How do I know if my router is going bad or if its my device wifi?

[Scruffy90]

I am having constant disconnects on my XPS 15 and Surface Pro 4. This only happens when connected to the 5ghz network (i've yet to see it happen on my 2.4 ghz network as i'm rarely if ever connected to it). I don't know if its Windows or the router to blame. This XPS 15 is new, so I don't know why it would be an issue, but this issue happened on my original Surface Pro 4 and it's replacement as well. I do not see these disconnects on my other devices (non Windows devices) or maybe I do not notice them happening. 

 

On my Windows 10 devices I reinstalled the wireless cards, and drivers. Updated Windows 10. Ran the following commands in command prompt: 'netsh winsock reset' , 'netsh int ip reset' , 'ipconfig /release' , 'ipconfig /renew' , 'ipconfig /flushdns'. None of these worked and i'm still getting constant disconnect.

 

I have no clue how to test if it's the router going bad (netgear r6400). Is there a way to test issues if its the router.

 

How do I know if my router is going bad or if its my device wifi? I posted this question yesterday in the troubleshooting forums and no one replied, so i'll assume that I wasn't clear on the issue.

[NumLock21]

5 minutes ago, Scruffy90 said:

I am having constant disconnects on my XPS 15 and Surface Pro 4. This only happens when connected to the 5ghz network (i've yet to see it happen on my 2.4 ghz network as i'm rarely if ever connected to it). I don't know if its Windows or the router to blame. This XPS 15 is new, so I don't know why it would be an issue, but this issue happened on my original Surface Pro 4 and it's replacement as well. I do not see these disconnects on my other devices (non Windows devices) or maybe I do not notice them happening. 

 

On my Windows 10 devices I reinstalled the wireless cards, and drivers. Updated Windows 10. Ran the following commands in command prompt: 'netsh winsock reset' , 'netsh int ip reset' , 'ipconfig /release' , 'ipconfig /renew' , 'ipconfig /flushdns'. None of these worked and i'm still getting constant disconnect.

 

I have no clue how to test if it's the router going bad (netgear r6400). Is there a way to test issues if its the router.

 

How do I know if my router is going bad or if its my device wifi? I posted this question yesterday in the troubleshooting forums and no one replied, so i'll assume that I wasn't clear on the issue.

Disconnect from your 5GHZ connection and use only the 2.4GHz. Use it like you normally do and see how it goes. Remove the 5GHZ profile from your devices, so it does not automatically connect to it.

[Scruffy90]

Just now, NumLock21 said:

Disconnect from your 5GHZ connection and use only the 2.4GHz and use it like you normally do and see how it goes.

Might want to remove the 5GHZ profile from your devices, so it does not automatically connect to it.

Might have to do this for a while to test the router.

[m0k]

I use a Netgear R7000 and despite being an old router it still receives firmware updates to this day

 

Can you check to see if your routers firmware is upto date?

[NumLock21]

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

Might have to do this for a while to test the router.

Does it happen often, is there a pattern of when it will disconnect? If it's random, then you will have to test it for a while to see if there are any changes when using 2.4GHz.

[m0k]

now that i think about it i used to also have constant disconnects on the 5ghz wifi - this was a problem more than a year ago, but i have been diligent in updating the firmware everytime it was available

 

I'm a huge fan of Netgear's Genie portal which allows me to dig really deep into the routers config and settings

Take a look if you havent already

[BrendanReed]

11 minutes ago, Scruffy90 said:

I am having constant disconnects on my XPS 15 and Surface Pro 4. This only happens when connected to the 5ghz network (i've yet to see it happen on my 2.4 ghz network as i'm rarely if ever connected to it). I don't know if its Windows or the router to blame. This XPS 15 is new, so I don't know why it would be an issue, but this issue happened on my original Surface Pro 4 and it's replacement as well. I do not see these disconnects on my other devices (non Windows devices) or maybe I do not notice them happening. 

 

On my Windows 10 devices I reinstalled the wireless cards, and drivers. Updated Windows 10. Ran the following commands in command prompt: 'netsh winsock reset' , 'netsh int ip reset' , 'ipconfig /release' , 'ipconfig /renew' , 'ipconfig /flushdns'. None of these worked and i'm still getting constant disconnect.

 

I have no clue how to test if it's the router going bad (netgear r6400). Is there a way to test issues if its the router.

 

How do I know if my router is going bad or if its my device wifi? I posted this question yesterday in the troubleshooting forums and no one replied, so i'll assume that I wasn't clear on the issue.

Do what they suggested but also check to see if your router has the channel for the 5Ghz and 2.4GHz networks is set to auto. If so then for the 2.4GHz set it to either 1 6 11. Do the same for your 5GHz but I don't know the best channels for that. Use a wifi analyzer on your smartphone or download one for your PC to check whats the least congested. 

[Scruffy90]

Just now, mok said:

now that i think about it i used to also have constant disconnects on the 5ghz wifi - this was a problem more than a year ago, but i have been diligent in updating the firmware everytime it was available

 

I'm a huge fan of Netgear's Genie portal which allows me to dig really deep into the routers config and settings

Take a look if you havent already

What would I be looking for in the genie portal?

4 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

Does it happen often, is there a pattern of when it will disconnect? If it's random, then you will have to test it for a while to see if there are any changes when using 2.4GHz.

This happens randomly and very often and at the most inopportune moments. Sometimes, both the surface and the xps go down at the same time, sometimes not. 

The only time this happens consistently is when I run a speedtest. The wifi just croaks almost 100% of the time.

[NumLock21]

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

What would I be looking for in the genie portal?

This happens randomly and very often and at the most inopportune moments. Sometimes, both the surface and the xps go down at the same time, sometimes not. 

The only time this happens consistently is when I run a speedtest. The wifi just croaks almost 100% of the time.

Using speedtest, do the exact same thing when connecting at 2.4GHz

[Scruffy90]

Just now, BrendanReed said:

Do what they suggested but also check to see if your router has the channel for the 5Ghz and 2.4GHz networks is set to auto. If so then for the 2.4GHz set it to either 1 6 11. Do the same for your 5GHz but I don't know the best channels for that. Use a wifi analyzer on your smartphone or download one for your PC to check whats the least congested. 

I used InSSIDer to check my channels. On 2.4, I leave it at auto cause all of channels are heavily congested. On 5ghz, Channels 153, 157, 161 are free, and I have changed it to those channels, and the issue still occurs.

[Scruffy90]

Just now, NumLock21 said:

Using speedtest, do the exact same thing when connecting at 2.4GHz

It completes very slowly, but the speed is considerably slower.

[m0k]

4 hours ago, Scruffy90 said:

What would I be looking for in the genie portal?

in the desktop app 
Router Settings > scroll all the way to the "Router Update" tab, and see if theres an update available

 

and for more detailed router settings go to your browser 192.168.1.1 (i think its the same for everyone) and then log in

[NumLock21]

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

It completes very slowly, but the speed is considerably slower.

It should not that much of a difference compared to 5GHz and monitor and see if it disconnects.

[Scruffy90]

1 minute ago, mok said:

in the desktop app 
Router Settings > scroll all the way to the "Router Update" tab, and see if theres an update available

 

and for more detailed router settings go to your browser 192.168.1.1 (i think its the same for everyone) and then log in

I just updated the router this morning. No changes.

 

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

It should not that much of a difference compared to 5GHz and monitor and see if it disconnects.

On 5ghz, I get max speed of my nics, which is about 200-250mbps up and down, on 2.4ghz, I get less then 10 up and down.

[m0k]

I just tested my wifi as well 

2.4ghz i get 60ish down and 10 up

5.0ghz i get 120 down and 10 up (which is what im paying for)

not sure why my 2.4ghz is also lower despite having better signal strength compared to 5ghz
for me its bearable but for you only getting 10 down is bad

 

consider doing a factory reset of your router?
and go through the browser portal to config the router just the way you want it 

[BrendanReed]

11 minutes ago, Scruffy90 said:

I used InSSIDer to check my channels. On 2.4, I leave it at auto cause all of channels are heavily congested. On 5ghz, Channels 153, 157, 161 are free, and I have changed it to those channels, and the issue still occurs.

Interesting. The slow speed is going to be because of the interference. But I'm not sure as to why it would randomly disconnect on the 5GHz network then. Can you see what range the 5GHz is working on? Auto / 20mhz / 40mhz / 80mhz. If it's Auto or 80mhz try using 40mhz?

[paddy-stone]

You could add your device as a static IP address, or reserve address if done through the router... to see if that helps with the disconnecting you are experiencing.

[NumLock21]

11 minutes ago, Scruffy90 said:

I just updated the router this morning. No changes.

 

On 5ghz, I get max speed of my nics, which is about 200-250mbps up and down, on 2.4ghz, I get less then 10 up and down.

Running at 2.4GHz, should not have such a dramatic decrease in bandwidth.

 

[Scruffy90]

8 minutes ago, mok said:

I just tested my wifi as well 

2.4ghz i get 60ish down and 10 up

5.0ghz i get 120 down and 10 up (which is what im paying for)

not sure why my 2.4ghz is also lower despite having better signal strength compared to 5ghz
for me its bearable but for you only getting 10 down is bad

 

consider doing a factory reset of your router?
and go through the browser portal to config the router just the way you want it 

i'm trying to keep this as a last resort option.

 

7 minutes ago, BrendanReed said:

Interesting. The slow speed is going to be because of the interference. But I'm not sure as to why it would randomly disconnect on the 5GHz network then. Can you see what range the 5GHz is working on? Auto / 20mhz / 40mhz / 80mhz. If it's Auto or 80mhz try using 40mhz?

On 5ghz, it doesn't allow anything for it to be auto. Let me try switching to 40mhz since it's currently running at 80.

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

You could add your device as a static IP address, or reserve address if done through the router... to see if that helps with the disconnecting you are experiencing.

I haven't thought of doing that. Going to give this a shot and see if this helps alleviate some issues.

[Scruffy90]

1 minute ago, NumLock21 said:

Running at 2.4GHz, should not have such a dramatic decrease in bandwidth.

 

It shouldn't, but I'll chalk this one up to the insane amount of interference at my residence. There are an insane number of networks around me all running at 2.4ghz I could easily see about 30 networks on InSSIDer that I could connect to with decent signal strength across all 2.4ghz channels.

[NumLock21]

Just now, Scruffy90 said:

It shouldn't, but I'll chalk this one up to the insane amount of interference at my residence. There are an insane number of networks around me all running at 2.4ghz.

Can you disconnect all of them, except for the devices you're currently using?

[paddy-stone]

1 minute ago, Scruffy90 said:

i'm trying to keep this as a last resort option.

 

On 5ghz, it doesn't allow anything for it to be auto. Let me try switching to 40mhz since it's currently running at 80.

I haven't thought of doing that. Going to give this a shot and see if this helps alleviate some issues.

 

Good luck, hope it works for you. At the very worst, at least you will have an address for your device that doesn't change.

[Scruffy90]

Just now, NumLock21 said:

Can you disconnect all of them, except for the devices you're currently using?

Sorry should've clarified, I meant other networks running on 2.4ghz (most are neighbors networks, at least 3 networks per house and the two or three businesses that are on the other side of my house). All of the devices in my place are running on 5ghz and anything that could be wired into the router is wired.

 

1 minute ago, paddy-stone said:

 

Good luck, hope it works for you. At the very worst, at least you will have an address for your device that doesn't change.

Thanks. I did this for some of my other devices and it solved a few issues finding said device on my network. This worked wonders for my printer, since HP printers are a pita when networked, or when playing nice with win10

[paddy-stone]

2 minutes ago, Scruffy90 said:

Sorry should've clarified, I meant other networks running on 2.4ghz (most are neighbors networks, at least 3 networks per house and the two or three businesses that are on the other side of my house). All of the devices in my place are running on 5ghz and anything that could be wired into the router is wired.

 

Thanks. I did this for some of my other devices and it solved a few issues finding said device on my network. This worked wonders for my printer, since HP printers are a pita when networked, or when playing nice with win10

I actually prefer setting the devices to static on the devices themselves as this alleviates the need to dump this work on the router for one, and for another reason the routers (at least my netgear d700) has only a finite amount of devices you can reserve addresses for. So I prefer to keep those for frequent visitors that I actually let use my media servers and stuff, so I can identify who is who.

 

Yeah, I had to do this a few years back when my bro and his family visited for a few months, they would invariably leave their notebooks/tablets etc in a sleep state, and the network would free up their IP address for another device, then I'd be called upon very frequently to investigate why they couldn't connect to the internet... was a big PITA, so set them all to static addresses and never had that problem again. I guess I could have just increased the lease time, but that could have caused more issues, so just went with statoc IPs

 

[Billy_Mays]

You see that Tech Quicky video on the right please watch it