Do routers just become shitty over time?

[Ridah]

It seems to me like every router I buy works well in the beginning but within a matter of months I'm having to constantly restart it because the wireless connection starts becoming slow or screwy. Right now within the house everyone's wireless connection is running slow, and lately my iPhone 4 has been having trouble connecting to the network.

Also, why would it be that a device can SEE the network but have trouble connecting or staying connected?

Does anyone else experience this? It's so frustrating to me.

[Razgon]

You may be experiencing either an attack by alien entities, or some electrical interference from other household appliances, or even networks close by. If possible, try and see if you can switch what channel your wireless runs on. I know I can do that through my ISP.

[notrich]

this probably wont be your issue... but slashdot story that is interesting

http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/24/0331206/smart-meters-wreaking-havoc-with-home-electronics

"About 200 customers of the Central Maine Power Company recently noticed something odd after the utility installed smart meters in their homes: household electronics, including wireless devices, stopped working, or behaved erratically. Many Smart Meters broadcast in the 2.4GHz frequency range. Unfortunately, so do many of the consumer gadgets we take for granted these days including routers, electric garage doors, fire alarms, clocks, electric pet fences, answering machines, and baby monitors — even medical devices. The electromagnetic congestion in the home is in some ways similar to the growing electro

[Biyobi]

You may be experiencing either an attack by alien entities, or some electrical interference from other household appliances, or even networks close by. If possible, try and see if you can switch what channel your wireless runs on. I know I can do that through my ISP.

+1 to switching channels.  Also, see if there's a firmware upgrade from the router's manufacturer.  I had problems on one of my client's Linksys/Cisco routers until I upgraded it to the latest firmware.