Recently getting frequent wifi dropouts and awful signal strength

[#1]

Not sure if both these are related.  The dropouts/disconnections have always happened but have became more frequent recently. 

Also, about three days the wifi became unusable while upstairs and the signal strength seems to have dropped.  We used to get a good signal all over the house and even in the back garden, but now it suddenly turned awful.

I split the SSIDs between 2.4 and 5.0. and while that allowed us to connect to the wifi the resulting connections are not good and poor ping times have made it impossible to use our XBOX for gaming.

Before we start....

I live away from other houses so there is only our WiFi and our neighbours within range.  We use different channels.  I have reset and checked everything that my 45 years of IT experience have thought of. It's all relatively new wiring/sockets/leads.

[#2]

Hi @daveo66,

I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing problems with connection drops and poor signal strength on the WiFi. Thank you for confirming that you've tried splitting the SSIDs as well as changing the wireless channels, but that this hasn't resolved the problem. I've tested your line but the test hasn't picked up any underlying issues from here. So that we can determine the best next steps towards a resolution for you, please can you confirm whether this is solely a wireless issue or if you also experience any problems on wired connections?

[#3]

It seems to be just the wireless connections.

[#4]

Thanks for that @daveo66 

Can you confirm if you have also renamed the 5Ghz network, and which channels your router is now broadcasting over? 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#5]

I renamed both networks after resetting them to default values.  Chennel selection is set to automatic.  2.4ghz is currently on 11, 5ghz is currently on 48.

[#6]

Thanks @daveo66 

Can you change the selection away from Auto and manually select new channels please. For the 2.4, select either 1 or 6 and for the 5Ghz, any will suffice. 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#7]

Done.  I've set them to channel 6 and 40, respectively.

[#8]

Great - please give this fresh configuration roughly 24 hours and then let us know if you have noticed any difference. 

Kind Regards, 

MoR

[#9]

No change.  The wifi barely connects upstairs and also frequently stalls no matter how close we are to the router.

As previously said, the wifi has always been poor, but it is now not good enough to use for gaming.  Even streaming audio will lead to it hanging for a minute or two every 15 minutes or so.

[#10]

Hi @daveo66, I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing connection problems on wifi.

I'm afraid there's not much we can advise further to our Getting the best Wi-Fi (wireless) signal guide, as wireless interference is unfortunately out of our control.

If you tried all the steps in this guide, it may be worth looking in to powerline adapters or wifi extenders etc.

[#11]

Just to point out that I live in the middle of nowhere.  I am not getting stamped on by other wifi networks.  Also, although poor, the wifi did function until a few days ago even though it has been shoddy since day one.

By God I hated being a Sky customer but at least all my devices connected and it worked for gaming.

I don't see me being a Plusnet customer after the end this contract.

[#12]

Funnily enough, I've just mentioned this to my Daughter and her neighbour (both plusnet customers) and both have had the same kind of issues over the last week.  Has something changed?

[#13]

Hello @davo66,

It appears that there is an issue that our suppliers are working to resolve, which could be affecting your connection. This is with our faults team and we will keep you updated here.

[#14]

The issue linked to is something different from my Wifi issues.  Some workmen had uprooted the telegraph pole at the end of my road so my phone line was down for a couple of hours.

I have partially fixed the wifi issue by resetting the router to factory and then reapplying all config changes.  People can now connect to it BUT it is still experiencing frequent drops and also has a disappointing range.

I am out of contract in October and if this is the service I get through my wifi I will be shopping around for alternatives.

[#15]

Hi there @daveo66

It looks like our suppliers have resolved the external issue.

I've has a check of your line today and I'm not seeing any physical drops the last few days. Your line looks great.

You mention that you've reconfigured some router settings. It might be worth taking a look at our wireless troubleshooting guides.

Failing that, the best way to determine if the problem is isolated to wireless performance is to connect a device directly to the router with an Ethernet cable and check if there's still an issue with your connectivity.

That being said, given you're experiencing drops and issues with the wireless range, I'd be very much leaning towards wireless interference or similar and the troubleshooting should help.