Network problem.. Need advice

Okay so for the past couple of months I have been having network problems, mostly in games/vent or watching a movie or whatever..
Okay before i upgraded routers I had to reconnect my modem and router every3days to a week for me to get my connection because it just drops and my latency and ping on vent is just incredibly too high and cant play any games..

Now I have the new router I have to reconnect my modem and router every 1week to a month which isnt that bad comparing to before. Now my modem is at least 5+ years old and its a brick. I always have to call Cox to reset my modem telling them the same problem and them telling me that its not the modem and most likely the router..
SO i go to microcenter I buy 3 different routers before getting the netgear and each have the same problem over and over again... I have no idea what to do. I can only surf the web now and be on vent, I can no longer play any games online because the lag is unbearable my ping skyrockets on ventrillo because of gaming its incredible... My question is what exactly is wrong here any way for me to figure it out?

 

Need more details: what type of connection is it cable or ADSL?
What modem and what router do you use?

Can you connect directly to the modem and if so does it solve the problem?

 

I agree with downloads, try playing first without the router and if it's still happening then you know you're getting a crappy connection.

things to check would be to do a ping -t <insert your game ip address or url here>, if you get timeouts or high latency spikes while your modem si directly used by your pc, then it's either your internet connection, modem or lan card/wlan card.

 

i have cable.
its an arriss cable modem/phone modem i think
the problem is the modem is located where no computer can be connected to so i cant put it directly sad face.

edit:Well even on wired through the wall to the modem i get lag . I ping the modem and router in being wired and wirless i get a min latency or ping of 3 and maximum of 222. it just randomly spikes would like to note that this modem is about 5+ years old not sure if that makes a difference and the router is less than 3 months.

 

so today i tried it again connecting directly with modem and wireless, No issues on lag or latency spikes i can ping the modem and router fine with no spikes what soever 3ms for min and max. I just dont get it? is it my wireless card or cable or my router? or is it my ISP provider Cox that jams traffic or anything. And just to put it out I did these pings and tests with only My computer on the network all other computers were turned off.