Only 10 devices connecting to router

[Nabhan]

Hi everyone, recently my family have started to complain that their phones or computers are getting kicked out of the wifi. At first we thought this was a problem with the wifi signal being lost, but even after getting a second access point, the same thing occurred. I now have a suspicion that my router can only take 10 devices connecting through the ethernet ports on the back. I am using a Netgear Nighthawk X6 R800, and the rest of the house is connected via access point downstairs which is connected to the X6 by way of powerline. if anyone could please confirm or deny it would be very helpful.

[Windows7ge]

That would not be the case. With the default configuration it should be able to connect up to 253 clients (I don't recommend doing that though). It's definitely something else.

 

So this issue was present before introducing the powerline adapter & AP?

[Nabhan]

1 minute ago, Windows7ge said:

That would not be the case. With the default configuration it should be able to connect up to 253 clients (I don't recommend doing that though). It's definitely something else.

 

So this issue was present before introducing the powerline adapter & AP?

No, it just started these past few months since we moved the router to my room and the AP to my parents room. Before this it was the other way around, but still connected via powerline

[Windows7ge]

6 minutes ago, Nabhan said:

No, it just started these past few months since we moved the router to my room and the AP to my parents room. Before this it was the other way around, but still connected via powerline

I'm thinking about the powrline adapter but if the powerline adapter had something to do with it the wireless devices should still automatically re-authenticate with the nearest AP. If there's a complete lack of re-connecting I'm wondering if it's interference with neighbors or failing equipment. Did you check the wireless spectrum in your area? Did you set your AP's to the least busy channel?

[jjbeebe]

I agree with windows7ge, however, I would also look at if you have a limit set in your settings on the router or access points to only allow 10 devices, I would also look at what is connected to your network to see if there is malicious traffic (unorganized devices). I caught a kid once stealing wifi and doing "pranks" with his computer. If so, create a secure password and use WPA 2 and/or WPA 3 if able (depending on the devices) and other security measures. WPA3, if your device supports it, plugged allot of holes, most modern routers or AP can use both WPA2 And WPA3 to accommodate for older computers etc... 

[Nabhan]

8 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

I'm thinking about the powrline adapter but if the powerline adapter had something to do with it the wireless devices should still automatically re-authenticate with the nearest AP. If there's a complete lack of re-connecting I'm wondering if it's interference with neighbors or failing equipment. Did you check the wireless spectrum in your area? Did you set your AP's to the least busy channel?

I took your advice and I changed the spectrum to one less congested. Now I will wait till everyone gets home and then see if anyone is unable to connect.

[Nabhan]

9 hours ago, jjbeebe said:

I agree with windows7ge, however, I would also look at if you have a limit set in your settings on the router or access points to only allow 10 devices, I would also look at what is connected to your network to see if there is malicious traffic (unorganized devices). I caught a kid once stealing wifi and doing "pranks" with his computer. If so, create a secure password and use WPA 2 and/or WPA 3 if able (depending on the devices) and other security measures. WPA3, if your device supports it, plugged allot of holes, most modern routers or AP can use both WPA2 And WPA3 to accommodate for older computers etc... 

I checked my router, all devices are accounted for and my router can only go up to WPA2 so I guess it's a dead end there.I also couldn't find any setting to limit the number of devices, but to be safe, I did a hard reset and changed the spectrum.

[AbsoluteFool]

I can't see this asked yet so.. I'm just gonna ask right away. What is your connection speed? And how many of you are online at once doing what exactly?

[Kisai]

16 hours ago, Nabhan said:

Hi everyone, recently my family have started to complain that their phones or computers are getting kicked out of the wifi. At first we thought this was a problem with the wifi signal being lost, but even after getting a second access point, the same thing occurred. I now have a suspicion that my router can only take 10 devices connecting through the ethernet ports on the back. I am using a Netgear Nighthawk X6 R800, and the rest of the house is connected via access point downstairs which is connected to the X6 by way of powerline. if anyone could please confirm or deny it would be very helpful.

There's two possibilities:

 

A) the router has a fixed limit of DHCP addresses to hand out and when a new device connects it boots off the oldest one, as wireless devices don't persist state the same way wired devices do, the WiFi devices probably get dropped every time they suspend.

 

B) The wireless bandwidth is being consumed and/or the devices are too slow. eg one wireless B device makes all devices operate at wireless B. Some devices may also not support the correct level of WPA, eg older game consoles.) 

 

Now, the fact that you mention Powerline is interesting, because the way powerline works is RF over the ground/neutral wires in a similar way to cable modems (2 to 100Mhz). So depending on how this is all hooked up, the powerline networking might actually be subjected to a burst of noise, dropping things connected to it. However this would be persistent, as all devices connected to the AP would drop simultaneously if that's the case.

 

As a work-around, at least to eliminate the powerline gear, bring the AP back to the X6 and connected it directly via a Cat5e/Cat6 ethernet cable and check if you can run all the wireless devices. If it works without the powerline gear, the problem is the powerline somehow.

 

However, do check the router to see how many DHCP addresses it allows, sometimes the stock setting is low, and sometimes devices actually connect on both 2.4 and 5Ghz bands, thus taking two IP addresses if they are treated as separate AP's.

[Nabhan]

23 hours ago, AbsoluteFool said:

I can't see this asked yet so.. I'm just gonna ask right away. What is your connection speed? And how many of you are online at once doing what exactly?

So my internet plan maxes out at 300mbps. When everyone is home, there are 6 people, and everyone has a phone, there are 2 desktop PCs, 4 laptops, a PS4 and a android box TV. Generally, at least 2 of the phones will be on youtube or another streaming service(no netflix), android TV running, both PCs running and 2 of the laptops open but for text work but still connected to wifi. Under very high load, the PS4 and 1 desktop would also be playing games online, with everything else the same as above. The PS4 and 1 desktop are connected by ethernet to the X6, while everything else except for one laptop and phone go through the AP connected to the powerline.