Pinging/Static Ip/Webcam question

connectivity issues and I'm far, far away

[SEOQuestions]

I have a webcam that is thousands of miles away that I am having connectivity issues with (connected via ADSL. It has a static IP address (at least the telephone co. told us that we have a static ip address) but it is possible that the power to the router is getting shut off periodically (this is my hopeful thought).

When I cannot access the camera and I ping the static IP address it times out. When the camera is working I am able to ping it successfully and traceroute it as well. The traceroute when the camera was not working was missing the last two hops. Could that be the powered off router? If not, what sort of information can I derive from the traceroute/ping data? Is there anything else I should be doing to help troubleshoot the problem?

Also - someone asked me if I had a static router. What is this? Do I need this if I have a static ip?

Many, many thanks for your assistence!

[supermanjnk]

It could be a bad router on your way there that you have to go through, it could be a bad router where the camera is. I've never heard of a "static router" I am not quite sure what the person meant by that, they were probably just making stuff up to try and sound cool, or sound like they knew what they were talking about (happens a lot).
If it's a bad router you will have to contact the isp for the connection that your camera is on, if it's a power issue with the router you are going through at the cameras location it's a simple fix of spending some money.

[AmyNY]

I have a webcam with a dvr which I access through the internet. The dvr is a "dumb" unit with no ability to talk to the router. Online access occassionally goes down and I have to physically go to the site and turn the router and modem on and off to get it started again. Not sure if the problem is due to electricity going on and off or dsl being down briefly. The isp suggested it was electrical and I should get a backup battery for the brief power outages.