How to troubleshoot 2.4G signal dropouts?

[Gill]

Hi all.

 

In the last month, I started to encounter wifi dropouts on the 2.4ghz only.

By dropouts I mean the iOS, Android and IoT devices would lose connection and try to regain connection with no success.

Mobile devices would show the WiFi icon with an exclamation mark.

 

This would happen randomly throughout the day. Sometimes at 12:13 AM sometimes at 18 PM, and the frequency will vary. It can happen every 15 minutes, where a router reboot will sort it out for the next ~15 minutes.

It can work for 2 or 3 days and then it happens again.

I couldn't find a cause for this. I couldn't boil it down to one thing.

I'm lost as to why this happens, so much that I replaced my Asus DSL-AC88U with a backup router and it happens with that router as well.

So if it's not a router issue, what could cause the 2.4Ghz band to drop the connection and then disappear entirely from the list of available wifi access points?

 

I have about 12 wifi clients.

My main PC is using LAN cable so I don't experience connectivity issues.

My current tp-link backup router supports on 2.4Ghz, however, my previous Asus router had 5Ghz and there were NO issues with the 5Ghz band.

 

I would appreciate any help with trying to figure this out.

I'm also in need of a new daily driver router out of this list

 

Thank you.

 

[Jarsky]

I'm assuming you have all 802.11b/g/n standards enabled? Do you have any devices connecting at b or g, or are they all just n? If so, do they get disconnected as well when this happens?

 

Since the AC88U is a MIMO device, have you tried changing the width from 20Mhz to 40Mhz? 

 

Also have you used a Wifi Analyzer to see what channels around you are saturated and to see what the dB rating is around your common areas? A reading of -60dB or lower should be pretty rock stable. WifiMan by Ubiquiti is really good. 

[Gill]

17 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

I'm assuming you have all 802.11b/g/n standards enabled? Do you have any devices connecting at b or g, or are they all just n? If so, do they get disconnected as well when this happens?

 

Since the AC88U is a MIMO device, have you tried changing the width from 20Mhz to 40Mhz? 

 

Also have you used a Wifi Analyzer to see what channels around you are saturated and to see what the dB rating is around your common areas? A reading of -60dB or lower should be pretty rock stable. WifiMan by Ubiquiti is really good. 

All devices comply with b/g/n and some ac standard.

The only g standard in my old Wii.

However, I ran with the Asus router for 10 months with no issue on the 2.4Ghz and during all the time, no new devices were introduced.

The only real change was updating my Android phone from 7.1.2 to Android 9.

So all this time I was using the same devices and I didn't have any network config changes. I didn't move the router's location... absolutely nothing.

 

This issue started last month. I returned the router and am using the backup router and I get the same results... this drives me nuts.

 

I used wifi analyzer and the best channel is 1. This backup router doesn't have MIMO technology but I did try the 40Hz as well. It still happens.

 

[Jarsky]

1 minute ago, Gill said:

All devices comply with b/g/n and some ac standard.

The only g standard in my old Wii.

However, I ran with the Asus router for 10 months with no issue on the 2.4Ghz and during all the time, no new devices were introduced.

The only real change was updating my Android phone from 7.1.2 to Android 9.

So all this time I was using the same devices and I didn't have any network config changes. I didn't move the router's location... absolutely nothing.

 

This issue started last month. I returned the router and am using the backup router and I get the same results... this drives me nuts.

 

I used wifi analyzer and the best channel is 1. This backup router doesn't have MIMO technology but I did try the 40Hz as well. It still happens.

 

 

Updating a single end device won't be causing network wide wifi drop outs. 

So the best channel is 1, do you have a lot of wifi devices around you? Are you seeing a lot of saturation with the wifi analyzer?

If not, have you got any other wireless technology such as cordless phones (which operate in the 2.4Ghz)? If so can you change the channel those are on? 

 

It seems odd to be having the issue with 2 different routers, hence asking environmental questions as often this is where the problem is if you havent changed anything in your setup. Curious if a neighbour has got new gear that may be causing contention. 

 

 

Also instead of a new router, have you looked at Wireless AP solutions? Personally I have a Unifi setup with a Ubiquiti Unifi nanoHD and it is rock solid stable, even to the other side of the property (800m2) I still get 100Mbit

 

[Gill]

I don't have a cordless phone.

I could be watching a youtube movie at 12 AM and suddenly connection drops. So nothing in the house gets triggered at this hour to cause such issues.

 

I thought about maybe a neighbour is using some new device that causes these issues, but at such random times like middle of the night? 

Like, it needs to be a person who's arriving at that time and I hardly believe it's the case. If it's a router, then this should cause disconnections every second.

 

I started to think about conspiracy theories  I recently started to watch about the true secrets of the pyramids and the disclosure project, with steve greer and interviews with david adair and all those men-in-black UFO stuff, so people who don't want me to know about this are disconnecting me  when I can't find a reasonable answer, I look elsewhere... hi, don't judge  I'm desperate to solve this...

 

Many suggested to get the Ubiquiti, but I do need a router since my main PC must be wired to a router. AFAIK, the Ubiquiti are just AP's.

I also need a router that can provide NAS abilities for my HDD media drive.

Not sure that Ubiquiti AP's have that.

 

[Jarsky]

28 minutes ago, Gill said:

I thought about maybe a neighbour is using some new device that causes these issues, but at such random times like middle of the night? 

Like, it needs to be a person who's arriving at that time and I hardly believe it's the case. If it's a router, then this should cause disconnections every second.

It doesnt need to be, if they have devices like phones or computer with steam, origin, etc...open then something could be trying to update and if the device is further away then the router can increase its Tx power. 

 

28 minutes ago, Gill said:

 

I started to think about conspiracy theories  I recently started to watch about the true secrets of the pyramids and the disclosure project, with steve greer and interviews with david adair and all those men-in-black UFO stuff, so people who don't want me to know about this are disconnecting me  when I can't find a reasonable answer, I look elsewhere... hi, don't judge  I'm desperate to solve this...

Part of my job is managing some Prison networks, I can tell you that signal blocking is a real thing 

 

28 minutes ago, Gill said:

 

Many suggested to get the Ubiquiti, but I do need a router since my main PC must be wired to a router. AFAIK, the Ubiquiti are just AP's.

I also need a router that can provide NAS abilities for my HDD media drive.

Not sure that Ubiquiti AP's have that.

Correct, you would still need your router for doing routing, dns relay, dhcp, etc...

You'd just be using your existing router for everything *except* wifi.

 

Personally I use a Unifi USG as my router, with a Unifi Switch, and Unifi AP's but only because I'm getting Unifi Security Cameras as well but this is more of a power user setup as I have network attached storage (NAS).

 

The Ubiquiti AmpliFi HD is in your list which is a base router with 2 mesh points which is more suitable to standard consumers, but I believe currently they still haven't enabled the USB port for HDD use unfortunately. 

 

[Gill]

That's the WiFi in my place. 

My ssid is the Asus. I was too lazy to configure all the clients with the TP link ssid name, so I reused the Asus ssid. 

 

I'm lost.