Wi-Fi Devices Losing Connection

scuderiarmani on 15/11/2022 - 21:43
Last edited 15/11/2022 - 21:51

Hey all, having a bit of an odd problem of late, think I have finally narrowed it down tonight though…..

Previously was using 4 ASUS XD4 Units, top and bottom, front and back in my long townhouse to provide a good coverage, 3 of which had ethernet backhaul, one of which is unable to (my bedroom upstairs at the front).

I have also recently switched over to FTTP, don't seem to be having issues there, and nor does my ISP suggest I have any drops either…

What I began to notice was devices moving to that wireless point in my room, notably my phone, were killing the houses Wifi Connection all of a sudden, though had been fine for months… no firmware changes, nothing of note.

I reset my devices, used a backup XD4 Unit (had 5) and switched them around, no real fix. Then I decided to remove the unit altogether in my upstairs bedroom, and just make do with 3 ethernet connected backhaul devices.

Working fine for a month or so.

Now, today, I have added a smart plug on my front balcony, 2.4ghz connection, and all of a sudden the wifi was dropping on my phone, but all hard wired devices continued to be fine, was watching Youtube on a Shield for instance… no drop at all on anything wired up.

I'm not noticing any crowded wifi channels, despite having other houses in close proximity.

TLDR
Can a device interfere in this sort of manner? Could that have been my original problem? Is it likely an interference issue? On the Front Balcony I have a solar smart meter too if that's of any relevance. Is it a roaming/hand off issue?

Any help, advice much appreciated. Only just upgraded from 250 to 1000 so would love to actually maintain a stable connection at home for all devices….

Seem to have many oddities at my house, if I park a car in a given spot across the road the remote locking won't work. Wonder if my neighbours are up to something lol

Computing

Comments

  • scuderiarmani on 15/11/2022 - 21:54

    FML, Removed smart plugs, went back upstairs near a mesh device, phone drops again.

    TV working fine.

    Roaming problems? No updated router firmware of late….

    10mins later, drops phone again.

  • Switchblade88 on 15/11/2022 - 22:06
    +2

    Can a device interfere in this sort of manner?

    Absolutely yes.

    Is it a roaming/hand off issue?

    Also absolutely yes.

    Ethernet backhaul is good, but you may actually be saturating your total wifi bandwidth with the amount of APs you're using. Do you have then tuned to a different channel for each AP? Unfortunately AP hopping can be a nightmare to troubleshoot.

    The AP in your room would not likely have been helping - if it can connect to the other APs, then usually so can your phones etc from the same location, so no reason to put that back for sure.

    Do you have 2.4GHz and 5GHz on separate AP names or do they share one name?

    • scuderiarmani on 15/11/2022 - 22:15

      Have 2 different network names.

      Just temporarily disabled wifi 6, though I doubt that's the problem.

      At any given time I've got between 20-40 devices, probably split between wired and wireless. But overwhelmingly most aren't using much bandwidth at any given time (2 nest protects, a few home speakers, home displays, consoles on standby… )

      I haven't changed channels of the 2 wired satellites, didn't even think you could independently with ASUS.

      Did sell that extra pt (and spare) after it being stable without anyway.

      I do try to connect low bandwidth devices to the 2.4 too.

  • pinchies on 16/11/2022 - 00:08
    +2

    My tips:
    - ethernet as much stuff as possible
    - 2.4ghz for the low-priority stuff, 5ghz only for the stuff that you need reliable and fast (phone, laptop only) — sounds like you're already doing this.
    - each AP gets different name, and all are set to non-interfering channels
    - I prefer routers with DDWRT, Gargoyle,Tomato or (currently) AdvancedTomato firmware. I've found these to be exceptionally stable.

    • scuderiarmani on 16/11/2022 - 08:43

      Thanks, did move a 4K Player off 5ghz, not that it gets used anyway online, unfortunately ran outta ethernet options in that room despite an 8 port switch.

      Only devices I believe I have on 5ghz (exc 2 phones) are 2 TVs and 2 Google TVs, one of each of those is actually in the bedroom.

      I may try shifting those onto 2.4ghz, not an ideal scenario as I do use Plex internally and would prefer the bandwith there.

      I've also now changed a couple settings under 'professional' in Wifi.
      Region to Australia on both bands (instead of Asia default)
      Disabled, Explicit Beamforming, Universal Beamforming and Airtime Fairness
      Did read from an ASUS rep about trying these options for someone with similar issues on multiple occasions. I believe they can cause issues with devices near the limit of the range.

      I don't think I can change channels that the mesh satellites use though?

      I have given them a name before (upstairs etc etc) but I thought that was more just a trivial thing?

    • thatonethere on 16/11/2022 - 09:27

      Yeah i shifted all the fixed high bandwidth devices to ethernet. Ie run ethernet to your tv area and put in a small switch and plug apple tv, tv, xbox etc into ethernet. Study also ethernet for printing and game pc.

      Leave 2.4gz wifi for iot (own dmz) and 5ghz for mobile devices and laptops.

  • scuderiarmani on 16/11/2022 - 14:22

    More drops. This time caused when someone else walked out on the front balcony with a smart watch, at the time not connected to the mobile, so a 2.4ghz connection, triggered wifi to go down.

    I've now since changed both 5 and 2.4 channels. Also disabled Roaming Assistant on both.

    I have since reconnected the smart plugs. Just seem to be a device going in and outta that area that triggered it.

    • pinchies on 17/11/2022 - 09:10

      This sounds like there may be an issue with one of your mesh satellites. You need to check that they all have sufficient signal strength back to the main base station.

      • scuderiarmani on 19/11/2022 - 15:40

        As per posts, they are all Ethernet backhaul. Verified working and reliable.

  • BewareOfThe Dog on 16/11/2022 - 15:24

    Have you tried assigning static IP address to each device?

    Not sure if this App might help?

    • scuderiarmani on 19/11/2022 - 15:39

      My phone has a static IP.

      No help

  • scuderiarmani on 19/11/2022 - 15:42

    Just an update.

    I returned the 3 devices to JB, got a gift card refund.

    Used it to go back to Google Nest, again ffs, but now I'm experiencing intermittent drops like many others on the recently updated fware.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/xmpktb/anyone_g…

    Also noticing terrible top speeds, even over Ethernet. Regularly only getting 3-500 instead of the 850-930 down before.

    These are going back this week…..

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