much better hardware. Below are my recommendations for ISP-specific modems:

• Xfinity modems
• Spectrum modems
• Cox modems
• Sparklight modems
• Breezeline modems
• TDS modems
• Midco modems

7. Your Modem is Configured Wrongly

If the existing modem configuration has made you go out of sync with the ISP, it might be a big problem.

Once the modem is de-synced due to faulty configuration or after running non-stop for weeks, it welcomes corrupt and faulty data packets, thereby leading to bigger, security-specific concerns.

Solution: The best way is to reset the modem, open the web interface, and reconfigure the same based on the ISP details, choice of configuration, IPv-protocol, and other parameters.

8. Your Modem is Affected by ISP-Ridden issues

There are some instances when the cable modem performs an automated reset even if there’s no modem-specific issue. Instead, certain network-related issues at the ISP’s end can cause the connection to act up.

Solution: The only way to get rid of the issue is to connect with the ISP and make sure whether a reboot call has been shared or not.

If the problem is a maintenance issue at most, disconnect the modem for a while and plugin only when the ISP has made the upgrades or closed the maintenance detail. 

9. Routing issues with Combos/Gateways

Modem-Router combos (also known as wireless gateways) come equipped with routing capabilities and the option to choose the band as per requirements.

Therefore, if most of the connected devices are on a specific channel, i.e., 2.4 or 5 GHz, the device might get overburdened, which might lead to network congestion and frequent resetting concerns.

Solution: The best way to get rid of this issue is by allocating wireless bands carefully and checking on the devices to see which band they are currently working on.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Modems are queer networking devices. Therefore, if your device resets at any time, you might have to put in some effort to find the exact cause. In most cases, it would be from the list above. Go through the corresponding solution at the earliest.