Wifi dropping out

[#1]

A quick addition: Wifi is now not working anymore. Is any of this helpful information in finding out where the problem is?

[#2]

Emma, Glad you found the test socket - they have been standard for 30+ years, to my knowledge.

I don't know which video you watched, but your equipment could merely be the phone socket faceplate.

It is perfectly OK to use the test socket for as long as you like, just not a very attractive option visually.

Good idea about the phone - we might not need it this time, but it is a good thing to have if you get further problems.

Your additional comment may help @Townman narrow things down a bit, so I would wait until he picks this up again - he has more experience than I have.

[#3]

Hi Emma,

John on well on track with this one!  I very much doubt that the filter is an issue here.  I also doubt that plugging into the test socket has made any meaningful difference here - you said there are not extensions, so the removal of the face plate (having no wires attached) will have made no meaningful difference.

I can see three potential issues here and we are not in a good position to check out two of them...

1. Most likely - the line is noisy - that needs to be checked with a handset and if noisy a PHONE service fault needs to be raised - however if this is a router connectivity issue, I would expect to see red lights on the router
2. WiFi has gone to sleep but the Ethernet is still working - I have seen 2704n routers do this after 10-14 days uninterrupted operation - when you plugged into the test socket, did you reboot the router?  (Please DO NOT do so until you've looked at the next point)
3. I have seen devices connect to WiFi but not be allocated a network address, which can give rise to the exact symptoms you describe - can you run some diagnostics please?

On windows - press Windows-Key+R

type 'cmd' and press enter

in the black window which appears type 'ipconfig /all'

copy and paste here the bit which looks like...

Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection:

   Connection-specific DNS Suffix  . : home
   Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Qualcomm Atheros AR9285 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
   Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 90-4C-E5-B8-D4-ED
   DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
   Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
   Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::554d:7be2:dac2:573%11(Preferred)
   IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.20(Preferred)
   Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
   Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 11 July 2020 15:33:31
   Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 14 July 2020 15:48:10
   Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
   DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 311446757
   DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-1A-57-C6-B0-00-26-9E-BE-CB-17
   DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
                                       fe80::bad5:26ff:fe2e:5ac%11
   NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

If this had been a TG582n router then John's concerns about Win10 might have been a factor, but I doubt it is here.

[#4]

@Townman -Thanks.☝️

[#5]

This is great. Here are the diagnostics:

Wireless LAN adapter WiFi:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : lan
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 60-F2-62-4F-E3-95
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fe80::ce4:cd11:fcd:8f2a%8(Preferred)
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.5(Preferred)
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : 13 July 2020 13:59:59
Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : 14 July 2020 15:51:52
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
DHCPv6 IAID . . . . . . . . . . . : 73462370
DHCPv6 Client DUID. . . . . . . . : 00-01-00-01-26-18-6B-D3-B0-5C-DA-5A-4C-61
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.254
NetBIOS over Tcpip. . . . . . . . : Enabled

When I plugged the router into the test socket I did not reboot it (if rebooting is turning off and on?).

Thank you,
Emma

[#6]

OK, that rules out the least likely issue here - no network address being assigned to the device, even though connected to WiFi.

You have not mentioned the state of the lights on the router.

Do you know how to log on to the router and find the router stats?  If you do, please do so and post them here.

[#7]

I don’t know how to log on to the router, but the lights are behaving like this (while still plugged into the test socket, which has given us occasional wifi that will sometimes disappear again):

- broadband light is stable
- internet light is blinking fairly fast. Sometimes it is off for a few secs
- wifi light is blinking a bit faster, more irregularly

At the moment the wifi is working better than at any time today (on all devices). Could it be connected to the time of day?

[#8]

Hi Emma. That action by the lights is normal, so no worries there.

As to the other two points you mention, I'll leave it to @Townman to answer when he's back, as he knows more on this than me. Unfortunately, I have never used or seen a 2704N router, and I don't think time of day should affect wireless connectivity that way - in fact I would expect it to be more erratic as more people use their equipment.