I went searching for a long time trying to figure out why my new Netgear WPN824 wireless router wasn't auto negotiating a new DHCP lease from my provider and found nearly nothing... It seemed to be a common problem with routers and motorola surfboard modems of all types, but nothing referencing the WPN824 included the answer.
What I found: If your modem isn't renewing its lease, but you can do it manually (by going to Router Status > Connection Status > Release then Renew) you can solve the dropped connection problems.
Answer:
- Go to WAN Setup page.
- Set the router to Automatically Connect, as Required.
- Make sure you have Respond to Ping on Internet Port (WAN) enabled.
This has worked for the last 4 renewals, so I'm gonna call it good. Hope this helps somebody...